Boston Marathon Bombing

[the_std]

So, if you haven't heard, two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston marathon today. Two people were killed and over sixty were injured.

Everyone I know has shown this immense outpouring of grief and support. My Twitter feed, Facebook wall and text messages are full of prayers and wishes for the people affected by this event... As well they should be. There was a loss of life in a very scary, random fashion today and the US won't be the same as a result of that.

However, there is a growing trend in the media of calling it a "global tragedy", due to the fact that there were participants there from almost one hundred countries. What makes me sad about this is that multiple bombings, deaths and shootings happen on a much larger scale in many other countries every day... And it's not seen as a "global tragedy". 31 people were killed in explosions in Iraq today, and there is no public outpouring of grief and support.

As much as I feel for the people affected in Boston today, it makes me sad that we can be so first-world centric sometimes.

That's just how I see it. Thoughts?

[Panacea]

I agree: we are very self centered here.

And we still don't know who's responsible.

What's sad to me is we give a collective yawn when it's someone else's suffer, but good Lord the outrage when it's us that gets hit.

I wish we could get it together to put a stop to this kind of crap (mass murder).

I pray for the victims, the survivors, and their families. I pray for the responders.

I fear for the details and to the who and why of this when they come out.

[Greenday]

However, there is a growing trend in the media of calling it a "global tragedy", due to the fact that there were participants there from almost one hundred countries. What makes me sad about this is that multiple bombings, deaths and shootings happen on a much larger scale in many other countries every day... And it's not seen as a "global tragedy". 31 people were killed in explosions in Iraq today, and there is no public outpouring of grief and support.

Christopher M. Ward, Wilbel A. Robles-Santa, Delfin M. Santos Jr. - Killed by an IED on 4/6/13 in Afghanistan
Tristan M. Wade - Killed by an IED on 3/22/13 in Afghanistan
Mark H. Schoonhoven - Killed by an IED on 1/20/13 in Afghanistan
David J. Chambers - Killed by an IED on 1/16/13 in Afghanistan

Where's the public outcry for these soldiers/marines? Oh, that's right, no one pays them any attention because it's so easy to ignore a war when it's not happening on home turf. It's only a tragedy, it would appear, when it happens at home.

[Seifer]

However, there is a growing trend in the media of calling it a "global tragedy", due to the fact that there were participants there from almost one hundred countries. What makes me sad about this is that multiple bombings, deaths and shootings happen on a much larger scale in many other countries every day... And it's not seen as a "global tragedy". 31 people were killed in explosions in Iraq today, and there is no public outpouring of grief and support.

This thought crossed my mind, as well. Car bombings are so frequent in certain parts of the Middle East that each new incident barely gets more than a mention in the news. (I don't even think it's considered big news in the Middle East, let alone here in the U.S.) Yet we have an explosion with minimal casualties (seriously, this could have been a much bigger disaster), and our citizens act like World War 3 has started. I can understand being upset, but calling it a global tragedy is offensive to people who actually deal with tragedies on a daily basis.

I sympathize with those injured and their families. I hope those involved in the bombings are caught and brought to justice. I simply wish the citizens of the U.S. could open their eyes to the fact that there is a world outside of our borders, and the people in that world live through these kinds of incidents daily.

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Call me crazy, but service men and women die in jobs that (as crass as this may sound) have a reasonable expectation of death and injury. International terrorism, pervasive as it may be tends to occur in some targets far more than others. In those target areas, yes people get desensitized to them.

Why do people not get outraged at every event on the planet? Because people don't have enough emotion to do that. What do people tend to have their attention grabbed by? Well, events that are reasonably unexpected. As in, civilians viewing a sporting event or who spent the last 8 months training to run do not reasonably expect a bombing.

Is the event worse than the others on the cosmic scale? Of course not. But they are more emotionally traumatic events. They are deadly aberrations in terms of normalcy. Pretending otherwise is asking that human beings either be miserable all the time (because tragedy always occurs) or become so cynical and detached that they remain unaffected (again, because tragedy always occurs).

[Greenday]

Call me crazy, but service men and women die in jobs that (as crass as this may sound) have a reasonable expectation of death and injury.

If it was just EOD, I might agree or if it was a firefight. But soldiers have died doing simple goodwill work and I don't believe that kind of job should have a reasonable expectation of death or injury.

