How Can We Build A Safe Future For Our Children?
Foundations Of A Safe Environment
Our children need trust; a safe environment is the most fundamental need for all of us. So, how can we build the ideal environment to bring a child into the world and raise them today? In an exemplary society, the minimum environment our child needs should be built upon these three foundations:
- Food for everyone,
- Safe shelter for everyone,
- An education on the meaning of life (meaning the teaching of "love your neighbor as yourself").
A correct way of life is only possible in an environment where these needs are guaranteed; however, we cannot find this guarantee right now. We need a roadmap to begin. If we want to become parents today, I want to talk about what we must do beforehand.
Indicators Of A Healthy Community
First, we should look at the agricultural areas where we live. If the field owners in that region consciously leave produce at the edge of the field for the poor during harvest time (like the ancient tradition of gleaning), it may be suitable to raise a child in that region.
Another indicator is this: Observe your neighbors. Are sick people visited in the apartment building or neighborhood where you live? Do they visit you when you are sick? Do they do this gracefully, without disturbing anyone? If sick people in your environment are visited and their basic needs are met, it may be safe to bring a life into the world there.
Another is this: Can people of different faiths be buried in the same cemetery in the city where you live? If Jews, Muslims, Christians, and even atheists can lie in peace in the same cemetery, you can raise a child in that city. Your child may have a different belief than you when they grow up; we cannot know this before they are born. If you do not want your offspring to be exposed to discrimination, you must act by considering even the day they will die starting from today.
The Responsibility Of Future Parents
If you are afraid of having children, it means you live in a society where these three conditions are not met. In this case, your primary duty is to first carry out work that will guarantee these three needs for everyone. Calculating what kind of environment the child will grow up in before becoming a parent is the most correct behavior. We cannot know what our child's character will be, but if we offer them minimum opportunities, we can enable them to be an individual responsible for their own actions.
The Impact Of Guaranteed Needs
If we guarantee food, our child will not need to commit theft to survive. If we guarantee safe shelter, our child will not need to enter into destructive competition or become a jealous person for the sake of a luxurious life. We support the education of "love your neighbor as yourself" with a transparent social structure. Thanks to artificial intelligence-supported automation and security systems, the child knows they are safe at every moment. Even when they intend to do evil, the transparency of the system protects them from this mistake.
Building A Universal Home For Tomorrow
It will take time for this ideal world to exist and many objections will rise; however, our generation will inevitably experience this. The children of the future will be the children of not just us, but the whole world. Therefore, let us build a real home for them before becoming a mother or father. First, let us produce food even if it is in a pot for our neighbors, let us ensure they live in humane conditions, and let us repeat this promise to ourselves every day: "I will not do anything I hate to anyone else".