Grumpy Ent

Do you see him?

Philosophy Friday
Most times when I add a Philosophy Friday its something that's moved me and I've kept it ready, seemed relevant and I've looked it up, or simply been bouncing around my head for a while.

In a week where we've potentially begun to re-engage with fostering, where good friends have (finally) found out they've concieved and I've seen grown men of power act like spoilt brats - it's my own thoughts that want to escape into the world tonight.

I'm lucky to travel a lot and meet many people of different cultures, opportunities and belief, fostering and a lot of god-parenting has let us meet many many special children, but some things seem to be almost universally true of us all when we enter the world.

By and large the young children I know, the ones I see, the one I remember being - they don't have a sense of judgment, they don't demonise differences, they enter the world a blank slate. I've watched them - they measure you by will you play with me? will you share your toys with me?  will you keep me safe? I've yet to meet a young child who judged another by the colour of their skin, the deity they held dear or the coin in their purse.
Sure there's always an obnoxious one - but at a young age that's rare - and often as not the other kids will still engage and include.
But...and it's a but with no answer - as they grow older that obnoxious oddity becomes more prevalent, often they become more noticeable or socially powerful - and that engenders the question why? The answer I'm left with is it's us - the so called grown-ups, the society we've shaped - the values we promote, the behaviour we reward. At some point they become "my toys", "I" and "mine" become more important than "we" and "ours", being a "winner" becomes more important than being a "player".
Are we not yet socially evolved enough to value play over work? To value our neighbour as much as our own? To know that our enemy was once our friend? Someone we played with, shared with and laughed with.

I can offer no answers.