"Where life is precious..."
When the state treats human life as disposable, it's up to us prove otherwise
“Where life is precious, life is precious.” I was reminded of these words by Ruth Wilson Gilmore recently when I read Chain Gang All-Stars, a dystopian satire set in the not too distant future. I needed to read these words so badly because they encapsulate the grief I’m feeling from the state of the world as well as the hope I hold for a better one.
It could not be more clear that the United States is not a place where life is precious. We recently passed the three-year anniversary of Roe being overturned. We’re approaching the two year mark of arming Israel’s genocide. And then there’s the passage of the Big Brutal Bill.
Trump’s signature legislation sums up the MAGA worldview perfectly. Nothing matters more than funding a mass deportation force. Thanks to this bill, ICE will become the most well-funded government agency. While Republicans cut medicaid and SNAP to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, they found billions of dollars to pay for internment camps across the country. This legislation shows that in the eyes of the government, many lives are disposable.
I am embarrassed by my capacity to still feel shock. But I must admit that I was still awestruck by the callousness of this bill. But in a country where life is systematically devalued, there is still much that everyday people can do to affirm the preciousness of life.
I wish we had a Democratic party and left-leaning media infrastructure capable of describing Republican governance for what it is: a disdain for poor people, sick people, elderly people, children, Black and Brown and Indigenous people… a disdain for the sanctity of life. I wish our leaders and our media were capable of telling a clear story about the role the government can play in protecting life. I wish they were willing to be honest about the fact that we could do that by making just a minimal effort to share resources more equitably.
For years so many people in this country have fallen through the cracks of our inadequate safety net. Now it feels like inequality in the United States is going to widen into a chasm. There are pockets of effective resistance at the top. Senator Chris Van Hollen helped keep Kilmar Abrego’s name in the news. Writers like Jamelle Bouie are doing their best to sound the alarm with clarity. But as a whole we have to face the reality that the Democratic Party and institutional media are unwilling or unable to meet this moment.
So that work falls to us. There is nobody coming to save us. Not Barack Obama or Stacey Abrams and definitely not Elon Musk. It is up to us to do what we can in our own lives to affirm that life is precious. As daunting as this task has become, thankfully it doesn’t require anything superhuman. At the risk of being redundant, here’s the path that I see for us.
First, we take care of ourselves. That means making space for our fear, our grief, and our anxiety. But it also means taking time for rest, and joy and pleasure. This week I’m celebrating my 40th birthday and a celebration in the. midst of fascism feels discordant to say the least. But I also believe (self-servingly) that we need to soak up as much joy and community as possible, not just to steel ourselves for the fights, but because we deserve to feel alive.
Secondly, we have to take care of each other. There’s no one way to do this. But it does require doing something. Which can feel scary and exhausting and vulnerable. I’m currently trying to find one thing to commit to regularly because I feel sometimes overwhelmed by the possibilities available in Brooklyn. But so many people in my life are already doing a lot and they’re inspiring me to make a choice and start showing up even if it’s not forever. I have friends who are attending court watch shifts in solidarity with immigrants. My mom volunteers at her local library. My dad volunteers as a writing tutor in a middle school. In my neighborhood there are multiple mutual aid organizations including a free fridge. There’s a good chance you can find something similar (or something different that excites you!) near you.
I will say that doing things with other people is a great hack to get involved. I wouldn’t have canvassed for Zohran and Brad Lander without my JFREJ (Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, a grassroots Jewish organization I’ve been part of since 2014) community. I wouldn’t have done so many things over the past 10+ years to try to make NYC a better place without my JFREJ community. So, yeah. This is a reminder to myself as much as anyone reading that finding a community is a great first step to serving your community.
The last action that I think is imperative for us to take if we want to build a world where all life is precious is to be truth tellers. Sometimes being a truth teller is by unflinchingly stating a fact, e.g. The United States is now a fascist country. Israel is committing an ongoing genocide. The GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will kill people. The Democratic party is a gerontocracy.
But other times being a truth teller can mean challenging someone with a question. What does it mean to you that Zohran Mamdani is antisemitic? Where did you hear that? Or you might ask, why do you think we need more police to be safe? Are there other possible solutions that could increase public safety?
One of the insidious ways that fascism takes control of our lives is by erasing the meaning of words and fracturing our reality. This is especially true in a world of siloed social media algorithms. If we want to live in a world where all life is precious, we have to be honest about the world we’re living in now. And we must also confront the myths that undergird the cruelty of life in the United States which preceded Donald Trump’s presidencies.
When I look around at the world each day I feel a powerful mix of emotions. The fascists are on the move and that feels quite bleak. But also people across the United States are organizing to protect their communities and take care of each other.
The power of the message, “Where life is precious, life is precious,” comes from its simplicity. It is both a critique of a society that normalizes cruelty and a call to action. If we want to live in a society that truly honors life then we have to build it together by showing up for ourselves, each other and the truth.
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