Values on life

This is part of a discussion with loose theories and assumptions that I have been having with myself for a little while as I think about various aspects in consideration to the state of the world.

Viewer discretion is advised.

I have one child. Just one. She means the world to me. We won't be having another, even if we wanted to.

Before she was born I did some of my worst case scenario meditations to try to psychologically prepare myself for any eventuality. After she was born I have done more to include the new information and experiences I have had since. These have been the most uncomfortable of my thought processes I have done. There is only one thing worse than losing a child, losing more than one, just thinking about it is difficult.

I live in Europe and a country of peace, relative political stability, health care, social benefits, education and well, wealth. It is not that everyone in Finland is wealthy, until you compare them to the poorest countries on earth and the conditions some face every day. When my daughter was born, the risk of loss was very low (1.7/1000 births), as she grows, it is very likely to remain that way. But, that is not the same everywhere.

War, persecution, poverty, crime, violence, hunger and all I can imagine is, very little hope that the immediate future is going to be much different from the recent past. When children are born, the child mortality rate under 5 at its worst is 76.5/1000 births, _source how many make it to adulthood?

Children are necessary, children are our future and in the poorest countries on earth where automation and education can be quite low, children are required to carry on the work of their parents. How many Finns are prepared these days to face a 7% chance of losing their child in the first 5 years? Yet, these people must, there is no choice and it is one of the reasons families have so many children, they already know that some are unlikely to survive to become productive, to carry on.

But, I wonder, how does this affect a family when the parents know that there are such high risks they must take, how does it affect the parent's role and willingness to invest into their children?

I am the fourth of five children, a large family by Australian standards but, I know that there were differences between being born first or second, or lower down the list. It is just fact in my family and is natural as even though our parents loved all of us, the resources available dwindled, including the time spent with each. What happens in a family of 10 or 12? I do not know, I can only assume it is similar.

I was listening to a podcast with a guy who spent a great deal of time living and learning from inner-city drug gangs in America and he mentioned that their value or, lack of value for life was much lower than the norm. even their own lives. They knew that not many made it to the top and it took Rep which meant, taking lives and once there, the money was high but, very few had a chance to retire before someone took their place by force. It meant that life was cheap to take with little room for remorse and, life was short so take all you can while you can.

What does this mean for the massive populations living in the poorest places day in day out when one of the richest countries on earth can't manage to control violence? And when they try, it often makes things worse. How with so few resources are they supposed to turn things around when they already have to accept the likely losses of their own children?

I wonder if when resources are already so low, how do people manage investing into the young minds of their future? What effects does that have on children as the develop considering nurture is likely the largest influence on a human. If one grows up with what would be considered loving parents that have the time, energy and resources to invest into their children, the chances of a better life experience for the child is significantly better. What chances are there for a child that doesn't receive adequate parental care?

There are massive inequalities in this world that cross many facets of life but, one of the largest is the opportunity for children to get their needs attended to from birth. Necessity of the parents can mean that they don't have time, energy or resources to raise their children even the way they want to raise them.

It is no wonder there are cycles of poverty and violence, no wonder that life has become cheap or worthless in some areas and no wonder that people have little hope for a better experience considering once trapped, there is almost no way out. It is a debt cycle of the most extreme case where people don't even have anything left to invest time into their own children.

I want to go more into some of these things but, I also feel that some are touchy areas, even approached with compassion. I want to look at some of the areas in more detail though considering the diversity of the audience, it can create tensions and emotional reactions. I don't know but, something has to change doesn't it? Talking about these things openly at all levels is necessary as it is up to us, we can't rely on an authority with an agenda.

This world and the communities within could all be in much better positions but, like all of history before, we have failed to target the right points, failed to improve where it mattered. Will it always be this way?

Comments welcome as always.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]