[Seifer]

Is the event worse than the others on the cosmic scale? Of course not. But they are more emotionally traumatic events. They are deadly aberrations in terms of normalcy. Pretending otherwise is asking that human beings either be miserable all the time (because tragedy always occurs) or become so cynical and detached that they remain unaffected (again, because tragedy always occurs).

Of course people are going to react strongly to something that happened in their own backyard. However, it would be nice if those same people would give more than a mere "meh" to a similar news story that happened somewhere else in the world.

People here in the United States are spoiled and don't even know it. We're protected by an incredibly strong government and military, and take it for granted. Other countries aren't so lucky, and lose citizens daily due to violence. Many citizens here (not all, but I've seen quite a few) won't bat an eye when they hear about car bombings or tragedies around the world, yet they expect the world to care when terrorist attacks kill our citizens.

(Shit, most U.S. citizens couldn't name a president of another country, but expect the world to know our president's name and his current political leanings. That's the kind of egocentric behavior I'm talking about.)

Like I said, the above attitude doesn't describe everyone in the U.S. A lot of citizens are empathetic and give to relief funds that help support victims in other countries. Unfortunately, there are those that simply don't care about anyone outside of the borders of their own country. Those are the people I'm referring to.

[Hyena Dandy]

Am I not capable of being disturbed by more than one thing at a time? I mean, I live right outside boston. I had several friends that I spent a few hours not knowing if they were alive or dead.

But clearly, the fact that this bothers me is evidence that I'm just a spoiled American, I should only be disturbed by the worst possible thing.

FINE.

HOLOCAUST. HAPPENED.

NO MORE CARING ABOUT ANYTHING ANYMORE.

[the_std]

Really? Is that the extreme we're going to take it to? All I'm saying is that a little recognition for tragedies that kill much larger groups of people would be appreciated. Especially if that recognition came from a major source, like a news outlet. If you had a friend in the area, of course you should be worried. But the hundreds of people on my Twitter feed who aren't saying anything but "my prayers go out to Boston" never seem to say that when people are killed in the Middle East, or large-scale death happens in Asia, or any of the other places that experience this kind of sadness and fear on a regular basis.

I am upset because two people die and the first world seems to grind to a halt, whereas hundreds of people die every day in equally tragic circumstances, and they are but a blip on the radar, not even worth registering for most people.

It makes me incredibly sad.

[Seifer]

Am I not capable of being disturbed by more than one thing at a time? I mean, I live right outside boston. I had several friends that I spent a few hours not knowing if they were alive or dead.

But clearly, the fact that this bothers me is evidence that I'm just a spoiled American, I should only be disturbed by the worst possible thing.

FINE.

HOLOCAUST. HAPPENED.

NO MORE CARING ABOUT ANYTHING ANYMORE.

So you consider what happened in Boston a global tragedy?

[Greenday]

Am I not capable of being disturbed by more than one thing at a time? I mean, I live right outside boston. I had several friends that I spent a few hours not knowing if they were alive or dead.

But clearly, the fact that this bothers me is evidence that I'm just a spoiled American, I should only be disturbed by the worst possible thing.

FINE.

HOLOCAUST. HAPPENED.

NO MORE CARING ABOUT ANYTHING ANYMORE.

I'm pretty sure you missed the whole point.

[Hyena Dandy]

So you consider what happened in Boston a global tragedy?

NO! IT'S NOT!

THAT'S WHY I'M NOT UPSET! THAT'S WHY I DON'T FUCKING CARE THAT I SPENT TIME SUPPRESSING A MAJOR PANIC ATTACK AND TRYING TO GET IN CONTACT WITH PEOPLE!

I can't be bothered by things that happen around me, because I am, as we all know, only capable of being bothered by ONE THING AT A TIME, and NO MORE, so being upset is just showing how out of touch I am.

[the_std]

Um... I'd probably recommend that you take a step back if this is a topic you're so obviously personally attached to.

I didn't start this topic as an attempt at offence to anyone dealing with it, but it seems you might not be in the best frame of mind to engage in debate on this subject right now.

I hope you feel better soon, and that everyone you know is okay.

[Hyena Dandy]

No, no, I'm not upset! I'm not upset because I am only allowed to be upset about THE WORST THING. And there are WORSE THINGS, so being upset is stupid and closed-minded and I'm just a fucking bastard for caring.

[the_std]

Well, now I'm not sure what's happening, so I'm going to leave this alone, as it seems to be a sensitive topic. I hope you have a better night than you seem to have had during today.