This Is My Child

Published on Jun 15, 2025, filed under misc (feed). (Share this on Mastodon or Bluesky?)

My child ^* is about nine months old.

My child is healthy and adorable.

My child is here with us because we live in Spain.

If he was in Ukraine, a Russian drone or missile might have killed him and his family in the middle of one of his first 270ish nights.

If he was in Palestine, an Israeli hospital bombardment might have killed him and his mother, a tank might have fired through him, or he might be starving now alongside any relatives he still has.

If he was in Lebanon, Syria, or Iran, hidden explosives or a sudden Israeli air strike on someone he never knew, would never meet, and who never got a trial might have killed him on the spot or on the way of getting medical attention.

If he was in Afghanistan (or in a part of the United States domineered by Republicans or Evangelicals), random men would have first wanted to have a say over his mother and her body.

In the United States since last year’s re-election of a convicted criminal, if his parents were migrants, CBP might have separated and ICE agents might still deport him or his family.

If he was in Somalia, Nigeria, Chad, Sierra Leone, or South Sudan, his family might not have enough food and probably no vaccines for him to celebrate his first birthday.

If he was a Masalit, Rohingya, or Uyghur, he and his family may have simply disappeared.

This is my child.

I love my child.

Everyone has been and very likely still is a child.

It should not matter where and to whom a child is born. As with your child, as with any child, their well-being is everyone’s responsibility. We’re not taking this responsibility if we abuse and kill children and those around them. We’re not taking it when we look away and don’t decisively end wars and genocides and famines and misanthropic conduct. We’re also not taking it when we allow any person to be without safety, food, shelter, education, and an environment that is healthy and sustainable for them to live a life free and in dignity.

This is my child—and like you and me, individually, it can only be well off if we, collectively, are all well off.

^* “My” in a sense of shared stewardship.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a web developer, manager, and author. I’ve been working as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you’ve never heard of and companies you use every day, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)