Opinion

[Commentary]

Remember this moment, America, and let’s be better for it

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There is something important you can do for the world in this crisis: Just remember how it feels.

Do you struggle with the terror that people you love might die and you are helpless to stop it? Worse, they might die simply because the resources don’t exist to save them? Remember that.

Does the uncertainty of what’s next haunt you right now? Remember that, too.

There is a gnawing suspicion that the world has changed, maybe forever. Hold on to that.

You know that fear that you might lose everything and you have no idea how to stop it? Log it in your heart.

There’s also that feeling that powerful forces like the government could take steps to end this pain, but whether because of stupidity or malice, it takes no action. Remember this, too.

You are worried how you’ll make a living now. Cement it in your memory.

Sometimes, do you find yourself just wanting it all to stop, because it’s too hard to bear and it doesn’t matter how much relief you hope for? It still won’t stop. Remember that, too.

Never forget these feelings. This is America’s Third World moment.

The fears, the sense of unfairness, the feeling of helplessness, the yearning for help and relief—our world needs Americans to comprehend these feelings.

Because now the most fortunate people in the world, Americans, have insights into what other nations feel too often. We’re scared, confused and bewildered by what’s happening around us. We want help and none appears to arrive.

What we feel now is a shadow of how Syrians felt as their authoritarian leader laid waste to their homes and poisoned their children with chemical weapons, and no one on the planet would end the dictatorship and save them. Their lives were reduced to rubble and ruin and it could have been stopped, but no one bothered.

This is how the Kurds felt when the U.S. abandoned them to slaughter after being our loyal allies. They did nothing wrong; they chose to befriend America and then lost everything simply because a simpleton in the White House wanted to cozy up to Russia and Turkey.

This is how parents in Central America feel as they watch cartels obliterate the very idea of a civilized life. All they want is hope for their children to live decently and a little help that never seems to arrive.

It’s how a mother in Africa feels watching her child starve, while on TV you see people eating all over the world.

This is how it feels to be in a war zone. To have your way of life lost for no good reason. To see the world you love destroyed when all you needed was a little help.

And it’s not just over there. It’s here, too. Some people in America know these feelings all too well.

It’s how the poor in the U.S. feel, watching loved ones die just because they can’t afford a hospital stay. It’s the anxiety of Americans who, because of an illness or disability, have limited job opportunities and must rely on government supplements or community support. It’s the helplessness that victims of human traffickers feel.

It’s how Native American communities have felt for generations due to systematically destructive federal policies. It’s how American children feel when they live in poverty or in neglectful or abusive environments.

We will get to the other side of the crisis.

Things won’t be the same. They should not be.

We should learn how to prevent this next time. We should learn to elect leaders who are smart, capable and incorruptible, and who care about their nation more than they care about themselves. We should learn that our health care system needs an overhaul, and, yes, public health is a matter of both national security and economic security. We should learn to think in a long-range manner.

But even though we will be different, we will persevere and be better off than most of the world.

The next time you see suffering, though? The next time our leaders encourage us to ignore cries for help? The next time there is genocide, or famine or brutal suppression, or pointless suffering? Remember the way you feel now.

This is how helplessness and injustice feel.

And this is what it feels like to yearn that someone will offer a hand to help. That a generous spirit can lift people up and save a generation.

When we get to the other side, let’s all be the people who care more about others. Who don’t turn a blind eye to cruelty and who offer hope and a hand of help.

Most Americans don’t live in the reality that is daily life in much of the Third World and even in parts of the U.S.: instability, helplessness, pining for relief.

We’re the ones who are helpless now. When we recover, let’s resolve to be better to our neighbors on the planet. We’ve all been there now and have felt at least a bit of the pain that afflicts so many in the world every single day. Let’s learn from it and grow larger hearts, hands eager to pitch in, and intentions to heal, not hurt.

First, let’s heal ourselves. Then, let’s help heal others.

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