Tom Joyce writes for the Washington Examiner about lessons we should learn from the Women’s World Cup.
Do you feel lucky to be an American? Those who live in the United States should feel grateful to call this country home; the FIFA Women’s World Cup shows us why.
Unfortunately, the U.S. women’s national team has plenty of unpatriotic players, such as Megan Rapinow, who have complained about our country and knelt during the national anthem over the years. Several members of the team refused to put their hands over their hearts during the national anthem before their first World Cup game last weekend. …
… Yet, when Americans look at the other teams in this tournament, they should feel lucky to live in this country. The Women’s World Cup includes teams from countries with far worse problems than members of the American national team could imagine.
While the United States outlawed most of its slavery in the 1860s, the practice is widespread in Haiti and China.
Some people are so poor in Haiti that they sell their children as domestic servants, “restaveks,” for wealthier families. About 25% of Haitian children five years old or older do not live with their biological parents, in large part because of this practice. These children face physical and sexual abuse at far higher rates than those who are not restaveks.
About 88% of Haitians live on less than $6.85 per day, according to the World Bank. Some Haitians are so poor that they eat dirt to fill their stomachs to feel less hungry. Similarly, about 61% of Zambian residents live on less than $2.15 per day.
Meanwhile, in China, there are at least one million Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps in the Xinjiang region. They perform slave labor, and the Chinese government uses forced birth control and forced abortions to reduce their population, which constitutes genocide. Like China, Vietnam also had a two-child policy, enforced with fines and forced abortions until 2017.
