The truth of our interconnection
The scale of loss brought by the Covid-19 pandemic reveals how much we need one another.
Dear ones:
As I write this, our beloved country is about to mark half a million deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic. Without the manufactured chaos of the previous administration, we have a moment to catch our collective breath, contemplating this tremendous, traumatic loss.
By now, most families in the U.S. have been touched by this virus, through the death of a loved one, a long-haul Covid sufferer, or brief but intense sickness. The missing are profoundly present with us, as a beautiful essay in the New York Times shows (link at the bottom of the post, along with more info about the pandemic, and how to help folk impacted by the terrible failure of infrastructure in the winter weather). Even those who have not had their health compromised have faced economic hardship, through loss of jobs, businesses, homes. The scale of disaster is difficult to comprehend.
I struggled this week: should I write an elegy to those lost? or a tirade of rage at those whose inaction, incompetence, and cold-hearted political calculations allowed it?
For too many of our leaders have used the tactics of abusive bullies to deny the trauma: it isn’t really happening, you’re overreacting; it’s happening, but it’s not really that bad; it’s bad, but it’s your own fault; it’s horrible, and it’s the fault of “those people;” it was terrible, but it’s over, why can’t you let it go?
Denying our collective traumatic loss interferes with our ability to grieve and heal. It also reveals the big lie that has gained traction for the last half-century: that we can get ahead as rugged individualists, that those with wealth have accumulated it solely through their individual intelligence and hard work, that unfettered profit is the highest good, and that wealth at the top will flow down to all.
Over and over, reality shines on this lie. Covid 19 disproportionately harms communities of color. Texans were failed by their power grid as their politicians lied about why. Women have lost ground economically, exiting the workforce. The triplets of evil that Dr. King named in 1967 are still operating behind that big lie: militarism, the use of violence to achieve political ends; racism, the vilification and dehumanization of groups of people, turning them into scapegoats; and materialism, the prioritization of property over people.
Recovery from trauma requires grounding in the reality of the experience. And the reality has never been more brutally clear: we are all connected. Sacrificing the health and well-being of any threatens the health and well-being of all. We need one another. We cannot escape via wealth or denial forever. Our very planet is telling us the truth of our interconnection.
Dear ones, your sorrow and grief are real, valuable, necessary. Allow yourselves to feel your losses and mourn. Be present with your hearts and spirits. This is our way forward: together, honoring the truth.
Be safe, be well, and know that you are not alone.
On the people lost and missed:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/21/us/coronavirus-deaths-us-half-a-million.html
On the failure of the Texas power grid:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/20/winter-storms-texas-weather-updates/
On how to help people impacted by the winter storm disaster:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/us/how-to-help-storm-relief-texas-oklahoma-louisiana.html
On the neglect of infrastructure:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/20/climate/united-states-infrastructure-storms.html