Brotherhood

Children who have grown up surrounded by violence see this as a permanent way of life. In ancient Sparta, bands of unfettered youth were raised to terrorize a burning landscape, enforcing conformity.

Sparta was a militarist state and from the earliest days of the Spartan citizen, the claim on his life by the state was absolute and strictly enforced. Boys were taken from their parents at the age of seven and placed under the supervision of an official whose job it was to oversee their training and it was not unusual for them to die from exposure, starvation and physical abuse.

In their late teens the most promising young Spartans roamed the countryside in what were "adolescent death squads." Their job was to kill helots at night in order to instill fear in the slave population.

"When you place young minds in an atmosphere in which the militaristic mindset is not simply excusable, but prompted, then you produce youths that are desensitized to the application of warfare and its ramification on their lives... Ultimately, our children will grow to view the future, and build one, that is based on the perception of it that we give them. If it is one steeped in a militaristic mindset then that is the future that will be produce." Matthew Good, Canadian musician, author & activist

"And A Child Shall Lead Them," April 21, 2007, Matthew Good Canadian musician, author & activist, And A Child Shall Lead Them, April 21, 2007.