This Can't Be Political... Can It?

I can't help but feel like pretty much all of our society's problems stem from the fact that we refuse to support mothers.

I don't have any profound suggestions to make here, nor any specific political policy I'm supporting as a part of this. I'm just making the observation that, as a whole, we are absolutely terrible at supporting expecting and new mothers and their children. Our society is in fact largely actively hostile to mothers and children. Basically every part of it. As a father I can only speak to the parts that directly affect the "has children" variable of that equation, but I'm sure anyone with kids can relate to this on some level. And I'm not even talking about how there's zero financial or social support for the children once you've had them, or how every job and participation in every program in this country becomes a thousand times more difficult once you have a child.

I'm just talking about simple crap like entering a store or restaurant. The sheer number of nasty looks I've gotten simply for having the audacity to enter a grocery store with a baby is staggering. Even if the baby isn't actively fussing; even if the baby is asleep! Dozens of looks that say "How very dare you bring that in here? Into this sacred place where I am shopping? I didn't come out into a public place to put up with your crotch goblin. I'm just waiting for that thing to start screaming so I have an excuse to properly glare at you, you idiot." 

It's wild. My favorite bit is when they have older kids of their own hanging around, indicating that yeah, they were in my position once, and they've still decided that somehow I'm the problem here. And this is me speaking as an average-looking middle-class white dude! I can't imagine how much worse it must be for the actual mothers, or anyone who's less privileged than me in any capacity. Darker skin tones. Dirty clothes. Homeless. Or heck, even just anyone who made the completely irrelevant decision to get a tattoo, or dye their hair.

My point is that systemically we've made it as financially difficult to have and then raise kids as seemingly possible, and then socially we put down and punish anyone with the audacity to actually have kids anyhow. And then we wonder why birth rates are declining? Why there are so many elective abortions? Why so many children don't receive a stable upbringing in positive surroundings? Why such a huge portion of our youth winds up involved with drugs, crime, and other self-destructive behavior? It's because we've been treating them and their mothers like they were a disease pretty much right from the very beginning. Once you leave the hospital and try to take this kid out into society, you suddenly find that society hates you.

And why? Because you had the gall to try and produce the next generation. This is the most bass-ackwards way of living that I can possibly imagine, and the more I look at it, the more I ponder, the more convinced I am that every issue--let me repeat that so there's no mistake--every issue with our society would be improved if mothers and their children felt cared for and valued.

Let's start by getting money into the right places so that new moms don't ever have to worry about how they're going to clothe and feed their child. Set them up with the equivalent of a library card at the hospital when the baby is born, except this card will let them walk into any Walmart in the country and buy the clothes, diapers, formula, and baby food they need to keep their child healthy. That's literally the most basic first step. No application process, no proof of address, proof of citizenship, proof of employment, no stipulations on how you live, just a card that lets mothers feed their babies. Auto-enrolling food stamps for mothers and their kids.

And before you whine about how we pay for that, it's simple. Tax 1% of Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk's yearly income. That'll more than cover it.