Why can we say such a thing? Start with an average 53 American children being shot EVERY day. What “civilized” nation allows that??? Poverty, hunger, homelessness – of children. What “advanced” nation allows this??? A children’s mental health crisis. What “rich” nation allows this??? Tobacco being deliberately marketed to young people. What “caring” nation allows corporations to market death to its children??? Children being deliberately addicted to social media, for hours a day. What “moral” nation allows this addiction to continue – when it KNOWS this is occurring??? Government spending on older adults plus other budget items FAR exceeds that spent on its future – its children. What “rational” nation allows its own future to be short changed??? Occupations that primarily care for and educate children have long been under paid. What message does a society send when those who care for and educate its future adults are under paid???
*** “Don’t tell me what your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.” [James W. Frick]
1]. Gun Violence – and Individual and Community Trauma
– “A Generation Torn by Trauma..School shooting survivors can’t escape echoes of the gunfire” [John Woodrow Cox; Wash. Post; 5/29/22]: “..hundreds of thousands of children’s lives have been profoundly changed by school shootings..children who suffer no physical wounds at all, but are still haunted for years..The nightmares..”
– “After witnessing a parent’s death, a life of trauma” [John W. Cox; Wash. Post Weekly; 8/28/22]: “..thinks about the man she watched shoot her father..feared for years that he would find her family again..made her so paranoid..”
*** “So long as little children are allowed to suffer, there is no true love in the world.” [Isadora Duncan]
2] “Why does America hate its children?” [Paul Krugman; New York Times; 1/20/20]: “..the grim exceptionalism of America’s child-oriented policies, which are Dickensian compared with those of every other advanced country..every advanced country mandates some form of paid leave for new mothers..except the United States..”
*** “A youth is to be regarded with respect.” [Confucius].
3] Addicting Children to Social Media – and Depression, Hospitalization, Suicide
– “Curb kid’s tech addiction, investors tell Apple” [Assoc.Press; 1/9/17]: “Two major Apple investors have urged the iPhone maker to help curb smartphone addiction among children..letter cited various studies on negative effects of smartphones and social media on children’s mental and physical health..”
– “Suicide spike in girls raises concerns over social media” {Cynthia Koons; Bloomberg News; 5/18/19]: “The fact..social media has become the primary forum for interpersonal engagement in adolescence.. Increasing rates of suicide may be the ‘canary in the coal mine’..”
– “Seattle schools sue social media” [Gene Johnson; Assoc Press; 1/9/23]: “..complaint says the social media companies have created a public nuisance by targeting their products to children..Internal studies revealed..in 2021 showed the company knew that Instagram negatively affected teenagers..”
*** “No social problem is as universal as the oppression of the child.” [Maria Montessori]
4] DELIBERATELY Under Funding Education – Damage Done To Children, America
– “The uneducated American” [Paul Krugman; New York Times; 10/12/09]: “America, which used to take the lead in educating its young, had been gradually falling behind other advanced countries..education is on the chopping block..laid-off teachers are only part of the story. Even more important is the way that we’re shutting off opportunities.”
– “The Cost Of Education Funding Cuts”. [NEA Today; 2018]: “..mice in their classrooms, they have to buy their own glue traps..antiquated plumbing that regularly floods a..hallway…some schools restrict..use of air conditioners…a teacher who sells his blood..teachers who work into the night as Uber drivers..[17 states divert $1 billion to private schools]
*** “The free school is the promoter of that intelligence which is to preserve us as a free nation; therefore, the state or the nation, or both combined, should support the free institutions of a good common school education.”
1888 Republican Party national platform plank]
5]. Respecting Children By Telling Them The TRUTH
– There are political campaigns built around “protecting” children from “divisive” topics: the Holocaust; slavery, Civil War causes, segregation, racism; American Indians; women; Asian-Americans. Some states passing laws making it illegal to go “too far” on other things – like anything to do with [SEX!!!] and sexuality, most especially gays and trans youth.
