Today's "tragedies" different, no more tragic.
Backstory
The debate continues on how to "fix" what's broken. Is it society? Is it laws or the lack thereof? Is it a disconnect between crime and punishment?What strikes me is, are the horrors of modern life any more awful than the ones of the past? Children dying in school shootouts...we can scarce wrap our heads around the tragedy. But what of children dying in workhouses? poorhouses? orphan "schools"? Children...and adults...dying of disease, neglect, abuse? Worse now, or then?
by accidentaltourist in Six-Word Memoirs on Jan 27, 2013 | 
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Comments
catsmeow says,
Perhaps it seems much worse now because we have such immediate access to information about all of these horrors, from all over the globe.accidentaltourist says,
Much harder to bury your head in the sand these days. But also, there was a time when a family considered itself fortunate indeed to have at least two of their ten children survive to adulthood, and it was taken in stride. Illness and accidents claimed children so frequently, it was not even remarked. Even my own father lost an infant sibling (there were 14 children altogether) to pneumonia in the 1960s...not so very long ago.canadafreeze says,
I cannot imagine the horror of cholera or scarlet fever or the plague ... I also cannot imagine how it feels to be swept up by a tsunami or caught in the midst of a hurricane or trapped in a school with a madman on the loose. None of these things have ever happened to me, but I know they must be horrific regardless of when they happen(ed). Images surround us on TV, in movies, and on the Internet and sometimes, I am so overwhelmed I have to turn off the world. I just can't take it any longer. It appears that our communities are breaking down. We aren't as responsible to each other as our ancestors were when they had to depend upon each other for physical as well as social survival. Some days, I wish I knew more about what is happening in my neighbourhood than what is happening thousands of miles away.catsmeow says,
That's why I don't have a TV.Dragonflower says,
The hierarachy of tragedies.