Article Summary and Response on American’s Attitude towards Covid-19
How do most people feel when their loved ones leave them? It is not easy to take some occurrences such as death, and it takes time to accept that a family member has passed away. Currently, the COVID 19 pandemic is an excellent threat to the universe as it has reclaimed many lives and left many in tears. Surprisingly some of the people in the United States of America have not shown an excellent reaction to the virus as many have shown to be in a celebrating mood, and life to them seems to be normal (William Wan). Perhaps, the problem of insecurity is now stated to be homegrown, which means the problem lies in us. Attacks are planned and organized by people within the borders, making it difficult to control the problem, which means some people care less about the situation. Besides, as William Wan and Brittany Shammas reporters for the Washington Post implies when explaining the state of Coronavirus in the United States and its unnoticeable effects, the Americans seem to care less about death caused by the virus, and this can be elaborated by focusing on the aspect of cultivating empathy in the age of pandemic and even in future.
According to Wan and Shammas in the article “why Americans are numb to the staggering coronavirus death toll,” it is evident that deaths caused by COVID 19 pandemic has not been exposed directly to the public and even to family members. People have been witnessed going on with their normal activities despite the increased number of deaths due to the pandemic, while the nurses in the health facilities are most touched by the high numbers of deaths every hour. According to the nurses, if the public could directly be exposed to Coronavirus's deaths, it could be easier for them to change their mindset towards taking the right actions to curb the situation (William Wan). People tend to reduce their apathy on mass deaths and suffering due to their hopelessness over the situation. The pandemic has not captured the Americans' attention as it has been with many other disasters; for instance, the Katrina hits led to hurried national attention. America's health system is experiencing a challenge as the people fail to take adequate preventive measures to curb the virus (William Wan). The deaths of the patients of COVID-19 are up close as the health practitioners also fear getting infected, thus leading to less care of the victims who die of loneliness and stigmatization. Although Americans have been witnessing their relatives' deaths, their response in terms of the level of apathy profoundly depends on the victim's demography. This leaves the elderly becoming more vulnerable to the virus, with statistics showing a more significant percentage of their loss of lives, unlike other age groups. However, the creation of Twitter accounts to share the pictures of the people lost due to the pandemic and acknowledging their deaths through the placing of seats near the White House are some of the ways used to cultivate apathy by Americans. Perhaps, imagining oneself in other people's roles is one of the best moves to control the spread of Covid-19.
It is beyond imagination to see Americans minding less about the effects caused by Covid-19. I have been deeply shocked by citizens' overall behavior of failing to recognize the dangers caused by the pandemic bearing in mind that it is not normal to see people dying every day out of something we can control, but we end up being careless. During the Great Depression, the worsening of the economy was associated with a carelessness that led to the entire economy crashing. I solemnly agree with the authors’ point of view about the deep state of falling to accept that Covid-19 has negative impacts just because the increasing death toll is making us more substantial, and instead of taking this as a bad moment, we still maintain our regular activities. The feeling of vulnerability to the virus is not within us since the pandemic has become part of us, and for this reason, death is normal. The aging population seems to be the most affected by this carelessness aspect since they are the most vulnerable group to the virus's severity (William Wan). I have less imagined what the world will be like without feelings for one another, taking; for instance, losing family members out of something that I can control is more of a betrayal. The doctors in health facilities have witnessed it, but people do not care about the pandemic anymore; it is devastating to see patients die without anyone’s attention, not even a family member. Besides, the increased deaths due to Covid-19 have a lot to do with a lack of empathy for others, with people even taking no caution.
In my opinion, the empathy deficit among Americans is increasing as witnessed by celebrating mood despite the death records, which grew every hour. Louisiana floods left many of the residents homeless and recognized as the country's largest disaster for one hundred years. This was due to heavy rains for some weeks, and around 12000 people were forced to leave their homes. Volunteer groups were observed helping with some hygiene kits and giving other resources to the homeless people. There was an excellent response to help people who were left homeless, and this showed great empathy. The Coronavirus pandemic has not been responded to well by many Americans as some interact as if life is every day, despite the pandemic which has reclaimed thousands of lives (William Wan). I believe that most of Americans' reactions were due to helplessness as there is nothing they could do about it to end the pandemic. Besides, the medics were left with a tremendous role in caring for the victims who have the obligation of showing empathy to them. It is essential to show our emotions to the victims by behaving in a way that shows the sense of danger and acting to limit the spreading of the disease, and this is by taking control measures provided by the state thoughtfully.
The future of the current Covid-19 situation directly depends on everyone's response to the disease. More emphasis needed to be paid to the reality of life by creating an intense awareness concerning the virus's severity. Perhaps, just like the way the people in connection to state authority have joined hands in responding to other deadly disasters that have happened before, it is now high time to cultivate the sense of feeling for one another in the name of winning the fight together. Developing empathy, by all means, will give concrete meaning to life, and this can only be cultivated by understanding the need to take responsibility and take caution in the face of any deadly disaster.
Works cited
William Wan, Brittany Shammas. "Why Americans Are Numb To The Staggering Coronavirus Death Toll". MSN, 2021, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/why-americans-are-numb-to-the-staggering-coronavirus-death-toll/ar-BB1c78Pd.
