...

There's this thing that's been reemerging online of Franky from One Piece saying "It's never a crime to exist!" and I kinda love that for several reasons, most of which is that your worth as a person is defined by the fact that you are a person, not how useful you are to the other people around you.

That's the rhetoric you need to have to build a community.

You need to love people for what they already are, I think, and if you do that they will look for purpose and improvement on their own.

Don't drill it into them, how well they perform equates to their worth, tell them their worth, their presence, is what makes performance possible.

Personhood is inherent to people - and nobody, be that a parent, teacher, or corporation can take that away from you and remember it.

Take this as an example. There was this one episode of Star Trek I can't remember the name of involving Chakotay and the Kazon. Okay?

Think about it, your name, the most fundamental aspect of personhood, is earned by the Kazon. You must earn your place as a member of the community, you are given nothing - and must earn everything.

Conversely, we as people, the fact that you exist is enough to be welcomed into the community. Your place is not questioned, you are welcomed and celebrated. The anniversary of your birth, literally, is cause for celebration.

You have to earn many things in life, but your place in the community is not one of them. And I think that can make even the most cynical bitch stand up and smile.