Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and Nairobi, Kenya, and the author of the book "The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness." Follow her on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, nearly 1,800 people are confirmed dead, and more than 5,000 people could still be missing after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami less than two weeks ago. Bodies are still being dug out of the rubble, and family members continue to search for loved ones.

Jill Filipovic

But like so many stories about events outside of the United States, little American attention is being paid to this faraway tragedy.

President Donald Trump promised to put America First, and his opponents denounced that kind of political narrow-mindedness and egoistic exclusion. But on both sides of the aisle, we've let that me-first vision win.

The United States is in a crisis. We are more divided than ever. A hostile foreign power meddled in our elections, and we remain unprotected against future infiltration. Our President, who has been accused of sexual harassment or assault by more than a dozen women, nominated a man to the Supreme Court who stands accused of attempted rape and appears to have lied under oath. Now he's an associate justice on the Supreme Court. There is a lot to worry about within our own borders.

But we make a huge mistake -- and abdicate America's pivotal role in the global order -- if we think we can ignore the rest of the world. And yet that's exactly what voters left, right and center appear to be doing. The large media outlets that are tarred as "liberal" for their rigorous fact-checking and actual reporting continue to cover world affairs. But few seem to be reading or reacting. Where is the American outcry for aid to countries in dire need?

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