A lot of what we see around us, and what we think, is affected by our unique position in the world and our pasts – the way our genetics impact our thinking, what we experienced in our lives, and what we were taught.
But some things are objectively true, regardless of our perceptions. It is objectively – in the world beyond our minds – true that there is a number in the picture above. Much more importantly, if there is a car accident and many are hurt, we know – objectively – that something went wrong and we need to help the injured, starting with the most injured.
We would want to be cared for, and that helps us know that others would too. That we ought to do that is objectively true, just as in the picture above, it is true that we can see a number.
Today many are being hurt by increasing world temperatures – the climate catastrophe, with millions dying and hundreds of millions – including babies – at risk. The most at-risk and injured are women and children of color from nations that did little if anything to create the climate catastrophe.
They need money and other resources from the wealthiest governments, families, and companies in the world to survive. And because all the wealth was made by not paying the costs to women and children that would have avoided creating the catastrophe, they really owe that money to the women and children. The wealthy made the money because they never had to share the money in women and children enough to protect the climate and ensure children their rights, and instead they were able to benefit from the unsustainable growth the create their wealth.
They were able to fill their factories and shopping malls with many other because they did not have to share enough to make sure all kids got the full education, food and healthcare their kids got, and they were able to build so many factories and shopping malls that it hurt the environment we all share – killing many animals and causing mass extinction of whole species.
Imagine that those above playing in the game above have fun are the wealthy and their families, who will be relatively safe from the climate crisis the creation of their wealth created, and those behind the fence are everyone else. To help those behind the fence to join the game too, some will fight to take down the fence – to move the resources women and children need so they can joint the game and have fun. They will make sure the wealth gets paid back to those harmed.
Like those who fought for freedom before, against human rights abusers for example, those who want to get children what they need are doing what is right. What you will see them doing is trying to change the system of who makes the rules, and why we follow those rules. In the old days some men used violence to force others to follow the rules these men made. In the last few hundred years that changes so that some men used resources – money, food, healthcare, being welcome in one’s community, etc. – as an incentive to reward to get others to follow the rules these men made. Those who want to get children what they need want to ensure everyone can really participate in making the rules – like you might do in a classroom when creating a new game – so they naturally follow them.
And just as it is objectively true that we can see a number above, and that those harmed by others deserve our help, it is objectively true that the needs of women and children come first because the childhoods they create first determine who we are – our relations to each other and our environment. Mothers make us who we are, and who we should be. Think about where you came from – how you were created.
That came first, before now. We know that objectively. Where we came from – how we were created and the things we had growing up – first determines a lot about what we do and think today.
And when we start deciding what we should do, and what we owe others, we always start at the beginning. Mothers make us who we are, and who we should be – and being fair and good to those who have been harmed comes first.
