Photo: Mike Hutchings

The Day of the African Child was declared to remind us every year on June 16 of the need of millions of children in Africa. Why do needy children cause feelings of concern? Why more than the misery of adults? Of course everyone knows that a hungry mother is at the root of every starving child. Of course everyone knows that street children, child labor, and child poverty say something about the poverty and misery of large sections of the adult population. For those who are interested in an analysis of the causes of poverty, the classification into children and adults is unimportant. But for those who assess poverty and prosperity independently of the causes as an issue of social justice, children are always innocent. For adults this quickly becomes an issue. In the global market economy everyone is the master of his own fate. By the rules of the market economy, those who are not successful in the competition for money and business where only solvent needs count, have to put up with the question of whether they are not themselves at fault. Fighting for equal opportunities does not change anything about this principle.