*Image is a drawing of a scale weighing an anatomical heart and brain*
When reading the article You Are Not Entitled To Our Deaths: COVID, Abled Supremacy & Interdependence, I started to question at what point did inconveniencing ourselves become more troublesome than prioritizing peoples lives. In the article the author specifically brings up Covid 19 and the harm that abled people are bringing upon the disabled community because they aren’t taking the virus seriously and prioritizing safety. I think that is just another example of many people being more concerned with their own pleasure rather than people dying.
When I think of this topic I often think of homeless people. For example, when it comes to homelessness, people are often more concerned with keeping homeless individuals away from public spaces than they are with understanding why they are homeless or what resources they need. People may complain about seeing someone sleeping on the sidewalk or asking for money, but rarely consider how difficult it is to live without a safe place to sleep. It becomes more about keeping public spaces comfortable for everyone else than making sure people have somewhere to live.The lack of consideration we sometimes have for people whose experiences are different from our own is jarring. Just because something does not directly affect us does not mean it isn’t affecting someone else. We often don’t think about how our actions can put other people at risk because we focus on our own experiences and what makes us comfortable. This creates a mindset where people who are more vulnerable are expected to adjust to everyone else rather than society making an effort to accommodate and protect them.
I believe financial struggle is also a great example of this type of selfishness. For example, when workers ask for better pay, safer working conditions, or reasonable breaks, their needs can be dismissed because meeting them might cost businesses more money or create inconveniences. It is frustrating that something as basic as being able to afford necessities or work in a safe environment can become less important than maintaining profits. At what point do we start recognizing that other people’s wellbeing should matter just as much as our own comfort? I think the biggest issue is that we have become so focused on what we might lose by helping others that we forget about what they stand to lose when we don’t.
Obviously it’s natural to think about yourself first, I don’t fault anyone for their instinct to be to do what makes them feel good initially. However, I think it’s important to reflect on your actions and be able to see if what you are doing is detrimental to anyone else. We cannot always understand what another person is going through, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore their struggles. I think being considerate of others sometimes means making sacrifices, even when we don’t necessarily benefit from them. Not everything we do has to revolve around our own happiness or convenience. At the end of the day, I think we need to ask ourselves why someone else’s suffering has to become our problem only when it directly affects us. People’s lives and wellbeing should matter even when we have nothing to gain from protecting them.
