We Are Not All in This Together
We are not “all in this together,” and it is naïve, disingenuous and just stupid for so many organizations to be broadcasting and advertising that idea with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic, or anything else really. If their advertisements were really rooted in compassion, they would be obviously “walking the talk” and doing something dramatic like providing massive funding to those who are most impacted. It’s rarely clear that that’s the case.
All of us need to walk a lot more than we talk right now, because the disparity of suffering is sickening. White privilege means whites suffer less, among other things. That’s one of the many clear messages coming from the recent protests. Institutional, systemic racism and the brutalization and murder of people of color by police single them out for suffering that white people will never endure or understand.
And when something like the COVID-19 pandemic, or an economic recession / depression or climate crisis disasters occur, the poor, the elderly, the infirm, people of color, Native Americans and their children selectively and preferentially suffer and die. Yet, our Federal response to crisis does little to target the suffering of those most in need. Its broad-spectrum, politically expedient approach inevitably puts aid in the hands of people and businesses that really can get by without it and serves up crumbs and head pats to those with the greatest need. Our government’s response is invariably prioritized to get the economy back in order quickly and please the most voters, not to measurably relieve human suffering.
Greed and political motives seem to drive Federal level decision-making in times of crisis as much or more than compassion. Why do we refuse to test and track ubiquitously for COVID-19 right now while we are encouraged to quickly get back to work and life as usual? This may be the most monumental lab experiment in human history, and the wisdom of the life and death decisions we make today will not be understood well for weeks or months. In the interim, we are not all in this together, as evidenced by the disproportionate illness and death experienced by people of color, Native Americans and the elderly.
What we can all be in together is an awakening that will cause all of us and especially our elected officials to value people over profits and the well-being of people over that of corporations and special interests, particularly in times of crisis and suffering like these. We can all commit to VOTE together to once and for all establish true representation at all levels of government that protects the interests of all the people.
The people have the power. Never forget it.
(Original artwork by Joan E. Hargate)
