What Can You Do? Think!

Today on CBC Radio (The Current) I heard about a mother who is seriously exhausted. Her daughter wanted a nice binder for the papers she carried to school. Apparently it cost 30 dollars. For all the supplies at the beginning of a new year the cost has risen a whole lot.

This is not the whole story. How many kids did she have who were still at school?

The mother of course wanted to get a cheaper binder but the daughter feared being bullied if she didn't get the right one.

This is not the mother or the daughter's fault. They feel trapped in a society that promotes things and trashes people. Drugs, crime, inequality all serve the purpose of creating false virtues. I remember dealing with this when my kids were at school. They never told me they would be beaten up for not having the right things but they did suffer bullying and kept it from me. I had to do some sleuthing and often my values collapsed when faced with unpleasant realities. I had to find a way to help them survive in a world where power landed in the laps of greedy manipulators. TV commercials dripping with the notion we are worth what we own and nothing about integrity or justice or respect for life. 

How can I protect the vulnerable from the rapacious headlines meant to control their thinking? How can we raise the young mind to remain innocent while our society sinks into the muddy soil of patriarchal capitalism?

First we must encourage the young to think for themselves and to be available to them when they need to talk. Our economy asks mothers and fathers to prioritize work and money which they need to survive but there is a message we can give our families that honours who they are as independent souls living in a society which has for thousands of years, trained to be servants to whomever is higher on the pecking order.

When I was in my forties I understood how to care for myself and loved ones, and learned how shallow and false the claims of success in our material world. Now I see that organized society is destroying our minds, hearts and the future of our species. Now I see that life has no value for power unless it becomes the slave.

When life has been tortured to the death of our home we may understand or we may just be blaming someone else. For now you can speak and live your truth and maybe we will survive.