Maybe Calvin Was Right.

When I say Calvin, I mean Bill Waterson’s Calvin & Hobbes. If you do not know Calvin, drop everything and go straight to your library. Now!

The other night, I was up way too late and I began to see meaning Calvin & Hobbes. I saw how anti-establishment & willing to break society Calvin was. How (with some exceptions for his laziness and sexism) he challenged the norm and expectations. The way he approached school, friendship and culture.

Calvin was not willing to work with a system that did not work. When he wanted to play and learn together (as is now being pioneered in some schools) he was told no - with no reason and so fought the system. He could not understand why he had to play sport and so he went his own way. He could not understand why he had to waste his time.

He was constantly told to build character, and he built character in his own way, he became a character as he refused to conform to the pointless.

Calvin had both such a naïvety, but with such an awareness of the world. He recognised that “the scariest thing you can imagine” is a “barrel of toxic waste”, but at the same time interpreted “stuff it [Hobbes when first caught]” to mean to stuff him with food. Which you never see: everyone I know (and maybe even myself) would pick a monster (etc) and would not stuff a tiger with food.

And at the same time, he was unafraid to speak truth to power. He would challenge Moe with “That’s true Moe. How about that?” He would not accept the privilidge and authority that adults had, because he could not see the fundamental difference. He would not accept having to learn what appears to be pointless. He would not accept that the one-size-fits-all of forced education system when he understood that children needed freedom and needed to play. And maybe some of his fights were the wrong fight, but he had the spirit to fix the world. He had the spirit to fight. And maybe in this world of turmoil and chaos, maybe we need more people who are willing to fight. Who are willing to fix it. Not just in isolated circles, but we need everyone to stand up to injustice and institutional failure. We need people who are willing to stand up, whilst the world burns around us, and bring change.

Maybe Calvin brought this energy for change. Maybe Calvin was right.

Or maybe I have lost my mind. ;)