Ahh, Christmas time! The joy of children's laughter! A time for caring, sharing and giving!

So, why not make this Christmas a time for giving something that most American children, families and communities are now denied — and desperately need: a good child care system.

This is a basic element of civilization, yet the leaders of our fabulously rich nation have not only failed to provide a world-class care system, but they've left the pre-school children of working-class families with a failed, expensive mishmash that is no system at all. These are the same so-called "leaders" who're frantically spending trillions of dollars to create a new humanoid species powered by artificial intelligence — but they lack the common sense to invest a fraction of that on an early care network to nurture the human potential of America's human infants and pre-school children.

The good news, however, is that we do not have to sit helplessly, wishing that Congress, President Donald Trump or Santa Claus would deliver universal childcare to us. Rather, We the People can give this gift to ourselves ... and to our children's future. For inspiration, look to New Mexico.

Twenty years ago, this very-low-income state ranked dead last in child well-being. Finally, though, agitated parents, teachers and children themselves became the agitators. Forging a fast-growing coalition called Invest in Kids Now, they organized, protested, confronted and ran against the state's moneyed establishment. With perseverance, their grassroots activism is now producing the change they want. 70% of voters approved the coalition's constitutional amendment requiring state funding for early childhood education. And last month, New Mexico became the first state in America to offer free childcare to every family.

For more on the work of the coalition, go to InvestInKidsNow.org.

SPECIAL GIFTS FOR SPECIAL PEOPLE

Ho-Ho-Ho, wait till you hear about the gifts I'm giving to some of America's power elites for Christmas.

To each of our Congress critters, I give my fondest wish that from now on they receive the exact same income, health care and pensions that we average citizens get. If they receive only the American average, it might make them a bit more humble — and less cavalier about ignoring the needs of regular folks.

To the stockings of GOP leaders who've so eagerly debased themselves to serve the madness of Donald Trump, I'm adding individual spritzer bottles of fragrances like "Essence of Integrity" and "Eau de Self-respect" to help cover up their stench. And in the stockings of Democratic congressional leaders, I'm giving "Spice of Viagra" and "Bouquet du Grassroots" to stiffen their spines and remind them of who they represent.

For America's CEO's, my gift is a beautifully boxed, brand-new set of corporate ethics. It's called the golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Going to pollute someone's neighborhood? Then, you have to live there, too. Going to slash wages and benefits? Then, slash yours as well. Going to move your manufacturing to sweatshops in China? Then, put your office right inside the worst sweatshop. Executive life won't be as luxurious, but CEO's would glow with a new purity of spirit.

To the Wall Street hedge-fund hucksters who've conglomerated, plundered and degraded hundreds of America's newspapers, I'm sending copies of "Journalism for Dummies" and offering jobs for each of them in their stripped-down, Dickensian newsrooms. Good luck.

And what better gift to the Trump family — Donald, Ivanka and Jared, Eric, Donnie Jr. and the whole nest of them — than to wish that they live with each other constantly and permanently. No, really, each of you deserves it.

To find out more about Jim Hightower and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Toni G at Unsplash