I started watching it with some mistrust over the child abuse comments here.However it soon became obvious that it was a dream come true! The ultimate summer-camp! Summercamps can be a tough experience for those that are too dependent on their parents. But any kid cherishes the idea of not having school nor parents to dictate their day!! The program is obviously artificial i.e. many of the kids have particular skills needed such as milking sheep or butchering animals. But try to put yourself in the producers shoes, you would be surprised to see the amount of work required to film 1min. Everything has to come together first time and it requires tons of planning. And then there's the editing...So what??? It is TV, we want to be entertained. If your an existentialist then watch European film noir...Personally I like happy endings and this show delivers.

I like the show personally. But there is some issues. Anyway here's the basic plot there's these 40 kids left in a deserted town named Bonaza city. They work to make a better town that's basically it with some smaller plots like winning the gold star for the most hard working kid. Now on to my question is Kid Nation real or fake? Here's some examples of the kids just acting. Zack is always doing hard work and being a leader but I don't believe it he just probably faked because he's always in front of the camera. My second example is Taylor she acts like a brat who needs rehab, but people on the internet say she's not like that in real life. Probably the producers told Taylor to be that way for entertainment. My last example is Greg the oldest. He acts tough just to look like the smartest and coolest on the show.I hope I convivnced you that Kid Nation is fake.

This show directly taps into the pioneer folklore of American cultural story: Despite hardship, and the looming danger of chaos, if we all stick together, we'll make it. Now, there's a lot to say for a never-say-die attitude. At the same time, I wonder if this show strengthens Americans in the believe, that their we-are-better-than-thee approach in the world is justified, that they are the "Chosen People" and thus are more entitled than other nations.All that aside, this show is pretty good. It is clearly shown that even though we might think of children as angels, they are not. They have the same capacity for cruelty and stupidity as adults. Taylor is the perfect example of a spoiled beauty queen. In the first episode she says: "I'm a beauty-queen and I don't do dishes" and she acts accordingly. She sleeps in very late and doesn't do her job as Yellow Leader to make breakfast, except on the first day. Taylor has discovered the George Bush defense: When something happens bush doesn't like, when he gets criticized he denies it and says: "So? What are you gonna do about it? and "I don't give a rats ass", as well as "It wasn't me!" in all their various diplomatic variations.This is very similar to Taylor's highly annoying "Deal with it!" The amazing thing is, they BOTH GET AWAY WITH IT! Just like that evil Big Brother guy. At the moment of writing, after episode 3, Taylor's got openly and publicly criticized at the town hall meeting. Typically, she got out of it, like a regular politician, by making an empty promise and ... crying! Edit: Just like a true politician (Bush, anyone?) she has done NOTHING to keep her promise, by the end of episode 4! Edit: it's now episode 9, and she STILL hasn't worked an ounce! What's more, she's proud of that fact! Greg is also worth mentioning. Since he demonstrated so far, the worst reaction to his adversity of not winning the gold star, by acting out and bullying, he fails to see a very basic thing about living with other people: you have to be, up to a degree, likable as well as work hard. Most adults could have told him that the best reaction to losing the gold star would have been to work just as hard and be gracious in defeat. But at fifteen, he's (understandbly) unable to see that. He's for a large part justified in his feeling of being treated unfairly. It's just not good politics to start bullying like he did.Mike, seems hell bent NOT to give Greg a Gold Star. That is petty and low. He thereby has reduced Greg to a 2nd class citizen: "No matter how hard you work, we're gonna give the reward to a little girl anyway!" (whose parents were so irresponsible to let her go away on her birthday, at that!) What's been made clear by the showdowns is that the Green Team must be the worst organizers. Bigger kids should be better at everything: they're smarter, tougher and more experienced. Yet, the Yellow team (on average the youngest kids) doesn't always lose. Kudos to the creators of the showdowns that they reward organisation, as well as strength speed and tenacity.The so-called controversy around "child-labor" is indicative of another feature of America, the overly bureaucratic and rule-obsessed side. I guess the pioneer-myth-side is preferable.

In a nutshell... watch it at least once and then make up your mind. Either you like it, hate it, find it somewhat endearing and inspiring or truly feel it is exploitative. But don't prejudge this based on what you've read in newspaper articles or on the Internet. That to me is just a sad commentary on what our country has turned into (protest and censor something without even knowing what it is about.) I personally find it entertaining and am happy to see kids that age be able to work together and handle life much better than many adults. And for people who feel parents should be concerned about leaving their kids out in the middle of nowhere with no adults around. Come on. There are more crew and production people on the premises than the 38 or 39 kids. These kids ARE supervised.But the bottom line is... there are many other shows on Wednesday night at the same time as KID NATION. If this isn't your cup of tea, don't watch it.