The story out of New York about the death of a Korean American run over by a subway train is made more depressing when you realize how many people there were within 100 feet who didn’t bother to lift a finger to help.

If you haven’t heard about how Ki Suk Han died, you can read about it on my post at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund website blog.

I’m still struck by the coincidence of Mr. Han’s death and the Fiscal Cliff debate, AKA the debate over just how uncaring government should be.

We are being prepared  for a world with no safety net, where the government will not respond. And no one else will either.

In Mr. Han’s case,  we saw what is happening on a personal level when in an emergency there’s a lack of response.

You can hang on by your fingernails, as  Mr. Han did, for as long as you can.

A photograph taken by a freelancer, showing Mr. Han hanging on for his life,  is a depiction of our evolving national tragedy where nobody cares about anyone but themselves.

People saw Mr. Han  and looked away. A hero never arrived. But for once, public transit was on time.