"Well, we are all going to die."
It’s been a while since I’ve talked explicitly about politics here, but that doesn’t mean it’s been off my mind, or that I’ve been disengaged. There’s just only so many times I can say the same thing over and over before I get tired of reading my own words. But when I saw the clips from Senator Ernst’s Town Hall last week - and her snippy, sarcastic follow up - I felt like I had something new to say.
You can watch the clip of the Senator’s remarks, and if you want more context you can read this article. But the gist of it is this: while talking about the legislation that contains major cuts to Medicaid, someone in the crowd shouted, “People will die!” To which she responded, “Well, we are all going to die.” Unsurprisingly, the crowd did not like that, so she later followed up with what I’d call a non-apology apology.
She said:
"I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for a statement that I made yesterday at my town hall. I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth.”
The thing is, there is no one who understands mortality better than chronically ill and disabled people. When you have been in the ICU for over a week because of the flu, or have lost countless hours on the phone simply so you can have adequate care while at work and at home. Sometimes I think about what would happen if I didn't have the extra security of my parents as backup caregivers. Too many times I would have gone without the ability to use the bathroom, eat a meal, take a shower… this list goes on and on. How easily it could be that something could go wrong, that I could have an accident, and I wouldn't be discovered until it was too late.
The fact that Senator Ernst is able to speak so flippantly about these things shows me that she hasn’t lived with the same stress that I have day in and day out. She hasn’t had to sit with her own mortality; she hasn’t had to come to terms with it. If she had, she wouldn’t be talking about the inevitability of death quite so cavalierly.
What she seemingly fails to understand is that while death is inevitable, these specific senseless deaths due to poverty and neglect are preventable. Her way of thinking toes a fine line of eugenics-like thinking - survival of the fittest and richest.
The prospect of thousands of people dying shouldn’t be responded to with a pith little quip, nor should it come with a false apology that condescends on the intelligence level of her constituents. It should be treated with the respect and dignity that it deserves, because those lives have value. My life has value! I’m so exhausted of trying to come up with new, unique ways to convince people of this. I’m especially tired of having to convince the people who are supposed to represent me of this.
Many of us who rely on Medicaid already know all too well that we are going to die. With each hospital visit, each call to the insurance company, each denial of treatment, of coverage, of staffing, we can see it. Is it wrong to want to see our "inevitable" death far off into the future? If the massive cuts to Medicaid are enacted, however, that day could come sooner than we ever imagined.
Last week on the blog
What I’m reading and watching
I didn’t send out a newsletter last week because my wifi was out, so this week’s list is a little bit longer than usual. I feel like I have broken my reading slump (fingers crossed) and finished some really great books.
On audio, I finished Greenlights, which is Matthew McConaughey’s memoir. It was honestly fascinating - he has led such an interesting life! I will say that it was somewhat spoiled for me because of a joking anecdote he relayed about him and his brother pretending to need a seeing eye dog, which I did not love. But he is a great storyteller, and I enjoyed learning more about his approach to his career.
I got an ARC of The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater (thank you Netgalley and Viking!), which is a historical fiction and magical realism mix, where a super luxurious hotel, The Avallen, is asked by the government to host Nazi diplomats while their return to their home countries is worked out by the government. Historical fiction isn’t always my thing, but this isn’t really about war, and more about humanity. I absolutely loved it.
I also finished The Knight and the Moth, which is a new romantasy book that came out this month. It’s heavier on the fantasy than the romance, and is centered around mystical women - the Diviners - who are able to read the signs to tell someone’s fate. I liked how dreamy it was, and it ends on a major cliffhanger, so I’ll definitely be reading the follow up.
I watched and loved two new shows on Netflix - Sirens, which is a dramatic, soapy mystery involving the super-rich, and Four Seasons, a dramedy following a group of friends over four seasons (spring, summer, winter, fall) of their lives.
What I’m eying and buying
I had to refill a few skincare staples this week - why does everything always run out at the same time?? - so I thought I’d share them here. This Paula’s Choice toner, this Drybar mousse (I use it on wet hair before it’s braided), this Air Dry Cream from JVN (I use it on dry hair after I take out the braids), and my favorite Deliverance serum from Dieux, which has helped the redness in my skin so much.
My favorite thing about cropped tops being in style is that for me, crops are just normal length. I saw this ribbed cropped tee from Aerie and it looks like the perfect top for lounging.
And finally… I’m dubbing this summer Fish Girl Summer. And I think it means that I need this woven fish bag from J. Crew. I can’t stop thinking about it!