Help Children, Both Foreign and Domestic

My wife sent me a link to an article on Yahoo about the “One Laptop per Child” project. You can read the article here:

Donate One Laptop per Child, Get One

In a nutshell if you buy a laptop for $400, a laptop will be sent to you and a laptop will be sent to a child in a third world country. The countries that the donated laptops will go to are Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti and Rwanda.

On the Yahoo forum there is a tremendous amount of criticism about the fact that these laptops are going to foreign nations and not to children in the United States.

First, I want to point out that we do have a long-term stake in the world outside our borders. Specifically, we have a long-term stake in freedom because free countries don’t go to war with each other.

Here’s the rub: Our own democracy was preceded by the Age of Enlightenment, which made freedom possible. The Enlightenment wrestled society from an age wrought with superstition and religious intolerance. Education and exposure to differing viewpoints makes toleration more likely to flourish. This was true during the Enlightenment, where printing was the technology that powered such progress – toleration not the least of the gains made. Without this toleration, democracy would be impossible. Luckily, technology has advanced beyond books. By giving children laptops, we give them access not to just one book, but many books – maybe millions of them. A laptop is a gateway to knowledge and a means of connecting with the world.

Enlightenment isn’t an age so much as a process. According to historians, America went through the process along with Europe from about 1650 to 1800. In truth, each generation — even in America — must go through the process anew. In this process, which we today call education, the minds of individuals are developed. The collective result is an educated society that is fertile ground for a healthy democracy. Many third world countries have yet to go through this evolution, but we are now presented with the opportunity to help them do so. An investment in the education of the entire world is a long-term investment in the peace and prosperity of every nation to include those we help directly as well as their immediate neighbors and beyond.

As far as helping American children with the laptops, we can do that too. Simply donate the laptop you receive to Toys for Tots. The Marine Corps Reserve has the distribution network set up to get the laptops to needy children. Throw in a toy too – after a $400 donation, what’s another twenty bucks?

Here is a couple of important links if you’re interested:

One Laptop Per Child

Toys for Tots