For over 24 hours the media is now reporting almost exclusively about the school shooting at Virginia Tech. It’s a horrible tragedy, and my heart goes out to the friends and relatives of the 33 dead. Death, especially unnecessary and unexpected death like in the Virginia case is very painful. We should do everything in our power to prevent it.
But let’s keep this in perspective for a moment, and look at what else happened in the world today.
- People in Darfur keep dying, at a rate of about 130 deaths per day
- The Taleban move towards Kabul
- Infants die at a rate of 75 a day, in the U.S.
- 190 people are raped every day, in the U.S
- 100 deaths a day from car accidents, in the U.S
- 150 deaths/day in the U.S. from toxic substances like asbestos
- Worldwide, 18,000 children die of hunger every day
In the light of all this, do we really need 24/7 coverage of this single event, interviewing friends and families of the victims on national TV and radio and talking heads supplying their “expert” opinions? Is there nothing else we should focus on?
Wow.