Young Writers Society

Life is about risks, that's what makes it fun.

Prokaryote

Almost 200 people die in Iraq. Hardly anyone blinks an eye.

Firestarter wrote:Almost 200 people die in Iraq. Hardly anyone blinks an eye.

Sadly, that is true. Because it is not close to home, many people don't think about it. It is really a tragedy that you hear of five car bombs killing people everyday and yet no one really thinks about it. It is only when something horrible like the VT shootings happen that some people are rudely reminded of the evil in this world.

I've tried to hold myself back because this doesn't go here, and nor do I want to start a debate.

But there is a difference between the VT shooting, and the war. People go into the war knowing they may die, and they put their lives on the line for our country (whether you think it stupid that we are at war or not, that is what they have done). The students and professors of VT were innocent people.

Though, true, innocent people are dying in our terrible war in Irak. But, don't innocents die in every war? If WW2 was occurring now, we could not bomb Japan because of the news. News prevents war from being what it is: death. Since we now can see what is happening to everyone due to this war, there seems to be a more critical eye over it. War is suddenly a horrible mass killing that should be stopped. But... if that isn't war, than what is?

Mind: I'm not arguing whether the war we are fighting should be fought; on that, I don't have an opinion.

*holds tongue*

I deperately want to throw my two cents in for war vs. va tech. I will not, but I really...really want too. This is my rant instead.

lol perhaps we should make a debate thread? But I hate debating! I really do. But sometimes, I cannot bite my tongue.

I thought about making a debate thread this morning, but then I was like: debate over what? gun control? statistics? war vs. va tech? press releases? We've talked about 8239827347 controversial issues since Monday surrounding this, I wouldn't even know what to call the thread.

Chances are I would not take part in the debate anyway, not now, not two days later. Maybe in a couple weeks.

Firestarter wrote:Almost 200 people die in Iraq. Hardly anyone blinks an eye.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

I feel bad and all for the victims' family, but I still can't understand how nobody could have stopped Cho.

Two of the most disturbing, horrible acts were on the news last night, and only those. This makes me a little scared of college even.

Yeah, but there's always online college.

Yeah, but there's always online college.

I've always doubted online college vs. real college's ability. I think I'd be able to learn a language better with someone in front of me, and a class of other people also pronouncing something wrong.

But there is a difference between the VT shooting, and the war. People go into the war knowing they may die, and they put their lives on the line for our country (whether you think it stupid that we are at war or not, that is what they have done). The students and professors of VT were innocent people.

The citizens of Baghdad were never asked if they wanted a war. They were just as innocent as the studets of VA, Clau, and your statements about war and expected deaths is one of the saddest things about the whole of Iraq; don't dismiss deaths just because it happens all the time in war. I can understand how the shootings in Virginia may have shocked you more, but I find it less shocking that a (probably) shunned, quiet, isolated young man with easy access to guns would kill people. You allow guns, you gotta expect this sort of things, especially in Western society.

But anyway, sorry for making this into a debate. I'll stop.

I'm kind of hesitant to continue this, but...

For me, the VT shooting hits very close to home. I've been to the campus several times, I know the buildings they are talking about, and I know people who have graduated from there. I even considered going there for college.

I would say the reaction to this is very similar to what happened when insurgents in Russia took over an elementary school in Beslan. Yes, more horrific events happened around that time, but the action itself was so shocking and so troubling that it shook all of us. There is a war in Iraq, a genocide in Sudan, an insurgency in Algeria, civil war in Morocco, homicides in Colombia, but that does not make what happened at VT trivial by any means, just as the Oklahoma City bombing was not trivial, or the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, or the USS Cole bombing, or 9/11, or the Madrid bombing, or the London underground bombing. The total people killed combined in these attacks do not begin to equal the number of people killed so far in Iraq, and is nothing in comparison to the number of people killed in Sudan. But these events are still tragic and worthy of remembrance and reflection. None of them are by any means trivial.

EDIT: It should be noted that in the long run, it will be events like the Iraq War and the Sudan Genocide that will be remembered, not the VT shooting. Even the Oklahoma City bombing has already become forgotten to an extent, though I expect that's only true for the coasts.

Jack--


The fundamental flaw in your comparison lies in equality. The byproducts of war (and yes, civilian casualties are byproducts no matter how you want to slice the cake), of terrorism, of revolution--these are terrible things, and every life that is lost--regardless of circumstance--is precious and irreplaceable.

However, what happened at VA Tech was not the product of ideological fantasy. It was not a cold response to American capitalism, nor was it a response to injustice. It was baseless--raw and driven sheerly off of human aggression and self-destruction. You're wrong: the massacre at VA Tech should be more disconcerting than deaths in Iraq.

shunned, quiet, isolated young man

This could easily be applied to 50% of the world and be true. The killer's transgression was not bred of anything but his own chaos, and there is literally nothing anyone can do to save or detect those people. What bothers us is not so much the loss of life, but why the life was lost. Why did he feel the need to gun down 32 innocent people, what purpose did it serve but to satiate his own spiral of destruction?

No, these deaths are much more alarming than 9/11 or Iraq, because they are not predictable. With war, death is predictable. With a quiet university campus? Not hardly.


Take care,
Brad

Why did he feel the need to gun down 32 innocent people, what purpose did it serve but to satiate his own spiral of destruction?

Why did five Arabs feel the need to detonate an explosive device strapped to themselves and obliterate 200 people along with them?

Using "war" as to justify predictability of death would be fine, but it's just a blanket here. Remember, the United States declared the war over a long time ago. What you're actually saying is, because this happens everyday in Iraq, it's not really much of a headline. Why notice? It's become the norm, we accept it. I'm saying that's wrong. Why should we ever accept futile death like that which helps neither side?

I'm not even seperating myself from this. I don't pretend to be better; if people were shot down in Britain at a college I'd pay more attention. Of course. What I'm asking is, why? If we're going to move to a better world, we need to see all these events as tragic, not just the ones that directly affect our lives. Societies should stop being independent. I know that's a futile idealistic dream, but I still stand by my statements.

I was watching Keith Olbermann the other night, and his guest person was on talking about how school shootings like this happened in out countries around the world, and in retaliation to this they outlawed guns. Response, no more school shootings.

I know that would never happen here, but it is still a thought.

I often wonder what precautions the school took or should have taken in lieu of this.

I find myself getting ticked off that the news-peoples keep calling it the worst shooting in American History. It itches me to differ with them, and worry that someone out there is thinking, I can beat that.