I just refuse to be significantly more affected by American deaths than citizen's of other countries deaths. Our military services killed 30 innocent people today ( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-125820/US-bomb-kills-30-Afghan-wedding.html ), and no one will talk about it in lieu of talking about 2 people that died in Boston today (although they wouldn't have talked about it anyway).
A much better example is the coverage of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 vs the coverage of Hurricane Katrina. If you want to argue that it's more important that we hear about Katrina because it's closer and we can offer help easier, absolutely, I agree. But less than 2,000 people died due to Hurricane Katrina, and TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY THOUSAND people died because of the tsunami. That's nearly a quarter of a million lives that were lost. But the amount of time that we heard about it was miniscule compared to how much we heard about Katrina.
I just wish we would be at least marginally concerned with tragedies in other countries, considering how much more prevalent they are.
All true, but that's a media issue. Its normal for countries to care more about their own, and there is no doubt that we are very self focused in this country. That's not always a bad thing, it just is what it is.
As far as this thread, I was once in a group and the discussion was about what we would do if we knew we had a year left to live. The answers were typical, usually involving travel, buying some nice things, etc. My perspective was a bit different; I said that I hoped I was living the type of life that was worthwhile right at that moment, so while there might be some special things, my hope was that I wouldn't have to make drastic changes. I would hope I would continue with my job if able, because I should be in a job I enjoy anyway. I hope that my interaction and time spent with family and friends is what I want it to be and what its should be. While I know for a fact none of those things are where they should be, at least I should be moving in a direction that is what I would want and hope my life to be.
Events like the one in Boston yesterday, or the numerous others discussed, remind me of that conversation. They remind me that life is fleeting, and while I have so far been blessed with very few "disasters" in my personal life and with my extended family, I simply don't know what tomorrow will bring. There is enough evil in the world, that something drastic and traumatic might happen where I live at any moment. From my perspective all human life is precious and shouldn't be treated flippantly, even if I don't know the people involved. When I hear the more detailed and personal stories, it hits home a little bit more because I think about my family, my wife, and my kids. Pretty quickly I usually move on, but there are at least a few moments of hearing or seeing or reading that I do get that pit in my stomach. I don't think its a bad thing to feel that and be reminded of that from time to time, even if its a bit forced and manufactured by the way the media covers these events.
All that said, no one should feel compelled to feel anything, and your stage in life will very likely have a big effect on your reaction. However, we have to at least acknowledge our presuppositions about life, family, etc. also play into how we react. It is true that death happens all the time and in many different circumstances, so it seems a bit silly to overreact to one form over another. But on the other hand, no one should be faulted for how they view life or tragedies, even if that leads to posting annoying stuff on facebook or twitter. To me that social media aspect is almost a different discussion because we simply interact and read reactions that we didn't have available just a few years ago, but those reactions were still there. They were just shared with a handful of people instead of hundreds or more. (and most of those to people we don't really know that well)
I generally agree with the typical gE reaction of "feel or react however you want". However, we also know that nearly everyone is going to have a judgement/opinion to those feelings/reactions (or lack of feelings/reactions) and we must be prepared for that.
We all seem to really enjoy the interactions BBSes like this one (or social media) provide. Unless of course we don't like them. And in an atmosphere like this one, either is fine.
