Between the snow, the ice and the bitter cold, the South is looking pretty unrecognizable right now. Texas has been hit especially hard—nearly 70 people have died, and millions of people throughout the week were without power and clean water. Although conditions are starting to improve, in some places the conditions are so grim that hospitals are without running water, an issue that would already be bad during normal times but is especially bad during a pandemic.

The South isn’t the only thing getting cold. No, with Tweets and comments from people in chillier regions telling Texans to suck it up and other general minimizations of the situation, it’s clear to see that some hearts have also been frozen over.

I can’t believe I have to say this, but what’s happening in the South, what’s happening in Texas, is not funny. Sure, we all love to make our jokes about the South, but those only work when they’re about things like music or food—things that don’t really matter.

And before anyone comes up with the same tired arguments of “It’s just a joke,” or “It’s how we cope,” or some other inane and uncreative remark, I’d like to say that I could not care less about whatever excuse you try to make for yourself. You already showed your true colors when you prioritized cracking jokes over caring about human lives.

It seems to me that this appalling lack of empathy stems from a sense of superiority, if the waves of “I’m better than you” radiating off of comments made by people in colder climates are any indication. And if it isn’t feeling superior over geography, it’s superiority over political leanings. Browse Twitter for a few minutes and it won’t be long before you come across a name with a blue checkmark beside it making some sort of statement that amounts to blaming Texas citizens for their suffering—a take that is wrong on so many levels that I have a hard time keeping track of how someone could be this tone-deaf.

No matter where the sense of superiority comes from, the fact of the matter is that it’s present and it’s troubling. Even more troubling than the lack of empathy from regular citizens is the lack of empathy from those who actually have the power to do something about the situation in Texas.

Seriously, let’s talk about this. Let’s talk about how woefully unprepared Texas power plants were for a winter storm like this, despite long-standing recommendations. Let’s talk about how some politicians tried to shift the blame of power failures onto renewable energy, like wind turbines, and are promoting the use of fossil fuels, which, spoiler alert, are one of the reasons why Texas is experiencing this climate emergency in the first place. Let’s talk about how instead of trying to help the public that elected him, Ted Cruz traveled to Cancún, during a global pandemic no less. While millions of people in Texas were left to survive without power in freezing conditions, Cruz got to relax at a luxury resort.

Instead of wasting time making snarky comments that amount to nothing more than revealing one’s own inflated ego, what we should be doing is holding those who are actually responsible for this mess accountable and helping those who are affected by what is proving to be a natural disaster.