28 November 2009

Thanksgiving weekend

Bangladeshi child laborers work at a balloon workshop in Kamrangir Char, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Nov. 19. AP / Pavel Rahman

Children wash clothes and bathe at a water pipeline surrounded by sewage in Mumbai, India on Wednesday, Nov. 18. AP / Rafiq Maqbool

Children push a cart through a darkened street in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Nov. 20. AP / Mustafa Quraishi

Everyone has something to be thankful for. Just the fact that you're able to read this post means that you have fared well on the so-called "genetic lottery."

I've been trying to remember the name of a prominent person (?author) who suggested that persons in power should formulate their foreign policy on the presumption that they might be reincarnated as a child somewhere else in the world.

The photos above of "the world's children" are selected from a group of about 20 at a Sacramento Bee photoblog.

4 comments:

  1. How do we know those kids aren't happier than your average american child stuck in front of a tv playing computer games? Comfort and happiness aren't the same thing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The political philosopher you are looking for is John Rawls. In "A Theory of Justice" he introduces the concept of a veil of ignorance.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you, Nolandda. That's the correct concept. Rawls and Kirtley are new to me, so I must have heard the idea quoted by someone else.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Michael - Here's some more children who aren't stuck in front of a television. This should really make your day -

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/lequangnhat/sets/72157600569949815/

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...