While I offer my condolences to the victims and their families, this isn't the most fatal or most gruesome incident even this month - simply this one happens to involve white western people, so it will be considered by news agencies as more important than the civilian suffering in Syria, Afganistan, North Korea, Somalia or Mexican drug wars.
If you and your relatives are safely far away from Boston, then your happiness would benefit from ignoring the news. Just as what people do when they and their relatives are safely far away from Syria etc.
Perspective is always something that one should maintain, but I can't help but roll my eyes at any response to bad news that invokes the phrase "white western people". It makes your viewpoint seem politically motivated.
Apologies, that was biased, and I have no idea about the ethnicity of the victims. Perhaps "people from wealthy english-speaking countries" would be more accurate?
I struggle to find any other significant differences between this incident and, for example, the terror-murder of 7 people in Mexico (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandt...) or the 6000 last month victims in Syria that will get much, much less outrage and impact than this bombing.
The only difference in value of people lives to global media seems to be their country of residence. Now THAT is politically motivated.
>The only difference in value of people lives to global media seems to be their country of residence. Now THAT is politically motivated.
Comments like this sound like an attempt to co-opt or subjegate the empathy that arises in humans when they read about the suffering of their own people. It's sort of sad, really, that you can't let us reflect on a tragedy.
Reflecting on tragedies is useful and necessary. We, the whole world, will reflect on this tragedy a lot.
But the political issue (problem?) is that with the current media globalization right now all the non-US media and non-US audiences are overtaken with this incident and they will not be reflecting on the many larger tragedies regionally, globally, anywhere else. As always. While the world mourns for Bostonians, there are today 10 times more victims in a bigger terror bombing elsewhere (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22149863) - will there be global empathy for that? Tomorrow, world leaders will call for action due to the Boston bombing - will they call for action on middle east bombings?
Currently random media outlets in, say, Russia or South America tend to report a shooting in USA while ignoring a genocide in Africa. Empathy in media is already distorted, and I've no idea on how to get it back.
While I offer my condolences to the victims and their families, this isn't the most fatal or most gruesome incident even this month - simply this one happens to involve white western people, so it will be considered by news agencies as more important than the civilian suffering in Syria, Afganistan, North Korea, Somalia or Mexican drug wars.
If you and your relatives are safely far away from Boston, then your happiness would benefit from ignoring the news. Just as what people do when they and their relatives are safely far away from Syria etc.