So many of today’s Grandparents fulfil the role of the Carer for their Grandchildren. On occasion, the Grandparent’s own methods of responding to / dealing with the behaviours of children may differ from that of the child’s parents. What is the expectation in the event this occurs?

We largely ignore the thoughts and ideas of children, when they are active participants in their cities and towns. Children have their own culture, and histories. They have more time to observe, make lateral connections, and have a heightened sensory perception. They have such valuable input and are shamefully undervalued in conversations, which have a direct impact on their environment. I fear that the absence of their voices in the planning and analysis of our social infrastructure is to our detriment as a society.

It is about the future of ours and generations after.

As the irrefutable evidence of the effects of human causation of global warming through increasing production of greenhouse gasses gains traction,it seems that a new economic paradigm (other than growth) must be urgently considered. After all, it’s about the survival of the next generation(s).

Because I wonder where ‘thought’ originates from and where our consciousness goes when we die. It matters because the greater awareness we have of ourselves the greater ability we have to improve ourselves.

To quote the late great Christopher Hitchens in introducing his autobiography, Hitch-22, “The most intense wars are civil wars, just as the most vivid and rending personal conflicts are internal ones, and what I hope to do now is give some idea of what it is like to fight on two fronts at once, to try and keep opposing ideas alive in the same mind, even occasionally to show two faces at the same time.” From the personal to the political, and the intersection of the two, why do we find it so difficult to keep opposing ideas alive in the same mind?

It’s a question I came up with that I’d love an expert to explain. I like to question the assumptions that other assumptions are based on but over time are seen as fact.

It is a critically important question.

This is the current internal debate I am struggling with as a student about to graduate and go out into the competitive and soul-crushing work force world. There is often this moral vs. wealth and success debate when thinking about the person I want to be and whether I can truly make an impact in this world. How can we break free from the ideals in place by our society and comfortably be ourselves without giving up certain parts of who we are and how we think?