Now is a time for truth to matter. We ought to be honest with ourselves. Our humanity with regard to children, including immigrants, isn’t a question of capitalism v socialism nor what can we afford as a society to give that won’t impose too great a burden. At the heart of who we are is a question we need to ask ourselves: what basic quality of society do we want to afford?
Do we value kindness to strangers in need, or to the poor?
Do we value equality, enabling all citizens access to a life with dignity?
What is the baseline standard of living and thriving in what is deemed the greatest country in the world?
These are the questions at that ought to be at the heart of our choice of who we seek to replace Trump.
The bottom of the bucket should be our basic humanity in how we treat strangers in need. At lowest of lows should be how we treat children.
While how we are treating immigrant children is the issue that breaks my heart, it is hardly the only issue we need to face head on as a society. How we treat immigrant children, however, is indicative of our society, which has abandoned a fundamental humane morality in favor of one that values maximizing profit and wealth above all else ...such as honesty, treatment of children, accessibility to clean air and water in our communities, accessible healthcare, ease of voting, and so much more.
It is not anti capitalism to think society basics ought to include: the ability to live with dignity in communities where everyone is safe, that all children are deserving of love & kindness, that children have quality education as basic preparation, that raising children is a job worthy of supporting, that quality healthcare is accessible to everyone, that safe food, water, clean air is ensured, that the elderly are not left to die alone in untenable conditions, that worker conditions are safe and healthy, that communities are not poisoned by industries, that even the most depraved and heinous among us whom we imprison are treated with a minimally reasonable dignity and quality of life. This is not socialism.
Our society, with its laws and policies, are an expression who we are, of our hierarchy of values. Have we forgotten purpose of our country’s foundation as stated in our Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,...”?
We can argue about details — the basics for prisoners, or what are livable standards for citizens whether they work or not, or what’s required for children, or what quality or accessibility is for healthcare, housing, the disabled or for voting — but to do that under a morality that places maximizing wealth accumulation above society and its founding values, above the wellbeing of people, is fundamentally flawed.
It is a blatantly false claim that our society will be harmed or it’s quality degraded by the influx of migrants from Central America, particularly when we also seek low wage immigrants for temporary jobs to minimize our cost of food and goods or to maximize the profit of luxury hotels, and when studies show immigrants contribute far more to society’s value, wealth & economy than they cost.
It is ridiculous hogwash and shameful to claim we should separate children from their families and guardians who love them, so we can deter migration of courageous children and families fleeing from harm to establish a safe life for their children, or that because we cannot see to the well being of every person on the planet, we can justify incarcerating refugee children & families in overcrowded unsanitary cages without access to adequate clean water, food, medical care, soap and bedding, regardless of whether we choose to allow them to stay.
It is beyond ridiculousness and depravity that survivability is argued by our government as equivalent to sufficiently sanitary or humane, that tragically 7 children have died in our custody for lack of adequate medical care, and that we incarcerate those who leave water in the dessert so migrants will not die from thirst.
Sometime back at the cusp of my adulthood in the 1970s, we decided maximizing wealth made us moral. We decided to worship the golden calf over basic humanity. I’m not stating that maximizing wealth is immoral, I’m arguing about our hierarchy of values & what makes a society great. At what costs are we willing to allow the uninhibited acquisition of wealth?
This is not some new great wisdom — it’s in the Bible. It’s literally the teachings of Jesus. Placing wealth above the humanity of our neighbors & strangers seeking refuge is literally what the Bible warns us against.
To be frank, although raised Catholic, I am not particularly religious, as religion is used as weapon of control, often to justify horrific behavior and the oppression of women’s autonomy in the name of god. I am, however, an advocate for affording kindness & generosity where we are able, as Jesus taught.
Today we are at a crossroads. Some see it as a choice between Trump and a democrat. I see it as a choice for the best democrat to right the hierarchy of our values and the direction of our society.
We are blessed as a nation or maybe we only see blessings when we are most in need, but to have Elizabeth Warren seeking the presidency at this time is a blessing we’d be foolish to disregard. The vision of Elizabeth Warren for righting our capitalism, so it is both fair & humane as its ideal, is what we should be aiming for; her vision and plans are both pragmatic & well thought out, whether or not we choose her as president.
Just as Jay Inslee has the dedication & vision for addressing climate impact, Elizabeth Warren has joy, optimism, dedication, and the vision of a healthy capitalist society that support our freedom and our voice in democracy. She includes Jay’s necessary attention to immediacy of climate action. She includes the fairness of Bernie’s vision regarding workers, without putting the burden on those in the 1% thriving reasonably or even well. She targets a tad higher, at the extreme wealthy. Warren’s taxes target those who can more than afford to give up some of their wealth as the cost of living in this great country of ours, those who would never miss the 2-5% of wealth were they not to have made it. It’s akin to less than the loss from the fluctuation in their market value.
Were taxation and laws fairer and supportive of our values regarding our humanity, we wouldn’t need to minimally adjust the wealth of the top .01% or to alter the structure of taxation of corporations, or to require easy voting accessibility, to end gerrymandering and so much more. But our laws are unfair and their implied values undermine our humanity.
While I deeply believe that outrage at how we are treating immigrant children is more than valid and that shining a light on these atrocities so they are unavoidable for everyone to be aware of is imperative, I also believe that none of this will lead to lasting or necessary fundamental change. At best it will fix specific situations, at worst, when we become exhausted from protest, when the media moves on, treatment of immigrant children will get more horrific, as it already has.
How we treat immigrants has become a political weapon, wielded by those who believe in unfettered unregulated capitalism and who believe our circumstances reflect our worthiness as human beings. Fairness and humane treatment have become things we acquire through acquisition of wealth or through the generosity of others.
Our core value of “Freedom” has been turned into a political weapon to justify the necessity of intentional harm to others. Unfettered & unregulated has become equated with fundamental liberty as though it belongs above all other values, in order to justify a lower quality of society as a necessity, as what we can reasonably afford.
Make no mistake, this is a fight about who we are as Americans. This is a fight for our humanity and the hierarchy of values we wish for our society.
We may argue about the details of what quality of society we want to afford, but let’s have our debate from the perspective of our humanity and the value of kindness. Let us recognize that unfettered, unimpeded, inadequately regulated capitalism is another way of choosing the golden calf.
© Leslie Bianchi
Google Voice /Text: (802) 255-4510 | Voicemail and texts welcome
Facebook: all4kindness2all
X(twitter) & BlueSky: love2laugh4ever
