A sitting U.S. Senator, Joni Ernst of Iowa, recently responded to concerns from her constituents about the life-and-death consequences of proposed Medicaid and food assistance cuts by saying, “Well, we all are going to die.” This was during a town hall, where regular Americans voiced fears that the “Big, Beautiful Bill” promoted by Donald Trump and supported by Ernst would strip support from millions. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it could cause 7.6 million people to lose health insurance.
This was a cold response to very real and very human fear. Fear of being unable to afford medicine, food, or shelter. Fear of watching your child suffer. Fear of preventable death.
From an Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) perspective, this moment reveals broken governance. Humans are inherently social, interdependent, and built for connection. Our nervous systems thrive in environments of safety, belonging, and mutual care. Political decisions that remove resources essential for survival do far more than disrupt the economy or reduce federal spending. They destabilize people’s ability to regulate their stress, feel safe in the world, and maintain health in both body and mind.
When a person in power dismisses the life-and-death concerns of others, it creates a rupture in the social fabric. It tells people they do not matter, their suffering is inconvenient, and empathy and relational accountability have no place in governance. This is antithetical to everything we know supports human well-being.
Policies prioritizing collective care, like access to healthcare and food, are not luxuries or signs of weakness. They are the infrastructure of a society that understands that we rise and fall together. When a leader scoffs at the consequences of systemic deprivation, they are saying, essentially, that only some lives deserve to be protected.
We may all die someday, yes. But what matters–what defines our culture, humanity, and political values–is what we do with the time we have. Do we create a world where people can thrive or one where they’re left to suffer in silence?
What Senator Ernst said was not just dismissive. It was a threat to a society that makes life worth living.
