posted on Apr, 29 2013 @ 01:11 PM
Bad news, sells. Good news not so much.
Usually when people are trying to present "X people died today," it's usually in contrast to another horrific event. Usually with the intent to
create guilt or outrage.
Like, "How dare you not feel this way about these dead people too?!?"
Or, "The media won't tell you about the people who died here!"
I'd be nice if the news were able to focus on the survivors, but then most of the survivors don't have a tragedy to sell or an agenda.
As for caring if people lived, that's a harder story to sell, unless its by some sort of seat of the pants nearly miraculous event. Like the pilot
landing a crashing plane in the river and saving everyone's lives, or the child stuck in the well. Truthfully, there isn't as big as an emotional
hook in pointing at 'Joe Nobody' in Walmart who is still alive, after nothing happened to him there.
Should we as people care if people live, certainly. Can we get worked up overly much about it if there no crisis involved, no drama or special
circumstances? Unlikely. After all, people live, every day.
The national news might seem odd if they announced.
"There were over 625,087 survivors of the Boston Marathon in the two explosions, less than two hundred wounded and just three dead."
(625,087 being the census data of Boston, MA. via Wiki.)
Or if the news announced.
"There were over 93,000 successful commercial airplane flights today with thousands of survivors, and one that that was unsuccessful."
"There are many nations that are not at war today, with no casualties from war expected."
And the like.
So it's a matter of perception in all things, how do the 300 deaths effect you?
Are you even aware that many more than that die every day?
Do you know any of those people?
Is it callous or selfish to not get bent out of shape when events happen on the other side of the planet, and that have no effect on your daily lives?
I think not, there is a limit to what we can affect or to let ourselves to be effected by, or we'd go insane. It's one thing to know such
tragedies occur, it is another to force yourself into massive depression or insanity over them. Or to sell yourself into poverty over every single
emotional charitable plea for your money.
How much of yourself can you afford to invest emotionally, in people whose lives will not effect yours?
That's the question.
M.