One Child's Life

This morning I woke up thinking about a child living in poverty, feeling hunger, being ill, not having warm clothing. And then I thought of a billionaire. What makes the actual life of the billionaire more important than the life of a poor child? And, from there, what makes the life of a poor child less valuable than the lives of my upper-middle-class friends who are flying to warm places in airplanes, staying in resorts, and playing on warm beaches? Both the billionaires and the upper middle class received considerable tax breaks this year. The poor received nothing, and the near-poor will quite possibly end up paying more taxes than they did the year before.

In my mind's eye, I saw the child, and the billionaire, and I cried. As I write this the tears keep coming. How can our culture be so heartless, so uncaring? We try to protect ourselves from the knowledge of our selfishness and being culpable for seeking our own advantage rather than working to help those who need it.

And, if I line this up with the latest indications of the impacts of human-caused climate change, the rich-poor injustices only mount. It is the rich nations and rich families that create substantially more greenhouse gases that drive climate change. The poor live in areas that are more likely to be polluted. They do not fly to other states and countries to vacation. They keep the heat turned low. If they live in subsidized housing, too often the heat is electric, which is hugely inefficient and very costly. The people who live in subsidized housing are not only poor, but they are also likely to be families with young children, people with significant disabilities or elderly.

This isn't about "fairness" here, it's about the value of human life and the reduction of suffering. There is suffering that is unavoidable. Terrible illness can afflict anyone of any economic class. But suffering from cold, hunger, lack of adequate clothing, lack of health care, and no or unreliable transportation, these are not experienced by the wealthy or middle class in this country. Those who experience hunger, inadequate housing, health care, or lack of transportation are those who are poor. It is shameful that whether we acknowledge it or not, we clearly value the lives of the wealthy and middle class far more than we value the lives of those who are poor.

It is beyond time for this to change! We need to change the tax structure in this country. We also need to figure out ways to stop contributing to the swollen bank accounts of the very wealthy of other countries. Worldwide, we need to level the playing fields, to assure everyone on earth the rights delineated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. http://www.un.org/en/udhrbook/pdf/udhr_booklet_en_web.pdf