The current US administration no doubt has rocked our society. Every self-proclaimed community is re-evaluating their mission statement due to finding more faults from within while enduring and fighting political suffocation. There are too many priorities flying around, butting heads and when compared to tragedies that have no real representation or assistance, the uproars become competitive and self-centered. The darkest aspects of our life continue and get worse as civilized people judge, bicker and possibly get violent over the issues. There is a simple train of action that could solve all of our problems, question everyone’s morality and inspire teamwork; our children, especially those that are not ours.

I care about the youth of our race and the bigger horrors they face but too much overshadows the sentiment, even the safety and freedom of their mothers. Honestly, what convinced me children are mankind’s salvation is the control over women, their precious reproductive abilities and the dreaded option of abortion. Before I go any further I must say I am pro-choice. I believe no type of government, organization, industry or higher power should have any say in a woman’s decision to have an abortion. It’s her womb, her unborn offspring and she is the one who has to wrap her mind around the idea, endure the procedure and consequences, live with all the emotions, memory and carry on just as if she decides to keep the baby, stomach the nine months, conceive and care for it; sometimes alone.

The faction trying to illegalize female contraceptives and abortion maintain their fight is for the fetus yet don’t consider what’s actually in store for it. They are long gone when things don’t turn out well, leaving mothers to fend for two and live among negative opinions from tax payers who care more about their dollar over a woman’s struggle, throwing her in the same box as people who do abuse government and non-profit programs. As this debate rages on with the healthcare fiasco and a doomed education system, I have one question: What about the children in existence now?

Pro-life advocates are supposedly worried about poor unborn babies yet seem to give no thought, from my perception and research, to the children, a few months to 17 years old that are here now. They face vulnerabilities beyond abortion, a procedure that could have avoided countless destinies that end bleak.

The statistics of abortion do not matter when compared to, which no one speaks of much nowadays: kids in orphanages, kids that pass through the system un-adopted with no sense of family, kids being molested, abused or neglected, kids lured or kidnapped into human trafficking and slavery, kids working harder than most adults, kids who endure malnutrition most of their lives, kids who are born sick, kids living in dangerous areas where bombs drop, tanks roam freely and innocent lives shot at, if not on the frontline with a gun in their hand or explosives strapped to their chest because of squabbles and ignorant beliefs of the past, of politics, money, greed, borders and whatever else.

What about those children?

Sure, there are groups and people trying to help and there is a lot written on the severity at hand. I’ve seen plenty of educational and startling shows and documentaries, as well as fiction that pushes the gore further. Yet, this very real world travesty, the mistreatment of children, seems like another television episode, another reason for a sad song, another charity campaign. We all know the foolishness: “Our hearts go out to the parents of the Sandy Hook shooting. Moving on to lighter news, the new iPhone is hitting stores soon!”

So, is abortion really a problem? Why is the topic given so much attention and effort? Abortion is actually needed more than ever. Ideally, we should stop reproducing new people for a while since there are about seven and half billion humans in the world, one person dying as three more are born; a ratio that needs to balance out or gain the required support and infrastructure.

In 2011 “baby” was a $45 billion global industry and now will finish out 2017 with $67 billion, comprised of products and services that are completely unnecessary and sometimes recalled. The fertility industry and assisted conception generates about $4 billion dollars a year, which doesn’t include all the money spent backing such research, technology and therapy in the past, present and future. According to a few sources, though biased, the abortion industry in the US alone pulls in about a billion dollars a year. Thus, there is available capital that can be rerouted since people are clearly willing to spend money on children, for the mere chance of having a baby or to clear out their mistakes. The dollar sum, passion and emotional need are commendable but can drastically impact many young people alive today.

If a devoted couple wants to extend their love and family and indeed have the means and ability to care for a defenseless being, why not adopt no matter the age of the child? Why not use that very impulse to help children suffering in foreign lands under dire situations, if not those in the USA? Why not help in the effort of catching every child abuser? Why not be on the forefront of ending human trafficking?

I believed in the statement “we are as strong as our weakest link”. Yet now as an adult I interpret it differently. For civilization to carry on as strong as possible there must be a good portion of feeble people to bear the brunt of life. They give inspiration, something to fret over, means for production, to feed egos, fuel for the rest, a corporate effort that’s thriving. In reality a fresh baby only makes it harder for others to live in terms of carbon footprint, resources, healthcare, mistreatment of workers and animals, utterly ignoring the forgotten children. It’s all a major negligence by wannabe parents, government and industry, tremendous powers that are the major solution in the matter, though they rather worsen it since human suffering seems to help margins, profitability and personal joy.

To say this is not the case why are so many children still suffering? Why is the concept of just fixing the problem tossed around like a volleyball with a referee and scoreboard built in? Why is it just an issue that is sponsored by product advertisements? Why is it too expensive? Would anything stop someone from saving his or her child? Why can’t that same protection and benevolence be extended to kids in need of it too? Protecting animals seems to get more rage and effort.

Speaking with some friends and acquaintances about the topic, watching and reading interviews, discussions and speeches, my questions and stance is countered with other subjects that are apparently more important like universal disputes over money, resources and borders, over ethnic sensitivities, civil rights movements, elections, industrial regulation and expansion; all the manufactured mess of life. Or, even worse, I’m opposed with views that people don’t care, they don’t want children, protect your own, neighbors locking thy neighbors out, “the one with the most toys win”, the world is not enough and “people are douche bags”.

I am tired of politicians, religious figures, industrialists, lobbyists and citizens of all kinds battling for petty man-made problems and personal interests. None of it matters when shelved next to a child alone in this world. The poor kids get lost in “progress takes time”, “bills need to be passed”, “funds need to be raised”, “people need to be convinced”, voting, racism and whatever excuse people and democracy can create for why change isn’t immediate. The process only wastes time, allows ruin, tension and death, which seems like the point; maintain the status quo.

Mankind is intelligent, capable of great things, empathetic, aware we’re a fraction of a vast existence yet our history paints a different truth. We’re self-absorbed, enjoy the mindset of ‘kill or be killed’, flourish off of pain more than happiness and create diversion for the guilt that is slowly diminishing. No one sees that pausing everything and halting the system to get every child in an environment we hope for our very own, the one we wish we were born in, will not only unify the entire world, solve every issue, squash feuds but will redefine what it is to be human.

So, enough of the power trip! Let’s shred the veil and fix the real problems. I trust there are many great minds among the forgotten children that can build and preserve a brighter future. Golden opportunities are vanishing by the second or are already lost to us. We cannot let the past, another disagreement, raging hate or a blowout sale distract us anymore. No, not when kids need a village that works for everyone.