American Deaths Count More

In the war in Syria, future American deaths weigh heavily in the discussion.   We don't want Americans to die in the conflict, we don't want body bags filled with American remains.  There is an implicit assumptions that American lives are more important than Syrian lives.  Shouldn't we be asking if our presence in Syria makes the lives of Syrians better? Will our presence result in less Syria deaths, less Syrians being displaced from their home.

We also believe that people born north of the Rio Grande are more important than those born south of the Rio Grande.   Really?  A baby coming out of the womb is more precious to us if he is born inside our borders.  If he is born somewhere else then carried inside our borders, he is less precious, he deserves less of our resources to care for him.  We begrudge as Americans having to care for a child born on the wrong side of the Rio Grande.  In our many wars, we only report American deaths.

A thousand years from now how will more enlightened humans see this view of life.  A view of life that finds the circumstances of one's birth to determine their value.  Country, wealth, class, race, sex, etc. at birth is part of what establishes one's worth in our society and in all societies that I know of on this planet.

I can imagine a world in which each child at conception is a joy for all of us.  Imagine as they grow up them spending time in multiple homes for extended periods of time where they are loved and cherished as the most important thing on the planet.  Sharing them with others to broaden their outlook and deepen their sensibilities so they can cherish the next generation of humans.  And this sensibility spreading to all that is around us, the sky, the birds, the trees, the plants, the microscopic life forms under our feet.  Crazy, hey?