In much of the world, the closing of this gap shapes people’s lives from their early childhood. One could say that for many human beings childhood itself has been abolished, “childhood” defined as a safe, protected period during which a human being can grow, learn, develop, play, and become; in which a human being can be childlike, childish, and be spared the rigors of adulthood. These days, global poverty forces children to work, in factories, in fields, on city streets. It turns children into street urchins, criminals, and whores. Meanwhile, political instability not only claims children’s
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