Royal (Baby) Treatment - Unequal Concern Across the Pond

I'm just going to say it: I don't care about the royal baby.

I'm glad the baby and his mother are healthy in the context that I'm impersonally happy that any baby and mother are healthy. But I'm deeply saddened by the hypocrisy I've witnessed in how much energy and emotion are invested in the welfare of this baby by news organizations and the American public.

I do not intend this to be expressed as the "thought police" or to judge and/or shame people for caring about a celebrity child. My disappointment is only related to legislative and judicial matters in America that, in sharp contrast to the amount of time and energy invested into the royal baby, render America a very "family-unfriendly" country.America claims to value family values and children — so much that it is constantly attempting to restrict various options of preventative birth control, Plan B, and abortion — but the federal and state-wide laws, economics and work requirements make it almost impossible to raise a family in present-day culture. This is a country that would rather an unborn child live at the cost of its mother's life than perform an abortion after a certain amount of time has passed, but the legislative and social norms require so much of parents — both men and women — that they can barely spend any time with their children.

America is the only developed country without maternity leave. Paternity leave is all but a myth. It does not offer safe or sanitary breastfeeding conditions. It is attempting to force women into unplanned and undesired motherhood but then makes it almost impossible for them to leave work to take care of these children. But education is so expensive that a two-income household is all but necessary to afford a child.

While the outpouring of love and concern for the Royal family is lovely, I fervently wish some of that energy would be devoted to community organizing, writing to elected officials or working on campaigns for candidates that support making the country we live in more family-friendly.