Jessica PingI do not have corona, but I am outrageously unwell. I sit in my house, scrolling through headlines on social media, and instantly begin to feel nauseated and heartbroken. Each day that passes causes me such severe, physical pain that I am not sure what to do or how to move forward.
The United States may just now be facing a deadly and seemingly unstoppable pandemic, but we have been sick for a very, very long time.
Now, this is not a political post, though I suppose you could read it that way. My intention with this piece is to provide a wake up call to the thousands of Americans I see on my timeline who are dying to go back to normal, as if that is something that should be praised and joyous for everyone.
Newsflash: it’s not. In fact, I think many people are just as miserable now as they are any other time of the year.
We, as a community, have lost our empathy, or perhaps it never existed in the first place. Maybe we were designed to be narcissistic creatures of habit and convenience.
I am no philosopher, but the one thing I know for sure is that our systemic foundation inhibits proper concern for others to manifest and thrive. We live in a vertical world that is plagued by status seekers; people that believe our entire worth as human beings stems from our placement on the metaphorical ladder of value. People can move up and down, but the rate of change is different for each individual depending on the various inherent factors they possess.
When I see news headlines brandishing titles about young individuals purposely ignoring social distancing regulations for the sake of their Instagram feed or protestors who feel their freedom is being threatened because they haven’t had the opportunity to go out to their favorite alcohol serving establishment for the past month, I see the metaphorical ladder of value in full effect. These people place themselves so highly above others that they cannot even see those of us barely clinging onto the bottom rung.
Thousands have been calling out the elderly and disabled, challenging their worth as human beings so that their summer Cabo vacation doesn’t get canceled. Tens of thousands have been going to the grocery store, sometimes the only one in the vicinity, and buying everything in sight, actively ensuring others will have to go without while wasted product sits in their garage for months on end. Millions have been complaining that their homes are like prisons, as essential workers fear for their lives on the frontlines, or worse, as some sit on their cardboard blankets wishing they had a place of refuge during this unforgiving storm.
Over the past few years, I have sat quietly and listened to people pat themselves on the back for being more aware and empathetic of their diverse peers than their ancestors. This pandemic has proven to me that only a small handful of the population really deserves any recognition for this accomplishment.
Our society is broken and it has NEVER been whole.
All humans are created equal and deserve the same basic fundamental rights as anyone else, including, but not limited to, the right to LIFE.
This pandemic has highlighted how threatened this BASIC right truly is for millions of individuals worldwide.
- No one should be afraid to go to the doctor for a life altering condition because they are concerned about payment and losing everything else in the process.
- No one should have their worth questioned because they were born with or developed a severe health condition or disability.
- No one should feel as if their age means they have less of a right to live than anyone else.
- No one should have to risk their life and then come home to unsafe living conditions because their paycheck only affords them a crappy studio apartment in a building that is not up to code.
- No one should have to worry about how they’re going to feed their three children if they lose their job next week.
- No one should work themselves into the grave, because taking one day off a year puts them at risk for being fired.
- No one should be denied the ability to thrive for reasons they can’t control.
And here’s the best part: ALL OF THESE WERE PROBLEMS BEFORE COVID-19 AND ALL OF THEM WILL CONTINUE TO BE PROBLEMS WHEN IT’S ALL OVER.
America has never been great, the world has never been equal, and humans have never gotten it right.
Simply returning to normal is an injustice that our society cannot afford.
All humans are born with the same amount of intrinsic value and, here’s the real fascinating part, we all die with the same amount of intrinsic value.
No matter where you see yourself on the metaphorical ladder of value, we are all going into the exact same dirt pile at the end of this life.
So fight for change. Be the voice of reason and growth. Look beyond the politics of everything and instead focus on humanity’s well being.
This virus could serve as our reset button. We have never once gotten it right, but right now, in this moment, we have a second chance to try.
Let’s try.
Please Note: All hyperlinks found in this blog post are meant to provide further insight into the issues presented above.
Below are the linked sources:
- Millions of Americans are about to lose their health insurance in a pandemic
- The Americans dying because they can’t afford medical care
- Health System Tracker
- People with Disabilities Fear Pandemic Will Worsen Medical Biases
- The Coronavirus Pandemic Has Brought Out Society’s Alarming Disregard for People with Disabilities
- Ableism 101: What it is, what it looks like, and what we can do to to fix it
- The Coronavirus Pandemic is Settling Some Old Arguments About Ableism
- Ageism Is Making the Pandemic Worse
- OPINION: Defeating the Pandemic Means Confronting Ageism and Ableism
- Ageism: A ‘Prevalent and Insidious’ Health Threat
- ‘I’m not ready to die’: New ‘essential workers’ call for protections, hazard pay in coronavirus crisis
- Full-time minimum wage workers cannot afford a 2-bedroom rental anywhere in the US
- America’s Slow-Motion Wage Crisis
- Grim New Report Shows Rent Is Unaffordable In Every State
- Set Up to Fail: when low-wage work jeopardizes parents’ and children’s success
- School’s Out, And For Many Students, So Is Lunch
- How 2 families are struggling to stay afloat through COVID-19 unemployment
- Millions of Working People Don’t Get Paid Time Off for Holidays or Vacation
- What does America have against vacation?
- Diversity Efforts Fall Short Unless Employees Feel That They Belong
- Understanding Diversity and Inclusion
