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The scandalous, selfish demands we make on our children
The smallest and most powerless have been the biggest victims of COVID-19 in America
In 1985, Sting released a song in which he hoped “the Russians love their children too.” At the time, we were at the height of the Cold War. Glasnost had yet to take hold, and with the aggressive posturing on both sides of the Atlantic, we legitimately feared for the survival of the human species. Sting, however, didn’t buy the demonization of the Soviets. How could they want to destroy the world, he reasoned, because they must love their children as we do.
Nowadays though, it is not the Russians whose love for their children I wonder about. Instead, it is our American children, imprisoned in their homes to protect older folks from a pandemic, being left a world that we have used and abused.
My wife brought this fact home to me today when she told me that she believed that our grandson Lukas was depressed. My response was not surprise. Instead I responded “of course he is.”
Our beautiful, kind, loving 5-year old grandson who has been living with us has spent the last few months imprisoned in his home with a couple of old people. He is very athletic and social, but rather than playing with his friends in the schoolyard, he has to listen…
