What effect do reports of deaths in foreign countries have on you

JohnGalt

In my experience, smaller events which occur close to home elicit much more of a response than large scale disasters abroad. For example, reports of recent murders in Dublin results in remarks such as "That's awful" or "Terrible" while reports on recent events in the Gaza strip are more likely to evoke a political discussion, despite the fact that in terms of human life it was far more tragic. Of course the fact that something is close to home makes it seem more real, but it seems strange that so much worth would be applied to one life and so little to another 200 lives elsewhere. Have you experience similar apathy to large scale international events in people who respond to smaller scale events close to home, and what are your feelings on this?

Quazzie

NIMBY = Don't care

TPD

'Thou shalt attribute equal worth to tragedies which occur in non English-speaking countries as to those which occur in English-speaking countries.'
Scroobius Pip cares,

I don't.

phenomenon

According to the media one white person's life = 10,000 coloured people's lives.

Do you think the Maddie McCann case would have gotten the attention it did if the kid was black/hispanic/asian?

Holsten

Generally none really.

rosarosa

I don't think colour has anything to do with it, even though it can seem that way from here.....

It's the same all over the world, if it's not anywhere near you....*shrug shoulders*

In other words, as Q2002 said, NIMBY=don't care.

Húrin

I get pretty angry that injustice is happening, without much concern for where that is exactly.

When it happens here though I also feel that there's likely to be something I can do about it.

GhostInTheRuins

That's why I hate listening to the news. It'll make no difference to me that Israel blew up 200 Palestinians or whatever, what good is it for me to know that? At least if it's local news it's more likely to have an impact/affect on me.

Neamhshuntasach

Well reports of deaths in foreign countries has made me hold the opinion that the United States and Israel and the British Governments should be wiped off the face of this planet.

wylo

no effect really ,but in fairness I doubt a bunch of africans or indians would have given a sh1t about the Omagh bombing for example. People are more interested in their own affairs which is fair enough.

Ass

I value American lives over any other nations. I learned that an American life is more precious than a life from any other nation from the movies. I would gladly give up my own life to protect an American. Really, I would...

Diabhal Beag

I'm numb to any kind of death. If it has nothing to do with me I just don't give a **** TBH

dlofnep

It affects me on a personal level. I find myself boiled in anger alot of the time reading reports and first-hand accounts of attacks. It's not healthy.

Tech3

Ass Face wrote: »

I value American lives over any other nations. I learned that an American life is more precious than a life from any other nation from the movies. I would gladly give up my own life to protect an American. Really, I would...

yes we have to protect the nation of burger king addicts and dumb blondes

SV

It has no effect on me.


I don't care who dies as long as it doesn't affect me personally. It's all the same.

stovelid

Obviously I've become somewhat desensitised to death in places like the developing world and have a tendency to switch over, more out of a feeling of powerlessness than anything else. Occasionally a death closer to home registers more deeply, but you have to be a moron to say that you just don't care.

EamonnKeane

It's hard to care when you hear "bomb 3,000 miles away kills 20", especially when you know measles - totally preventable - wipes out 900 children each and every day. If it's not dramatic and sudden, the news don't want to know.

Oswald Osbourne

phenomenon wrote: »

Do you think the Maddie McCann case would have gotten the attention it did if the kid was black/hispanic/asian?

You can also add "working class" and "unsexy" to those categories.

ninty9er

"12 people have died in a traffic accident in [insert country here]"

Not Ireland

Feels: relief

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

rapes

Tom65

A good (funny) article on this.


The human brain can only conceptualize a certain number of people in order to empathise with (or even care about) them. Hence why a neighbour dying can have more of an effect than 200 Palestinians.

Phototoxin

It's hard to care when you hear "bomb 3,000 miles away kills 20", especially when you know measles - totally preventable - wipes out 900 children each and every day. If it's not dramatic and sudden, the news don't want to know.

also the media give 5% of events about 95% of coverage.

but you idiots lap it up ya dumb blonde burger chewing americans !

shenanigans1982

If it didn't happen in america on September 11th then it doesn't mean anything.....the media told us that.

sillymoo

JohnGalt wrote: »

In my experience, smaller events which occur close to home elicit much more of a response than large scale disasters abroad.

I seem to vagely remember some big auld tsunami in 2004 and people being awfully upset here

phenomenon

sillymoo wrote: »

I seem to vagely remember some big auld tsunami in 2004 and people being awfully upset here

Oh you mean the Indian Ocean Tsunami that killed nearly a quarter of a million people (x 80 "Sept 11") and displaced many more. One of the worst natural disasters of recent times apparently. It had blanket news coverage for at least 2 weeks and communities are still recovering from it.

Yeah I've a vague recollection of it too.

JohnGalt

sillymoo wrote: »

I seem to vagely remember some big auld tsunami in 2004 and people being awfully upset here

Yes that is certainly true, but to me that seems to be an exception. And by the way the amount of attention the Madeline McCann case got was a disgrace in my opinion.

Simi

Actually I'm the opposite. The higher the death toll, the more I care. Omagh bombings = don't care very much, where as, Kosovo genocide = quite upset really. Doesn't matter to me where in the world it happens.

phantom_lord

close to none.

phenomenon wrote: »

According to the media one white person's life = 10,000 coloured people's lives.

Do you think the Maddie McCann case would have gotten the attention it did if the kid was black/hispanic/asian?

it probably helped that they were a middle class family too. and she was cute. that poor ugly Sharon kid got way less coverage.

