[The following is taken from a memoir of Irmgard A. Hunt, who grew up in the mountains under Hitler’s Eagles Nest during the Second World War.]
With this second baby my mother referred to her battered baby book. She grated fewer carrots for the fresh, vitamin-rich juice that had given my skin an orange hue.
[…]
The green paperback, written in the 1920s, had been meant for a miserably poor middle-class readership. It was filled with hints for how to deal with tiny, windowless city apartments with no heat or fresh air, or with the inability to take the baby outdoors or to hag its wet, hand-washed diapers outside to dry.
[…]
She was amused that the authors of the green book found it necessary to warn against toughening the baby in ice-cold water. “Must have been a Prussian custom, for who else would think of such a thing,” she said, shaking her head.
Source:
Hunt, Irmgard A. “Ominous Undercurrents.” On Hitler’s Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2005. 62-63. Print.
rwbj ago
They still do something similar to this in Iceland. Babies are left outside to nap in the freezing cold. Here is a quick article on it. They have one of the highest life expectancies in the world, were one of the only countries in the world to hold their bankers accountable for the 2009 crash, rank constantly as one of the happiest countries in the world, have more chess grandmasters per capita than anywhere else in the world, and much more.
Zorton ago
All that and a 46.2% tax rate. Iceland can keep their socialist stateist happy land. I'll stay here in Alaska and raise my daughters to thrive in the cold just fine thank you.
rwbj ago
Iceland's no more socialist than Alaska. Assuming 2 daughters, a wife. What was your household check for last year, $7,000? Should be $8,000 this year if the government doesn't manage to go against everything the fund stands for. Enjoy! And that's not socialism either. It's the difference of a government of the people, what started that fund - and what has led to Iceland's widespread economic success and incredibly strong middle class. And governments of corporations/banks and of themselves, what is now trying to strip that fund, what lead to Iceland's brief economic collapse, and the reason you generally pay a greater effective tax rate if you earn $50k than if you earn $50million in the US.
Zorton ago
The PFD is what you're talking about and yes it does make people dependent and is a mistake but I doubt you would turn it away if offered. I still stand by what I said, you can keep your 46% tax rate in exchange for governmental services and depenency. Real freedom is far more important.
pitenius ago
Similar in Japan.
CANCEL-CAT-FACTS ago
The mindset stil exists. My Eastern European friend taught her young son to swim by picking him up and flinging him into the deep end of a pool while he was crying about being scared of the water. Today he is hoping to get a college scholarship for swimming. Thanks.
pitenius ago
Welcome to Siberia, too.
CANCEL-CAT-FACTS ago
Showering at -20 and going out in the cold; all before 7:30 am and breakfast -- those are some hardcore kids. Thanks.
pitenius ago
I used to live next to a school dormitory in Japan. Wake up call at 5:00 over loudspeaker, group exercise, and no heat in the building. Chinese exchange students complained.
pitenius ago
Battered babies? With carrots? I've been eating plain ones all these years!