In a mirror, darkly

Last Friday night, we were on our way home from meeting the Daddy for dinner (the Fred Astaire Dance Studio was giving free lessons on the town square. I learned the first 8 counts of the Rumba, then Hudson said he was ready for BED NOW, so we left) and the kids, as usual when we are in the car at night, began asking Deep Questions. The discussion went something like this:

Hudson: Does everyone in the whole world have their lights on right now? Wait, I know the answer..NO!
Me: Well, let's see. It's almost 3 a.m. in England, so most people there are probably asleep. In China it is daylight.
Hudson: And Japan! Is Japan our friend?
Me: Yes, Japan is our friend now.
Harper: Which countries are not our friend right now?
Me: Well, that is a complicated question. Because it changes. For example, Japan wasn't always our friend. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and that's what pulled our country into WWII. The Japanese were allied with the Germans. Remember how we talked about Adolf Hitler?
Harper: BUT WHY would the ninjas be friends with that bad foolish man?
Hudson: SATAN!
Me: Well, I don't know all of the details, but generally wars start and continue because people want more power. Also, I don't know that there were any actual Ninjas fighting with the Japanese. We can look that up when we get home.
Harper: Well, I do not know why there are wars because bad people want more power. I do not understand that AT ALL.
Hudson: SATAN!
(we had a short conversation about Satan and why he exists. Because that is easy to do while driving a minivan. At night. At the end of a long day.)
Me: Well, as to why people want more power,  I noticed that you were the leader at the playground with our friends today.
Harper: (defensively) Well, yes. But that is only because I won when Izzy did "eenie, meanie, miney, mo."
Me: Nonetheless, you seemed to enjoy being in charge and telling everyone what to do and where to go.
Harper: (affronted) Well, yes, but I wasn't telling them to do BAD things.
Hudson: (cheerily) And I did not mind not being in charge. And we all said, "Yes, My Master," whenever she told us to do stuff like guard the castle. And we put the bad guys in jail when she said to!
Me: Hmm. So yes, that is pretty much what happens.