A video of my three-year-old “singing” a song he wrote about Bernie went a bit viral recently. His message got a lot of internet love: “Bernie Sanders wants us to make the world better . . . right away!!” He got it. The world needs fixing, it’s urgent, and Bernie wants to help us do it.

A few people, though, had complaints about my parenting. One said, “He is clearly not old enough to understand politics. There’s no need for this forced indoctrination.”

I found this insulting to my child — and all children, for that matter. But it made me think: How old do you have to be to understand politics? How do you define politics? If it’s think-tank policy papers, lobbying strategies, and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, then sure, leave my kid out of it. But if it’s an outline of the injustices of the world, and the necessity of a fight for things to be better, then we need everyone, especially the children — who often have a clearer and more hopeful understanding of reality than we do.