When I was in elementary school, my parents gave me several “How and Why Wonder Books.” These books introduced the fundamentals of weather, stars, rocks and minerals, insects, reptiles, birds, rockets and missiles, flight, and many other topics. I was fascinated by the book, “Atomic Energy.” So much so that a couple of years later I wrote a report on nuclear fission. Remember, in the 1960’s, atomic energy was a relatively new field.
FYI: Children of the 50’s were coached to head for the school basement or hide under their desks in case of an atomic attack. I discovered this was pointless, having read about the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the fact that fusion bombs are 1000 times more powerful than their fission precursors. Pre-teen me concluded that there were only two places I wanted to be if a 20-megaton bomb went off – either far, far away or near ground zero, because instant death would be preferable to radiation sickness. What a thought for a child! Don’t get me started on the chances of surviving an all-out nuclear war: in a nutshell, slim and none. This was the first time in my life I suspected the government wasn’t telling us the whole truth. There have been countless times since then.
My child mind still has a lot of questions about what’s going on in the world. I’ll let little me ask some…
We learned a new word in school this week. Castaway. It means someone who’s shipwrecked on an island. It sounds like what it means. Lost at sea. Thrown away from other people. What if someone is sent away by other people? My teacher said, “that’s an outcast.” So, what’s the difference then? Maybe it’s not an island, but isn’t it the same thing when someone is sent to jail or out of the country? I guess one is by nature, and the other is by people. Maybe we need to be careful about sending people away. What if they never come back? What if we send them away and they die? What if we’re wrong about sending them away? Wouldn’t that mean we made them outcasts for no good reason? And don’t people become outcasts without being sent away? Sometimes we just turn our backs on them, don’t we? They don’t have to wait for a storm or anything. People throw other people away like garbage. Why?
Many people don’t have enough food. Why is this right? Many people can’t afford to see a doctor or go to a hospital. Why is this right? Many people don’t have a house to live in. Why is this right? My parents told me it’s because they don’t have enough money. Why don’t they? I don’t think they’re lazy. I know people who work very hard but still don’t have much money. But there’s plenty of money for a lot of things. I can see them every day. There’s money for amazing cars, boats, and houses. There’s money to build tanks, battle ships, and atom bombs. There’s money to give to rich people for pumping oil or digging coal, even for not growing crops. There’s even money to pay Congress for doing nothing. Why is there never enough money to help kids live to be grownups?
My teacher told me that life is about something called, “priorities.” That means putting things in order of importance. Are cars, buildings, and banks more important than people? Are rich people more important than poor people? Is money more important than kids and their families? Maybe we need to decide what the important things really are. Maybe some people shouldn’t keep so much for themselves. If we had the right priorities, wouldn’t we take better care of everyone, not just the rich and famous? Why do some people make more money than they can spend in a thousand lifetimes? Why do some people make so little money they can’t afford to live? I heard that sometimes people kill themselves because they can’t make enough money. Who decided that some people can be Scrooge McDuck rich while others never get a chance?
Why is it that so much in life depends on whether you are a boy or girl, or what color your skin is, or who you choose to love? Why do people hate people who are different? Why do people always want more, no matter how much they have? Why do people who have a lot want a lot more, and people who don’t have much are happy when they get a little more?
Why do people who have enough want to take things away from people who have less than they do? Why do some people take land from people who have lived there for hundreds of years? Why do some people want to control what other people say and do? Why do some people hate other people so much that they hurt or kill them? Why can’t some people just leave other people alone? Why am I asking these questions? Maybe the people in charge should be asking them.
MurrayWorks 