Poverty & homelessness in the age of neoliberalism, the barbaric phase of capitalism, eclipses all the misery described by Charles Dickens. There was never a golden age of capitalism since it’s a system based on inequality but how did it come to this–that millions of children & elderly around the world are abandoned like stray animals?
These children are in a park in Manila, Philippines where thousands are being driven out of slums to make room for resorts & upscale malls. But it could as well be Brazil, the US, Russia, Nigeria, India, Cambodia, Nepal, Greece, Spain, Hong Kong, & every other country.
One can hardly imagine the trauma & terror visited on these small children but one thing is certain: they do not deserve this treatment as human beings. Our commitment must be to making this world suitable for them to come of age in, to live & love in. Nothing less is acceptable.
(Photo by Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images)