“The moment we stop fighting for each other, that’s the moment we lose our humanity.” – Dr. Adrian Helmsly
If you know that quote, I am dang impressed and will bow down to your movie knowledge. For the rest of us, this was the scene in the fairly terrible, yet, fairly fun end of the world movie, 2012, where the scientist, Dr. Adrian Helmsly gives a very passionate plea to the world leaders, that they open the doors to their “ark” to allows hundreds of people on board as their ark was damaged. They, of course, did and while the world was in chaos, humanity was preserved.
I was watching this as I was running on the treadmill about fell off as the quote come out of his mouth. I finished my run, then ran upstairs, grabbed my notebook, and got the quote written down. I found it was perfect for what we are dealing with right now in our world with Covid-19.
How do we do this? How do we keep fighting? Watch the news. Those nurses and doctors who are dealing with the virus on a daily basis? They are the ones who are fighting for our humanity. Those workers who are “essential”, those who work in the gas stations, in the packing plants, helping pass out food in the food lines, who are in the grocery stores, the Wal-Marts, the Targets, all those places where they could be exposed? They are the ones fighting for our humanity. The truck drivers keeping food in grocery stores? Fighting. The restaurant owners? Fighting. The pub owners? Fighting. Each one of these groups, every person who steps out to their home to do the right thing, these are the heroes among us.
#heroesdeservebetterthanthis
Our heroes are getting crapped on left and right. Small business owners can’t get funds from the government because larger businesses with an army of lawyers got the money first. Health care workers are being mocked and worse by an army of “reopen the country” fools, hellbent on reopening our country before we are ready. Those in meatpacking plants are being forced back to work by our president, hellbent on doing I don’t even know what anymore. The governor of our great state is forcing the issue by reopening 77 of the 99 counties even as cases spike and Iowa’s infection rate grows.
I’ve seen tons of quotes about “new normals” and “making new lives”, but by opening too early, what value are we placing on human life? Is this the humanity we want to be fighting for? That the life of a meatpacker isn’t worth as much as politicians (Iowa’s legislature is coming back May 15th, 15 days LATER than the state’s reopening date)? This is the most frustrating part for me, that people are rushing back because they “want to go camping” or “I can’t wait to get on the course” yet, cannot have empathy for those who are truly in need.
Then, we have the teacher stuff. I came across this tweet as I was a scrollin’ along:
I apologize for the picture. I am no longer a technology guru as time seems to have passed me by. I am becoming my father, and cannot wait for my daughters, their husbands, and my grandkids to laugh and say “CLICK AND DRAG”, but I digress.
#notafanofgettingold
The last line says this:
There is a zero tolerance policy for submitting HW the day after it is due. We are now used to the new reality. So, let’s fall in line. 🙂
The smiley face at the end makes it all better, don’t you suppose?
#no
This is the reality we are trying to escape! Now, I won’t bash this teacher, because I don’t know the story behind their assignment or policies. Administrators across the country have been all over the place in their desire to show power. This teacher may just be doing what they were told to do.
#BUT
At what cost to their students and their humanity? Where is the balance we want students to achieve? Do we want them to think less of school because suddenly they need to “fall in line”. I shared this with my wife, and she made the comment about how dictators say things like this to their followers. This woman is much smarter than I am, so when she said that, one word came into my head:
#damn
However, is the fight worth it? Long answer short, yes. We watch daily as people right to the challenge of preserving the humanity that we’ve longed for, a world full of hope and care, compassion and joy. From the parades around town for birthdays to the care package dropped off to the tennis players hitting between buildings to John Krasinski’s Some Good News YouTube channel to musicians playing Facebook Live or streaming concerts (I’m looking at you DropKick Murpheys and Gaelic Storm), people are showing that humanity is worth the work.
#thankyou
This blog has gotten rambly because there’s just so much to write about dealing with one quote from an obscure “the world is coming to an end” movie. Yet, if we can take that ONE piece, plant it, and help it grow, coming out of our own “end of the world moment, I believe we can be in a better place, a more caring, empathic, and joyous place than when this started.
#BUT (another big but)
It will take all of to stand up and say “I don’t want your old normal!” If we simply buy back into the I need to camp, shop, and party, we’ve lost a golden opportunity to make this better, to regain a piece of humanity that’s been lost for many, many years.
I, for one, want better.
May 5, 2020 at 12:15 pm
“Fools who want to reopen the country”? Those “fools” want the right to make their own choices about whether they’re exposed. Those “fools” want their right to make a living. “Those “fools” have lost their jobs, unemployment is running out. Those “fools” have families to feed and bills to pay, lest they become homeless.
Trump is insisting the meat plants continue to operate because he knows that food shortage is a real possibility. He knows a crippled economy and free market will lead to far more deaths than the virus, and far more suffering in the survivors. Guess that’s why he’s president and not you.
From an educator, I’d expect better.
May 5, 2020 at 1:32 pm
First, thanks for your comment! I appreciate your thoughts on this one. I understand the points you made about this topic and they are well stated. I’ve posted this in an educator’s site with the heading, “this was hard to write” for a reason, because this is a difficult time for all of us!
Living where we live, I know I have families who are hurting. I have families going to food banks and other places to find relief who never, ever would have thought of such a thing two months ago. Was “fools” too strong a word? In reflection, possibly. However, I will say we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, regardless of word choice.
