Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Massacres and sympathy
Everyone has heard of the tragedy that happened at Virginia Tech this week. Most of the country felt and expressed sympathy to the murdered students and their friends and family. What most people probably did not hear about was the 170 people killed in Baghdad today. Little, if any, sorrow or sympathy was extended to the victims and their families in Baghdad by the rest of the world. Why is this the case? I'm not attempting to make people feel guilty about their sorrow for one tragedy over another, I'm simply curious as to why one event evokes emotions instead of another. Are we simply desensitized to the murders in Iraq? Is it because what happens in Iraq effects us less then what happens on a campus in Virginia? I don't remember much public condolences to the victims of the 2006 Mumbia train bombings yet the train bombings in Madrid in 2004 generated much sympathy. The number of dead were about the same, what caused the different responses? Is it because America has more shared cultural traits with Spain than India? One thing that I can be certain of is that when children are killed, emotions will be raised. The Columbine and Beslan school massacres both received much media attention and public condolences.
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2 comments:
I think it's a combination of those things. I think the biggest factor is that people are dying every day in Iraq, and not in Virginia. I would also say that the media has a lot to do with it. You always hear about American soldiers dying in Iraq, but nothing about the countless more Iraqis.
Not only that, but it happened on a college campus. No one considers Baghdad a safe place. They did consider a college campus a safe place. That contributes to the shock - a previous haven is no longer such
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