If we want to look for the root causes of the recent slew of mass shootings, look to our family and family planning policies. They determine fundamental power relations, the degree to which people are and feel empowered, and – in early childhood – many of the psychological capabilities that determine how we act later in life.
The human brain is not adept at thinking long term, so most media look at more immediate and less relevant causes.
Right now family policies in most nations are outdated.
The Children’s Rights Convention specifies what children need to grow up safe, healthy and empowered. Instead of assuring those things, our current policies push women to have kids – whether or not those kids will get what they need – as a means of growing economies that benefit a few.
Want to end mass shootings, many of which occur because people feel disempowered? Help Fair Start get rid of bad family policies.
TAKE ACTION: The United Nations is failing its mission by refusing to use the Children’s Rights Convention as a standard for family planning. Urge them to change course.
TAKE ACTION: Mass shootings are a cost of family policies that benefitted just. Target them – people like the former CEO of Exxon – for benefitting from a system of growth that puts costs on others.
