It’s occurred to me, at various times, that we will never achieve world peace going about the way we are going about it now. Which is to say, the world leaders get together and discuss things, whatever they might be, and perhaps negotiatate and make deals. I don’t know what they say. Maybe G.W. Bush talks oil prices with the Saudis? Maybe he talks business and sports with everyone in general? Maybe all the crusty, corrupt, power-hungry and usually male world leaders try to barter or posture during their meetings. Who knows? We just see pictures of them shaking hands, and then they tell reporters what they want them to report. Then we, the U.S. and our allies, bomb someone if we want something to change. And then lives are ruined and innocent people die. The innocent people are the non-political and non-military people, and often children.
Then I start to think about micro-loans, the practice that is increasing in popularity of getting poverty-stricken people in devasted areas out of their plight. These loans are small loans made to WOMEN in impoverished areas. The women, from what I understand, start small businesses and do anything they can to help their children and improve their communities. From what I heard, lenders first started with the men in these areas, but then found that the men got drunk or squandered the money and never repaid it. The lenders got smart and lent it to the women instead. The women, hungry for opportunity and desperate to improve their lives and the lives of their children, started businesses and invested in their communities. They are so successful that the practice has caught on and expanded.
Why wouldn’t this work in other arenas? I have nothing against men, know and love many and am the mother to two boys, but there is something completely overlooked in regard to women. We are life givers. Yes, men have their part, but without women there would be no life. We carry the babies and nurture them with our bodies. Then we give birth and nurture the babies with our bodies. We love them and are usually the primary care givers. This is amazing. At a time when so many women seem to want to be men and pass those duties on to others, I think we really need to come back to realizing the importance of mothers. Mothers represent life, now and in the future. And, with all the differences among all the people in the world, motherhood is universal.
After the birth of my first son I felt a deep connection, not only to all other human mothers, but to all other mammalian mothers. Sitting their nursing for something like 8 hours a day, I felt connected to my neighbors, cats, cows and manatees. The love, the protectiveness, the vulnurability, that’s how we all feel. Mamma bear? She feels the same I think. Mother from Afghanistan, France, Uruguay and Zimbabwe? She feels the same. I must protect this baby, and hope for a better world to raise it in.
So, why don’t we have all these women meet? I truly think we should forget about having old men meet–men counting their money and their girlfriends and their deals and stroking their pride. Forget them. Get women, community leaders from all around the world, to figure out how to get along. To figure out how to overcome religious, political and cultural differences and figure out how to get along so that our children, the future of our planet, actually have a place to live in when they grow up. To guarantee that we will have grandchildren to bounce on our knees, grandchildren that have enought good food to eat, clean air to breathe and freedom to pursue fulfilling lives. Let’s try a new approach.
