The Plague

I am thankful for the USA. I have always been thankful, but recent events made me even more thankful.

Take Covid in Indonesia, as an example. Remember when we got so fed up with people stockpiling toilet paper and the price of hand sanitizer went through the roof? A friend told me in her city, an oxygen tank that was usually sold for $35 is now sold for $484. The Covid medicine Actemra that was sold for about $550 (around $750 in the hospital) is now a whopping $12,450 in the drug mafia. That is if you can get it.

Antibiotics are gone. Hospital beds are gone. Healthcare workers are diminishing from Covid infection and overwork. But that's maybe why the people take such small care about Covid. Health and longevity are reserved for the rich only or those with titles. Only Lords and Ladys deserve to live, others are meant for the grave.

This is what's so different from the USA. We talked about inequality over and over again. While it is great that we set our eyes on being better, we often forget how far ahead we are compared to other countries. 

Here in the US, I have the right to live. Not just living, but actual quality living. I deserve not only ways to keep this body of mine staying alive (food, healthcare, etc), but also staying alive in a way that nourishes me. I deserve to be treated as a human being, not a peasant whose only sole purpose in life is to feed the rich.

I know a lot of Americans feel that way. With billionaires' space race and politicians' arrogance, we are nothing but their pawn. But this is America. We can still have so much more. You could have jobs, school, everything if you wanted to. It is not easy for some, but it's not a definite "no" just because you don't have the same religion, or even not the preferred sub-race, skin color, or weight.

I am thankful for Americans who step up to help others, seeing nothing but fellow human in need. I am thankful for Americans who did not step up to help others, but at least not sneering and talking shite about what a useless action that would be. I am thankful for Americans who look down and made it public that selfishness is not an option.

It never was. Not in America. Even when there are those who will double down on being a dick (from both sides of the fence), there will be others who will furrow their brows and said: "That's not cool". As a person who previously thought I had to continuously fight on my own just to 'live', that made so much difference. 

It is always heartbreaking to see Americans seeing horrible things about the US. It was a painful road to obtain my citizenship and I am still paying for it right now, but it's worth it. The freedom is worth it. The equality is worth it. The safety in financial and human rights is worth it. 

I hope Americans can see this instead of continuous squabbling because the world needs our help. Indonesia, India, remote parts of Asia. We are the world's distant cousins who have the job, the stability, the power to make other family members behave. We are important enough to force that delusional aunt to give proper care to her children. We can make a difference.

Please, for the love of anything holy and the mercy of everything grand, please get our heads out of our asses and help them. This is 2021 and in Indonesia the people who can afford to live are only those with money and social status. How absurd is this?