One of our online learning opportunities for my students last week was the idea of public safety vs personal liberties. It led to interesting learning for my students, many of whom couldn’t tell me which was more important. It pushed their thinking on what was going on around them right now, which is exactly what I wanted to happen for them. Some of my students talked about your exact point, “it’s my right” and others talked about the rights of others not to be impacted by the decisions they made. It thought both sides were extremely grown up in their thinking.
I’ll leave you with the quote that I began my blog with: “The moment we stop fighting for each other, that’s the moment we lose our humanity.” – Dr. Adrian Helmsly
From this educator’s perspective, we can fight for humanity, not give up on each other, AND get people back to work, without putting each other in danger.
Again, I appreciate your pushing my thinking with your comment!
May 5, 2020 at 12:15 pm
This- “If we simply buy back into the I need to camp, shop, and party, we’ve lost a golden opportunity to make this better, to regain a piece of humanity that’s been lost for many, many years.” I so agree with this sentiment. All the best to you as we navigate this landscape.
May 5, 2020 at 12:49 pm
All the best to you as well! I just want people to think “why” before they dive back into what normal was in our lives! If we reflect, like we teach our kids to do, we may find something there. I don’t know. Just ramblings to a teacher doing things he’d never ever thought he do! 🙂
May 5, 2020 at 12:53 pm
Darin, I loved reading your thoughts–rambly or not. Thank you for your passion and empathy. Those thoughts and actions really do make the world a better place. I loved this ending section: “If we simply buy back into the I need to camp, shop, and party, we’ve lost a golden opportunity to make this better, to regain a piece of humanity…” I’ve seen some really ugly moments of people just wanting what they want when they want it, and I thought of some of them when I saw this quote. I hope enough people will not miss out on the opportunity to make this a more humane place.
May 5, 2020 at 1:35 pm
And that’s all I want, is for us to think, is this worth it? If we go forward without that reflect, we’ll be right back here where we started. Showing each other some compassion and humanity, fighting to find a better normal is what we all should be doing. But, we’ll have to wait and see what happens. I’m not overly optimistic after what I saw this past weekend, but who knows? 🙂
Thanks you for stopping by Denise! It’s always great to hear from you! ♥️
May 5, 2020 at 2:39 pm
Thank you for this. It’s an important post, and I am glad you wrote it and glad to read it today. I have never been so disheartened about humanity as I am lately, but your post reminds me that we can’t disengage and give up–much as I’ve been wanting to lately! I was thinking about many of the same things today and wrote about them, albeit from a different angle. I appreciate your words and perspective today.
May 5, 2020 at 2:43 pm
I am feeling all of this, too! It’s time for a primordial scream!!! “At what cost to their students and their humanity?” We are losing our humanity. We MUST keep trying, persevering, despite the odds. Some eight weeks into this now, I am continually in knots. Thank you for this!!
May 5, 2020 at 3:56 pm
A great post Darin! And I love that quote. It is true that we are struggling, some more than others. M Truth brings up good points, as you mentioned.
We can send people back to work– when we’ve redesigned the work place for covid19 safety precautions. As always the world is different for different folks– those who can afford it will be safe, the rest of us not so.
But why take that path?
Look at the world as if we belong together. It’s so obvious now how much we need each other— let’s protect each other, and find ways to help workers be safe.
“We are who we are because of who we all are.” [Ubuntu] We are all in this together –“A person is a person through other persons” or “I am because we are.” Ubuntu We need each other to be safe.
“Our human compassion binds us the one to the other not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” ~Nelson Mandela
“Our deepest moral obligation is to become more fully human. And this means entering more and more deeply into community with others. So although the goal is personal fulfilment, selfishness is excluded.” ~Augustine Shutte
The hardships we face it seems bring us face to face with our humanity — and changing the world so all are protected and seen as having value.
This isn’t the first time the times since 2016 have brought us to wonder about our humanity. Slice of Life Ubuntu, 2018
Thank you for remind us that we are all in this together– as a human family.
May 5, 2020 at 8:09 pm
Thank you for writing this in such a public format. Before the pandemic we were a very politically divided country. Now, this crisis could bring us closer together or tear us further apart. The most important part of your post were the comments. The first response you received was enlightening and I really appreciated your response. It is an excellent model of how we all need to be respectful and open minded at this time. Even with the internet and other ways to connect, we may not always be aware of what other people are experiencing or thinking during this time. Unless we start talking openly and try to understand one another then humanity is indeed lost. Thanks for scoring a point for humanity.
May 5, 2020 at 9:10 pm
When a 2nd grader typed, “I miss going to school.” in the chat box this morning, I felt a little hope that the good we do that is not measured by tests or percentages will be recognized. It is still the presence of a caring adult that makes the biggest difference for a child. Technology is an adequate bridge, but our humanity rests on our dealings with one another face-to-face. Take care, SOL friend.
May 6, 2020 at 6:05 am
I want better also.And I think the glimmers of hope – the doctors, grocery store employees, delivery people – far outweigh the signs of humanity’s failures – the protestors, the social distance refusers.
May 6, 2020 at 6:34 am
I appreciate this post so much, Darin. This line, “I believe we can be in a better place, a more caring, empathic, and joyous place than when this started” Yes. I hope for this, as well. But I don’t think we’ll get there, as you allude to, unless we work together and place the importance of a social compact and the greater good before “making [our] own choices about whether [we]’re exposed”. The flaw in that argument is that the people who choose to follow non-science- based leadership are making the choice for perhaps two, perhaps three, perhaps more people- because that is the known (data-based) transmission rate. Thank you for these “ramblings”!