What are we doing to our world? Over the centuries there have been countless wars and violent disputes over territory and ideologies But you’d think that in this ‘smart and modern’ world of ours we would wake up and see that fighting gets no-one anywhere. The result is always death and despair. Plus, nowadays, it’s not man against man – as in soldier armed with gun against similar soldier with gun – it’s truly “weapons of mass destruction” (to quote an ignorant former president). Children and 'ordinary' citizens are slaughtered on a daily basis; houses are obliterated. What for? Over a slab of land; over an overzealous religion or belief system. And passenger aeroplanes are blasted out of the sky; bodies scattered among farmland and ignored, while the fighting continues. On and on it goes. My suggestion is for world leaders to publish millions of copies of the Dr Seuss book, “The Sneetches” and distribute the books widely, accompanied with lectures of explanation for those too ‘thick’ to catch on to the message.. I quote a small section: ‘But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches Would brag, “We’re the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches. With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they’d snort “We’ll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort!” And whenever they met some, when they were out walking, They’d hike right on past them without even talking. When the Star-Belly children went out to play ball, Could a Plain- Belly get in the game…? Not at all. You only could play if your bellies had stars And the Plain-Belly children had none upon thars’. Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) wrote “The Sneetches”, in 1961 to teach children about discrimination. (I have an idea that he had suffered discrimination as a child). He was born way back in 1904 and penned this (anti-discrimination) children’s book when in his 50s. He knew the score. Why can’t we learn from that? I suggest to anyone who is not familiar with “The Sneetches” to look it up and read the whole brilliant story. Then spread the word. It’s a start. PS: Wasn’t there someone else, even longer ago, who recommended to 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'? That’s worth a try also.
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Author notesI choose to comment on social issues and write creatively on a variety of subjects - for a variety of audiences.
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