First in Line for Salvation: It is I

After the Coronavirus outbreak in Jakarta, many have begun to scramble in dire attempts to fulfil their humanitarian responsibility in ways many would not have imagined.

Suddenly, we are in the face of an unusual complex that irrevocably strips many of their basic human needs.

Suddenly, the fleeting refuge that the outside world perhaps temporarily promises day by day is now out of bounds.

A home was never a home for many after all. The walls that guard for some echo the beatings of violence for others.

Suddenly. Being at home really is all that bad, after all.

There are times when we forget the menial matters many must endure due to the peculiarity that comes with ambiguity. Maximizing utility — for Bentham, is natural. It is us and us alone who have the sole ability to fulfil our own cardinal needs.

And so we normalize panic buying; steering embellished trolley carts; and locking ourselves at home, with just enough comfort that the curtains behold.

But the other side of humanity has yet to arrive.

Maximizing utility comes in different forms for the greater society at large. Populists by nature, we seek to fulfil the communal good; the general welfare. Many of those vested by the societal gift of privilege act as if the pandemic is a business to mind and mend for themselves; that it is their problem, and albeit often cursed by fallacies, it is within their prerogative to commit whatever means necessary to protect themselves from any hint, any sliver of harm.

But of course, they forget. They forget those who live by and on the streets; who have pursued a life of worldly escapades; and really those simply suffering to survive.

Of the body counts we tally, we often lose sight of who to save, who to pity, and who to care for more.

But who’s counting?

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Ditulis oleh Denissa Almyra Putri

Disunting oleh Aktsa Efendy

Diterbitkan oleh Redaksi Nukilan Media