The central lessons of WW II: the Holocaust, dangers of fascism [now occurring in the U.S.A.], dangers of “America First” isolationism [now occurring in the U.S.A.]. From 1619 forward, the South defended racial slavery and segregation. It’s DOCUMENTED southern states refused to join a “United States” unless slavery was protected – several Constitutional provisions haunt us to this day. From 1492 forward, GENOCIDE against “Indians” was conducted in North and South America. Asian-Americans were imported as labor to build railroads – then laws restricted their immigration. Women were second class citizens without political power, 1789-1920; subject to discrimination, quotas in schools, the “glass ceiling,” 1920 – .
*** “History is the torch that is meant to illustrate the past, to guard against the repetition of our mistakes of other days. We cannot join in rewriting of history to make it conform to our comfort and convenience.” [Claude Bowers]
“School Shouldn’t Be A Battlefield” [George Packer; The Atlantic; April, 2022]: “Public education is meant not to mirror the unexamined values of a particular family or community, but to expose children to ways that other people, some of them long daed, think..A functioning democracy needs citizens who know how to make decisions together.”
*** “It’s not so much what folks don’t know that causes problems, it’s what they do know that ain’t so.” [Artemus Ward]
“In Schools, Talk about Racism Can Reduce Bias” [Camilla M. Griffiths & Nicky Sullivan; Scientific American; Nov.,2022]:”In Iowa..a law prohibits any teaching that suggests the U.S. is “fundamentally or systematically racist or sexist”..also specifies that teachers must ensure that no student feels “discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex.”..[this seems to be] protective of children. But the effect is quite the opposite.”
*** “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth, not going all the way, and not starting.” [Buddha]
Perhaps with refusing to allow our children to hear and discuss truth – it isn’t so much hating children, in this case, but – that America FEARS. it’s own children. the fear if they hear the truth, adults will lose control over them; the fear children knowing truth will disown parents; the fear knowing truth children will [GASP] want to change America to reflect truth [how absolutely UNPATRIOTIC of them!!!]
*** “The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops – no, but the kind of man the country turns out.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson]
6] Homeless and Hungry in America. – Children
– “New report says U.S. child homelessness at all-time high” [David Crary & Lisa Leff; Assoc.Press; 11/17/14]: “..the report issued Monday by the National Center on Family Homelessness calculates that nearly 2.5 million American children were homeless at some point in 2013..”
– “A quarter of children being raised by grandparents face hunger” [Michelle Singletary; Wash. Post; 11/21/22]: “In 2021, about 34 million people lived in food-insecure households..”
– “It’s the law: Free school meals for all” [Eder Campuzano; Star Tribune; 3/18/23]: “Minnesota becomes the third state to require no-cost breakfast and lunch for all students..”
– “Lost In Ohio” [Samantha Shapiro; New York times Magazine; 10/2/22]: “Fo homeless kids in rural America, staying in school can seem next to impossible – but often it’s their only source of help…failing to graduate from high school is the single greatest risk factor for future homelessness.”
*** “The children who go to bed hungry in a Harlem slum or a West Virginia mining town are not being deprived because no food can be found ..; they are going to bed hungry because ..we have not yet found a way to make the necessities of life available to all of our citizens – including those whose failure is ..only an unwise choice of parents.” [ senator J. William Fulbright]
7] Book Burnings – And – Beyond
-“Why book bans and voter suppression go hand in hand” [Kimberle W. Crenshaw; L.A. Times; 11/13/22]: “..between July, 2021 and June, 2022, nearly 1,700 book titles have been banned..The magnitude of this assault on our children’s right to learn cannot be overstated..When honest discussions and examination of racism are made unspeakable, then a truly inclusive democracy in unattainable.”
– “Bible Among Books Withheld From Schools” [Amanda Holpuch; New York Times; 8/19/22]: “..It is virtually impossible to run a school or a library that purges books in response to any complaint from any corner ..”
