I know a few times when I didn’t die. That one time in the car in Oregon, when the driver pulled out right in front of a car going at full speed. (Saved by the miraculous quick reaction of that driver.) The day on the coast of California in winter, when each wave only took me further out. (Saved by the kind guy from Boston built like a truck.) The midsummer when I blacked out and woke up naked, shaking like crazy, and dripping of sweat. (Saved by the ambulance people and the doctors and nurses giving me immediate treatment for sepsis.) And likely the time I went between our beloved cat and a dog, she bit my leg, and I got a persistent infection. (Saved by antibiotics.)
There are also innumerable times I didn’t die that I don’t know about because nothing happened.
And why did nothing happen? Because society is set up to prevent a wide range of things we can die from.
We have clean water. Just about every day, I don’t die from polluted water.
We have sidewalks. Just about every day, I don’t die from being hit by a car when I am out walking.
We have grocery stores with a variety of foods. Just about every day, I don’t die from malnutrition.
We have water and food. Just about every day, I don’t die from dehydration and hunger.
We understand how infectious diseases spread and take precautions. Just about every day, I don’t die from an infectious disease.
We have remarkably effective vaccines. Many times in my life, I didn’t die from diseases people in earlier generations died from.
We have antibiotics. Many times in my life, I didn’t die from an infection that would have killed me just two or three generations ago.
We have laws and a relatively safe society. Just about every day, I don’t die from violence or war.
We have a good social safety net. I don’t have to die from not having enough money.
None of this is a given.
It’s easy for this to become invisible to us, which is why it’s so important to regularly remind ourselves and others about it.
It didn’t happen by accident. It happened because enough of us decided to do something about it. And we need to make that decision anew each day, each election, each time we speak about society and what we value.
The video No One Knows When They Didn’t Die is by Hank Green and is on this topic, and is the inspiration for this brief article.