FBXL Social

Prior to the modern age, kids died all the time. Infant and child mortality was quite high and women might have 10 kids to ensure they'd have one survive (and in the process the woman might die) That's in a relatively sophisticated society like the premodern west.

In that context, having a bunch of kids die for things they didn't really deserve to die for is a practical lesson.

One of the lessons that I want to teach my son is that you can fail. You can die. You can end up growing up broke and living a miserable life. You can grow up alone. you fall into drugs. you can fall into gangs. You can find yourself in a social circle that's crabs in a bucket where you can only ever be as good as the person next to you, and they all actively seek to be bad. People will tell you that it can't possibly happen, but that's just because they don't want you to feel bad in the moment and a lot of parents think that is how you are a good parent.

That's one reason why I've been trying to read pre-modern books to my son. They're written by societies that are just a little bit closer to the reality of the world, despite whatever we think.