“We are all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.” ~J.K Rowling
I watch NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. During the pandemic he has introduced us to many “essential” front line health care workers who share their stories with us. Holt, like so many in main stream media, seems to be using the plight of health care workers to take us down a path to submission where we give up all the hard won freedoms bequeathed to us.
Many front line workers are exhausted. They tell us about their exhaustion. One told us that her children cannot come and hug her when she comes home. She has to shower first. One ICU doctor shared his mental distress, the trauma of so many sick people and those who die.
Odd.I don’t remember Lester Holt interviewing the men and women of the armed forces on a daily basis so they could share their angst when in war. No one seemed too concerned about their lives. Their fears. Their exhaustion. Their mental health. I assume when soldiers volunteered during peace time, many had no idea that war would be coming. But when it did, they went to war.
Dear essential health care workers, you signed up to care for sick people. And a pandemic arrived. And you are serving.
These medical people, who have such angst, are still alive. True, some health care workers, sadly, have died in the line of duty, unlike non-essential people who have taken their lives because their livelihood was taken away – so that health care workers would not be overwhelmed. Non-essential people lost their jobs, their businesses, their families, their dignity. They became so overwhelmed that they turned to alcohol and drugs. Children have lost at least a year in education. Many have no parent to help. Or their internet is weak. Well, tough to them. And children who have lost meals, or are abused at home – too bad. I haven’t heard their stories. Have you?
Thank you, health care workers, but this is your chosen profession. You chose to care for others-in sickness and pandemic. You are getting paid for your services unlike the non-essential people in non-essential jobs, as defined by government officials – all of whom are well paid.
Don’t get me wrong. I know how hard health care providers are working. But so are the truck drivers, especially long haul drivers, those who stock the shelves in stores, or work in food production; many at minimum wage and often maximum exposure to Covid.
No offence to all of you hard working, caring people, I don’t want to hear about you anymore. I have had enough with the plight of “essential health care workers.” Why you might ask; after all these people are saving our loved ones. Because I come from a place where all people are essential. ALL PEOPLE. ALL LIFE IS SACRED.
The Judeo/Christian ethic, that underpins our freedoms, our way of life, does not condone the idea that the end justifies the means. Yet, hundreds of millions of non-essential people have been called upon to sacrifice their lifestyle and lives to protect health care workers and the health care system.
Never forget that.
From the Ethics of the Fathers: “Rabbi Tarfon used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it.”
