How American Exceptionalism Will Kill Us

With the up and rising fear of COVID-19, I have never seen American exceptionalism clearer. We are constantly being told to stay indoors, to not to gather in large crowds, and to self-isolate, but nobody is listening because nobody cares. I don't think that it will be 100% our fault when this virus destroys most of the population, but it will be enough for me to be angry.

Our response to this issue has proven that doomsday films and novels are absolutely right. We all think we're the exception until we aren't. So many people have decided to disregard the CDC's advice because "young people don't get affected" or "it's just the flu." Italy has warned us multiple times to take this virus seriously, but we choose to pretend they're overreacting instead.

When will we see ourselves as a community? Other countries have taken this seriously because they believe that it's important to hold each other accountable. If one person gets sick, hundreds of people can as well. Just because you think you're special doesn't mean someone's grandma or asthmatic sibling is.

We are so inherently selfish, as a society, that we think 100,000 deaths isn't that much. That people dying of something as preventable as the flu means there's no problem since only 2% of the population is affected. I have seen people hosting parties, going to church, going to public events, etc., and I wonder if they'll learn their lesson when their best friend or grandma dies.

Honestly at this point, if one more person says it's just the "flu" or just a"cold" I'm no longer engaging with them. I have a father who just recently got a kidney and is immunocompromised. This isn't a joke to me, and it shouldn't be to anyone else. No one should have to witness a close relative or friend die in order to take this seriously. We should already have taken this seriously from the beginning.

I can't believe that people are more worried about when they will leave the house then hundreds of thousands of American's dying. I have seen people saying that after April they will go out anyway because it's their right to as an individual. That idea is not wrong, but it's troubling that we don't care about others enough to sacrifice.

We would rather go out and harm every person we contact and possibly die because it's too boring to stay inside. People are forgetting that the reason China's numbers were so low because they were under quarantine for months. Chinese citizens were willing to sacrifice months of their social life so they could have as little casualties as possible.

Instead of reacting in a similar fashion, Americans have been adopting an "if I die, I die" mentality. Because of this, I haven't left the house in 2 weeks. We were warned by every nation affected like this for weeks and now cases are rising exponentially every day.

I honestly hope people will stop being selfish and realize that this is more than just the flu. I hope millions of Americans don't have to see their loved ones die in order to take this seriously. Unfortunately, that's the only way I can see people begin to change their minds. American exceptionalism is going to kill us if we don't start caring about each other as a community.