Culture

Money or Life? Which is more important?

by mshoffner | November 29, 2009 at 09:21 am

250 views | 52 Recommendations | 5 comments

Where has our outrage gone? There was a time when a crime involving children was cause for an outcry. The desire for revenge against the monsters that harm our children. But lately, it seems, as if a child disappearing or dying is just more of a time filler on the news. For these families, the heartache never leaves. Only two shows are widely watched, that deal with crimes against children, America's Most Wanted and Nancy Grace.

To prove the point, I wrote two articles, one detailing the decision by the Canadian Supreme Court in support of Wal Mart

Wal Mart does it again. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled in favor of the chain store.

And a story about children dying in Afghanistan

But in a refugee camp, 7 kilometers from the heart of Kabul, are uncounted civilian casualties.
Families, mainly farmers from the southern part of the country, have come to this camp. Fleeing from the violence of war, they have found no compassion from the Karzai government or, apparently, the UN. The majority of deaths reported by the men in these camps are children and women. They succumb to the pestilence, hunger and cold.

I received more comments about the evils of either the union or Wal Mart than I did about the innocent in a warzone. Of course, the story out of Kabul hasn't made any air time on the main media in the US. Wal Mart tends to always be leading news. This makes me wonder about the media and the US populace.

When a child goes missing, the only coverage usually given is that areas local news or shows like those mentioned above. But when a story of big business comes out it hits every major news outlet (AIG, GM). How has this country gone from the moral imperative to establish rights and freedoms throughout the world, to carring more about what a CEO makes in his bonus? When did it become appropriate for money to outweigh human life?

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Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 10:19 on November 29th, 2009

You make excellent points here. You forgot celebrity news.

Barry ORegan

at 10:53 on November 29th, 2009

You hit the nail on the head, it seems perhaps all of this is just white noise, when Breaking news such as Tiger Woods gets hit by his jealous wife, eclipses everything.

we are sadly a Maury and Oprah nation.

stejeb

at 11:51 on November 29th, 2009

Agreed acp. The same here, you're more likely to find "Xfactor" or "I'm a celebrity-get me out of here" on the front page than world news.

Sad isn't it?

anarkissed

at 11:55 on November 30th, 2009

I think you're missing out on the proximity factor. People are, and have always been, more concerned with associates, family, neighbors and friends. Celebrities are people we feel like we know well, so they fit into that group. Tribes may war on one another but will be very supportive of their own. When you post a story about people, whomever they may be, in a far away country with a culture so dissimilar as to seem alien, it does not have the same power as a story about people in our own country and culture, whomever they may be. Likewise, if a man is murdered on the next block, I'm far more interested in the details, even if he and his murderer are strangers to me, than I am in murders committed across town or in the next city.

There really isn't any point in bringing moral condemnation on us. It's part of our genetics, to support those closest to us (and closest in genetic code) over those farther away. Mr. Woods's scratches are indeed trivial compared to the suffering in Afghanistan (and many other countries we aren't hearing about at all) but it involves a tribe member, the others don't.

mshoffner

at 14:08 on November 30th, 2009

I don't think comparing a corporation compared to the death of a child is in that vein. Another story I did was on America's missing children. I didn't receive one comment on it either. the second largest response was the Walmart story. And we aren't talking about Walmart or the union causing a human death. The problem I have is placing the money over the innocent. I'm a parent of 6. I get tore up over any child anywhere that is kidnapped, harmed or killed. For me, there is no comparison to hearing about the death of a child.

And I have the right to condemn those that have forgotten compassion. It is those that lack compassion that cause the evils of the world. Whether it is a corrupt system, a business that places profit over humanity, or a person that causes harm to innocence.

This nation, at one time, felt it had the moral obligation to rid the world of its demons. But somewhere along the way, we as a nation and as a people have lost our moral compass. It is that lack of compassion that I condemn.