A hierarchy of human resources

In a previous post titled Bothering the Future with our Past I look for a different kind of hierarchy than the one we seem to be under. This list has twelve resources that I think we need. Number 1 is below which I elaborate on.

1. Comfort - without this or the hope for this we shall go mad.

By comfort I don't simply mean a soft mattress for my bed. I mean moments where we don't have to be looking over our shoulder, where we can find warmth, food, a home. When people are unable to find comfort they are homeless, they are refugees wandering somewhere away from fear of being raped, killed, tortured, or dying of starvation.

Refugees are blamed for creating crises in places where others claim they don't belong. The endless arguments about who belongs, who should be allowed to enter and who should be sent away ignores the origin of the problem - that some are labelled as misfits, as other.  Centuries of conflict have created refugees or migrants. Which means even those who are not migrants are unsettled and live in fear.

Comfort requires habits of home building. Homelessness of any kind destabilizes community.

Soup is Magic

There is something magical about soup. You just have to get a sauce pan out, fry up a few veggies, add meat or legumes, water, herbs, spices and simmer until ready. You don't need a recipe. Use your favourite things to make soup. Taste it and add whatever you think it needs. It is your soup after all. No-one besides you is an expert on your soup.

You can share it with someone else. Someone who doesn't or cannot make soup. The most effective way to serve soup is to invite them over to your place.  If you cannot do that you can put some in a tub and take it to them.