Mamdani's "Richard Scarry Socialism"

FrankWilhoit

Busytown or Lazytown? Note that the author is not assuming (or advocating) the infantilization of the audience. He says the key to Busytown is who does what -- i.e., architecture. Children are taught a social architecture -- whichever kind, by whatever teachers; there is no such thing as no architecture at all -- and receive it as an ideal because that is the only category that they possess. The fact that it is an ideal does not mean that the needle cannot be moved toward it in real life. Scarry's focus on roles and responsibilities may seem trivial or naive, but it is also essential.