– “The old censorship argument has a new goal” [David Levithan; Wash. Post Weekly; 10/2/22]: “..the attacks are less about the books. We’re targets in a much larger proxy war with the goal of eviscerating the country’s public education system.”
– GOP pushes curriculum transparency across U.S.” [Julie C. Smith & Casey Smith; Assoc. Press; 2/13/22]: “Tissot [Cincy Mom] also supports policing teachers’ behavior more closely, including requiring them to wear body cameras..the legislation gives local parent committees with no expertise power over which curriculum teachers use, and parents could file complaints and lawsuits if they believe teachers have violated a ban on certain “divisive concepts.”
*** “Don’t join the book burners. Do not think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed.” [President Dwight D. Eisenhower]
8] Erasing Sub Humans
– “Trans People Testifying To Legislatures Facer Disrespect’ [Andrew Demillo; Assoc Press; 2/28/23]: “The idea of protecting children by withholding medical care is undermined by health experts, who have said minors with gender dysphoria who do not receive appropriate care face dramatically increased risk of suicide and serious depression.”
– “No Dignity In this Kind OfAmerica” [Jamelle Bouie; New York Times]: “To deny equal respect and dignity to any part of the citizenry is to place the entire country on the road to tiered citizenship and limited rights, to liberty for some and hierarchy for the rest..There is no world in which their freedom is suppressed and yours is sustained.”
– “GOP pushing anti-LGBTQ bills at record pace” [Kelsey Butler; Bloomberg News; 4/10/22]: “It”s not just about health care. It’s not just about bathrooms or curriculum or any of the other areas where these transgender youth are being targeted. It is about a well-coordinated national political campaign to write them out of existence.”
*** “It is easy to substitute our will for that of the child by means of suggestion or coercion; but when w have done this we have robbed him of his greatest right, the right to construct his own personality.” [Maria Montessori]
9] So – DOES America Hate Children?
– What are the basic needs of ANY human being, birth to death? Health care, food, housing, clothing, education. safety and protection, treated with respect and dignity at a MINIMUM. Has America provided all of this, in required quantities for its children? NO. Have other similar nations provided for these needs? YES. America’s DOCUMENTED failure to nurture its own children, as others do is THE reason we can say: “America Hates Children”
*** “Society is indeed a contract…It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all art; a partnership in every virtue, and in all perfection. As the ends of such partnership cannot be obtained except in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.” [Edmund Burke]
The failure to nurture its own children means America has broken Burke’s sacred contract. America has broken the partnership with generations 175-2023. America has broken the partnership with generations 2023 forward.
If one sees Americans as part of a society, part of a large family, then the American family has failed in its most basic duty: to nurture and protect its children. this is a betrayal of cosmic proportions. By rights, America should be taken to court, and prosecuted for child neglect.
*** “The security and elevation of the family and of family life are the prime objects of civilization, and the ultimate ends of all industry.” [Charles W. Eliot]
It gets worse. Not only neglect – but actual hostility, cruelty, and persecution. – of CHILDREN. Biological science says 3 to 10% of humans are “gay.” They have no choice. They are born this way. Some are tall, some shirt. Some have blue eyes, some brown. Some have tried to resist [even getting married to opposite sex]. Some committed suicide.
CHILDREN – coming to “adults” for help – denied, and worse.
*** “The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned against are indeed depraved creatures, deserving every punishment, even extermination. We cannot pity those we have wronged, nor can we be indifferent toward them. We must hate and persecute them or else leave the door open to self-contempt.” [Eric Hoffer]
A country that loves its own children does NOT make life more difficult for them. It does NOT allow children to become victims of addictions. It does NOT allow them to be exploited. It does NOT allow thousands to be hungry and homeless.
BUT. – a country that DOES. hate its children just might see thousands of them now being treated and hospitalized for mental health crises.
*** “I’m not sure how many “sins” I would recognize in the world..But I can imagine none that is more irredeemably sinful than the betrayal, the exploitation, of the young by those who should care for them.” [Elizabeth Janeway}o
With Justice For All 