Text 24145, 77 rader
Skriven 2008-11-26 19:43:04 av Lee Lofaso (3:800/432.0)
  Kommentar till text 24085 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Re: Today ... 45 years a
================================
Hello Ward,

>JB>It's amazing how one never forgets what they were doing at
>JB>the time of such tragedies.

>LL>Such as the Challenger disaster.
>LL>And the Columbia disaster.
>LL>And the events of 9-11.

WD>... or the passing of my mother ...

Joe Stalin once said the loss of a single individual
is a tragedy, but the loss of millions a mere statistic.

To those individuals who lost loved ones in the Asian
tsunami it was a tragedy.  But to the millions around the
world who learned of the event it was a mere statistic.

To those individuals who lost loved ones in the aftermath
of Katrina it was a tragedy.  But to the millions of people
around the world who learnd of the event it was a mere
statistic.

Why do we remember where we were and what we were doing
when we learn about the death of an individual, as opposed
to forgetting where we were or what we were doing when
we learn about the deaths of hundreds/thousands/millions?

Princess Diana and Mother Theresa died on the same day.
There was so much discussion on news channels about the
death of Princess Diana that many people did not learn
about the death of Mother Theresa until weeks, months,
or years later.

In South Louisiana the news of the death of Mother Theresa
predominated, as opposed to Princess Diana.  But that is due
to the large number of Catholics in the area.  In the USA
the news of the death of Princess Diana predominated.

Another consideration is the news cycle in the USA on
the death of Princess Diana was very short when compared
with the news cycle in Canada, the UK, and Australia.

When JFK got his head blown off in Dallas, Texas everybody
in the USA remembers exactly where they were and what they
were doing.  When Indira Ghandi got herself riddled with
bullet holes by her own bodyguards nobody in the USA cared.
Although I am sure most Indians remember exactly where
they were and what they were doing when they found out
their beloved leader was dead.  A few years later her
son got himself blown up and nobody in the USA cared,
although I am sure it was tragedy to most Indians.

But Joe Stalin was not entirely correct.  Sometimes
the loss of an individual is not a tragedy -

When the president of Romania, along with his wife,
were executed by a gang armed with machine guns, the
entire country of Romania cheered.  I am sure each and
every Romanian remembers exactly where they were and
what they were doing when they learned of their deaths.

I'd throw in the example of Benito Mussolini and Clara
Petacci, but they had already been executed by Russian
partisans when their bodies were dumped onto the square
for Italians to stone.

Trivia note - the guy who stole Benito Mussolini's body
passed away last week.

--Lee


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