Frosstbyte

This was my response almost verbatim when Columbine happened. I was also in high school at the time and in Colorado. You may or may not remember that Columbine happened while we were bombing the ever-living-shit out of Kosovo. I don't think I'd say it today.

On the one hand, there is truth to it. Either we value human life, or we don't. And if we do, all human life should have the same value so it only goes to show our ethnocentrism, class consciousness and racism when we make a big deal out of something closer to home.

On the other hand, we live our lives based on our experiences and, lacking our own experience, vicariously through those with whom we can best share experiences. Most Americans, myself included, have a very hard time imagining what life in Iraq is like, and, fortunately, for good reason. Many Americans have a very easy time imagining what it is or was like to be a college student and, for that reason, they're upset and scared when 31 college students get mowed down by a crazy person.

For better or for worse, there is a war going on in Iraq and, last time I checked, much of this country was against it and wants it to stop. Short of full scale revolt against our government, we're doing what we can do to make that happen. People are upset with the fact that people are dying there, but it's been going on for four years and, for purposes of information filtering, we can't report on it like we can a shooting at a college. We EXPECT casualties in a war zone, even if we don't like them. We don't expect casualties when we send ourselves, our siblings, our children to college in suburban Virginia.

I don't see what good holding that empathy over people's heads does other than give you the opportunity to have a holier-than-thou moment.