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Are We Really All in This Together?
A Slogan for the Corona Virus Pandemic
We’re all in this together.
When I first heard this slogan being used in response to the corona virus pandemic, it felt trite to me. I wanted something more inspiring and courageous. Something that recognized how all of our personal experiences are different.
Like many others, I felt a disconnect from the celebrities in their luxurious homes spreading this well-intentioned message. My 19-year-old niece says she and her friends mockingly console each other with this slogan as they wonder how this will affect their ability to pay for college and rent.
Even Lady Gaga has recognized the dissonance and expressed it on her virtual visit to the Jimmy Fallon show recently,
“While I think the sentiment is nice, I also think that the fight that I’m in — or that you’re in, right? — is very different than the fight of a woman that is in, perhaps, an abusive relationship and has a child and lost her job and can’t feed her kid and can’t feed herself and also can’t get the help that she needs because she’s in a violent situation.”
There are doctors, nurses, and health care workers on the front lines risking their lives day in and day out, carrying out their duties while the rest of us stay…