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These stories sound so abstract, and it’s hard to remember that real people suffered a real tragedy. I was visiting my friend at Princeton, when an acquaintance
by HPMOR 2y ago
These stories sound so abstract, and it’s hard to remember that real people suffered a real tragedy. I was visiting my friend at Princeton, when an acquaintance of his remarked that both of her parents were on the yacht. Really brought home how real it all was.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- closewith 2y ago[flagged]
- Angostura 2y agoI like the way your immediate response is to try and make these deaths abstract again.
- nathan_compton 2y agoI don't think that is a charitable read of the comment. The point, I think, was to cast into relief who gets this treatment and who does not.
- AYBABTME 2y agoPeople aren't surprised that crappy overloaded rafts sink. But they're surprised that top-of-the-line yachts sink in a minor squall. It's not confusing to me why one is more noteworthy than the other, technically. The wealth of the loss of life isn't really what's the difference here.
- closewith 2y ago> The wealth of the loss of life isn't really what's the difference here. It's the only difference here. Otherwise, people would be wondering why some people boarded overloaded rafts to begin with.
- Angostura 2y agoThe comment I objected to appeared to be slapping down someone who has personal knowledge of one of the victims.
- closewith 2y agoPlacing in context, not slapping down.
- reedf1 2y agoOne death is a tragedy, ten thousand deaths is a statistic. Human psyche is built to understand death this way, don't pretend we are not. They are merely alluding to the fact that there are many millions of impossibly sad and tragic deaths daily. Why do we choose to care about some and not others? Abstraction is a necessary mechanism.
- redmajor12 2y ago-attributed to Stalin
- throw09230955 2y agoThere is a very strong opposition against people smugglers in Europe. Many people are trying to stop them! There are protests in streets! Saying there is "almost no public reaction" is just not true!
- jabl 2y ago> There is a very strong opposition against people smugglers in Europe. Many people are trying to stop them! There are protests in streets! The people that are protesting in the streets against this seem mostly motivated by xenophobia and racism rather than concern over the well-being of the would-be immigrants.
- portaouflop 2y agoNow think of the thousands of people who die each year trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea for a better life.
- niwork 2y agoNice windup but I'll take the bait. It's hardly the same, is it? Doing something known to be very safe versus doing something known to be very dangerous, knowing full well that you're violating the law. What do you propose instead?
- portaouflop 2y agoI would propose to no let people die on our borders.
- pas 2y agoUnfortunately our dear "concerned" fellow citizens seem to be having their way.
- rijoja 2y agoRight so Mike Lynch was in a huge legal case in the US, and ran a company that was large at least by UK standards, which meant that his action affected thousands of people, making this noteworthy.
- aaron695 2y ago[dead]
- jsnell 2y agoI don't know... Somebody posting on a message board about the parents of an acquintance of a friend is a lot of steps. I don't think an anecdote that indirect makes the event any more concrete for the reader.
- HPMOR 2y agoFor me it was more of an “oh sh*t, that person had a family.” And I feel like it’s easy for that to get lost when reading about people generally. Especially famous and wealthy people.