The efforts of many financially well-off people and the commercials have been providing a public message of some comfort: 'we are all in this together.' What are we in together? It is the concept of staying at home and keeping 6 feet apart when out in public and only leaving home when it is essential. It is called Social Distancing. And Social Distancing is needed to be embraced and practiced during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
For most of the people I know, the social distancing and staying home is doable. Why? That is because their incomes are secure which enables them to practice Social Distancing and follow the other guidelines provided. Their, or I should say our, problems during the pandemic revolve around missing the old life. We miss the freedom of going out anytime we want to be with friends. We miss doing nonessential shopping without a care in the world.
But Social Distancing is not an option for many people whose jobs and/or or other factors do not allow for them to stay safely employed at home. Some have lost jobs and thus lost income needed to survive. Yes, the government will help but the question becomes when will enough help come. Others have to work jobs where either their jobs or their means of transportation prohibit them from practicing Social Distancing. So now they are put into the position of risking their lives in order for them to provide a living for themselves and their loved ones. All of that is why opinion writer, Charles M. Blow, wrote an article called, Social Distance Is A Privilege. He related it to race because of the type of jobs many Blacks work (please click here to read his article). If we are all in this together, how are those who are privileged in this with those who are not?
And we should note that this pandemic cannot be eliminated for some of us in the world unless it isn't eliminated in all nations. Thus we should read what Rana Ayyub, a writer for Foreign Policy, noted in his article that shares the same title as Charles M. Blow's previously mentioned article. But there is difference between the two articles because Ayyub's article looks how many in India cannot practice social distancing for reasons some of which are different from the ones observed by Blow (click here for Ayyub's article).
So the more one can practice Social Distancing, the more privileged one is. And one of my favorite influences, Noam Chomsky, has stated that having privilege implies having certain responsibilities to those who are underprivileged. Being able to practice Social Distancing is due to being financially secure or privileged. Are those of us who are financially privileged helping those who are not? And I am not asking about the privileged members of the upper economic classes? Some of them are providing a great deal of help for many in need. I am referring to those in the middle class. We too need to find ways to help the underprivileged to get the necessities in life. And there are multiple ways to do that.
Social Distancing, or what some leftists prefer to call 'Social Solidarity With Physical Distancing,' should be followed when possible. It allows some of us to be in it together by staying home and staying 6 feet apart from one another as well as following the other guidelines that are not part of Social Distancing. But there are some whose basic survival depends on them breaking the Social Distancing rules that we can keep. All who are privileged enough to be able to practice Social Distancing must find ways to be in this together with those who must often break Social Distancing to survive. And those of us who are privileged enough to following the Social Distancing guidelines must also look to help those whose survival has been put at a greater risk because of their economic vulnerability in 'these uncertain times.'
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