What would happen if we had a do-over?
Imagine we were structuring our society now, but with a new baseline assumption: that we recognize and value everybody who is here.
Let’s dream. What would we put in place from the start?
We know so much more about medicine. Why not make that as accessible as possible to everyone?
And given how much infancy matters to our long-term well-being, I would put prenatal and maternal health at the center.
While we’re at it, childcare should be a prominent part of society’s plans—including affordable ways for parents to work and take care of kids.
Education should be lavish. We’ve learned a lot about our brains and their diversity. We should make education less of an assembly line and more bespoke—so that each brain can learn the way it learns best.
Bodies, too, are pretty diverse— we ought to build a world where every type of body can get around and participate. Every sidewalk would have been built with cuts for wheelchairs and strollers. Every workplace would provide the tools for people to contribute what they have to offer.
They wouldn’t be called “accommodations,” because they aren’t special. They’re standard. The whole point is that the system is built to work for everyone. It goes without saying that we should build this new world without recreating the barriers, rules, and biases around skin color, gender, and sexual and romantic lives that this one put in place.
Unfortunately, a real do-over will have to wait for us to invent time travel. So, if we want to make our systems more inclusive for all, we’ll have to do what we can to change the ones we have.
And this is hard work.
It can be tempting to give up. You might think that a better world can’t be built—not when this world isn’t going anywhere. Maybe it’s too late.
Or maybe you’re tempted to keep things the way they are because you do okay; the system puts you in enough of the priority groups that you can live with the rest of its flaws. But if someone next to you is treated a little differently so that they can benefit as much as you, it doesn’t mean you’re “losing” something.
Call me a dreamer, but I’m not quitting. I believe when good people come together with a plan, all things are possible. With effort, we can restructure our workplaces, communities, and society to ensure that everyone has equitable access and the opportunity to be themselves.
We may not be able to do it over. But I believe we can do it.
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