Tha Gopher

phenomenon wrote: »

According to the media one white person's life = 10,000 coloured people's lives.

Do you think the Maddie McCann case would have gotten the attention it did if the kid was black/hispanic/asian?

Yeah. The media never covered the Damilola Taylor case. Or the African girl who died in London years ago whilst in her aunts care. Or the headless African boy found in the Thames. Or......see my point? Utter bollocks. Think before making that same all sweeping bull statement that was so common at the height of the McCann disappearance. Really like, come on. As for the amount of attention it got, it was half spurred by the at times cheesy media offensive her repugnant neglectful parents launched, something made easier by the wider access to internet than there may have been at the time similar cases happened years ago.

I tend to be completely immune to car accident stories generally, as they are so common. The whole Palestinian thing annoys me greatly though. Indisciminate attacks are all well and good as long as you are friendly with the yanks. If Robert Mugabe or the president of Sudan does it there is talk of war crimes charges, while the Israelis get a strongly worded telling off from the Brits and yanks.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Oh I slightly misread the topic, I am only really effected by hearing of rapes. Close to home or not. Death, not so much.

tallaght01

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

Well reports of deaths in foreign countries has made me hold the opinion that the United States and Israel and the British Governments should be wiped off the face of this planet.

Nothing like the right-wing "eye for an eye" doctrine! Jaysus.

stovelid wrote: »

Obviously I've become somewhat desensitised to death in places like the developing world .

I think that's pretty much spot on. Plus it's not really new. We grew up as kids watching black babies die on TV. We didn't grow up watching Americans die in civilian violence, or people in Madrid getting smashed up.

I never really gave a lot of thoughts to Africans dying until I worked there and saw it from myself. Watching the sheer scale of avoidable death (pretty helplessly, it has to be said) is one of the most profound experiences I've ever had.

I told my boss the other day that I was changing career paths (I work in healthcare) to start doing more overseas development work. He just said "Tallaght01, you can't change the world". It's sad, really, when people think like that.

We're only helpless because people don't care enough.

Jeanious

stovelid wrote: »

Occasionally a death closer to home registers more deeply, but you have to be a moron to say that you just don't care.

Garbage. Each to their own and all that, but I can tell ya for a fact that if 9/11 happened every day of the week I still wouldnt bat an eyelid. If your opinion was in any way valid, I'd assure ya that I'm not a moron.

Its the same with the oul Sunday World/Joe Duffy brigade, bangin on about the "carnage" on the roads etc. FFS there's what, 400-600ish people killed on the roads every year, out of how many journeys made every year, with a sizeable chunk of Irish drivers being absolute retards.....I'll take me chances thanks very much and que sera sera.

As someone else said, if somethin bad happens (and it has) to someone I know and care about then I'll give a shoite. Until then, I'll continue to be more interested in the sports or weather.

TPD

phenomenon wrote: »

According to the media one white person's life = 10,000 coloured people's lives.

Do you think the Maddie McCann case would have gotten the attention it did if the kid was black/hispanic/asian?

To be fair, if 10,000 black kids got abducted from a holiday resort in Portugal there'd be an uproar.

KnifeWRENCH

Pfft, large scale deaths in foreign nations don't affect me that much. Even if there was a disaster in this country where lots of Irish people that I didn't know died, I don't think it would trouble me too much.

Of course if someone I knew/cared about was killed, then I'd be much more affected by it.

phenomenon wrote: »

Do you think the Maddie McCann case would have gotten the attention it did if the kid was black/hispanic/asian?

The McCann case got so much attention because her parents are media whores who can't get enough of seeing their own faces in the paper. Nothing to do with her being white.

themadchef

I get upset when i hear terrible news from any country. I'd be much happier sticking my head in the sand though.

In reality, my pity is no good to them and i certainly don't feel i can help in any way. I usually switch channel.

Nodin

TPD wrote: »

To be fair, if 10,000 black kids got abducted from a holiday resort in Portugal there'd be an uproar.

...from the usual suspects worring they'll turn up here, no doubt.

asdasd

As someone else said, if somethin bad happens (and it has) to someone I know and care about then I'll give a shoite. Until then, I'll continue to be more interested in the sports or weather.

There are reasons to rationally get upset at the death ( or rape) of a stranger; if the killing or rape happens randomly in your area, on - or near - the street where you live, after a break-in in a nearby house, or in a park you frequent. it could easily happen to you, or a loved one.

( Rape of course is probably more worrying for women).

All of these types of criminality constitute a form of terror - in the Sun Tzu definition: Killing One but terrifying a thousand.

something that happens a long long time ago, or far far away is of academic interest.

Jeanious

true enough it could, but so could any one of a million other bad things, e.g. get splattered by a bus, have a plane land on your face etc. Its no reason to stop livin. Just because its on the news or whatever doesnt make bad stuff any more/less likely to happen.

Tbh it moreso just irked me that your man was sayin ya'd want to be a moron to not care.

Ross_Mahon

It has no effect whatsoever on me, I would say it would be different if i was there to see someone get killed, Might make me think different of these collection of numbers thrown on the news.

mumhaabu

It generally does not worry me as I have no power over it, however if it happened somewhere I was or was planning to go in future in holidays then I would pay more attention and evaluate the situation. I generally am worried and upset when I see either white people or Christians getting killed innocently.

There is a perception amongst people when we see millions of Africans or Asians dying of "who cares, there's plenty more where they came from" this is heartless and sad tbh. However if we all gave a damn and got all upset then there would be nothing ever done in the world. Basically NIMBY, kith and kin and all that.