Exclusion is a terrible evil. It is terrible as an act and terrible as a state of being. It isolates both perpetrator and victim.
Deprivation and disadvantages in early life have strong implications for future life chances. There is also the pattern of perpetuation -- deprivation in one generation is usually passed on to the next.
Here in the UK, the Social Exclusion Unit has prepared an Action Plan on Social Exclusion. It is recognised "that social exclusion and the subsequent waste of human potential is bad for the whole country, as well as for those individuals suffering from it.....Tackling social exclusion also matters because failing to do so creates a cost for society." This document also recognises that social exclusion cannot be tackled by the government alone. There is a clear role for individuals, and the wider community. Further, "people who are suffering social exclusion must want progress for themselves and those around them. By working together we can ensure that even the most excluded have a stake in the society and economy of tomorrow by seizing the opportunities that life...offers today."
Read the Executive Summary of this Action Plan at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force/publications/reaching_out/
Stop. Think. Act. Let's never participate in exclusion. And for that, we must consciously implement and work toward Inclusion.
