Expect no future
"You know Omar ain't never put his gun on no citizen."
-Omar Little
For those of you unaware (ie, don't live near Philly) some bank robbers killed a cop here last weekend. It got me thinking, and not just about how this death has "rocked the city" according to various news outlets that show 2 hours of live funeral coverage. I don't feel rocked, but then again, I don't live in the city -- perhaps one of my urban readers could shed some light on how rocked they are.
But that's neither here nor there. What this really got me thinking about is how some lives are worth more than others. When 1 cop killed warrants 5 straight days of front page above the fold coverage in a city with 300+ murders a year, something seems a little off. Maybe it's just me, I do hate cops. What with with their brutality and mustaches and all.
Working in the news business the varying value of life becomes apparent through stupid editorial decisions and resulting community outrage. People care more about some lives than others, its only natural. The basic formula I just came up with goes like this: 1 local cop=1.2 blond white girls=2 racehorses/police dogs=6 area black men=1,000 Arabs in the Middle East=40,000 rice-paddy dwelling South Asians. Probably not to scale but it gives you an idea.
I just wonder what it means when a local cop killing (tragic as it is) warrants death of a president-type media coverage. I do realize cops, like presidents, are above the law at this point, but this coverage is almost pornographic in its glare. Of course public servants deserve all the accolades in the world. He gave his life protecting you and your children from the bad guys. Meanwhile, a thousand people in a thousand different places else mourn a brother, mother, son or daughter. People die, loved ones mourn.
Why should people care about a bunch of people in Myanmar (Myanmarians?) more than their beloved Aunt Betsy? They shouldn't. It makes innate sense and is better for the mental health to invest more emotionally in those people within one's own sphere of influence than a bunch of jerks dying of thirst in a jungle on the other side of the world. Best not dwell on that which you cannot control, and focus on that which you can.
3 comments:
So Aztec warriors were nothing but little dogs?
Also, you've been really nailing your essays lately, Goats. Cultural outrage. Relativism. Libertarian separatism. Those bitches at Kos got nothing on you. Too bad your not interested in publicizing this bitch more--as to not draw the ire of those old media conglomerates you so lovingly attack--or you might just earn enough internet bucks for a virtual XBox.
But then I guess ambition would undermine your rampant populism, so I'll end with demanding even more outstanding goats, perhaps in the form of newest media.
TD
PS: Mario Kart with WiFi is off the hook--I've been getting my ass kicked by Bowser loving teenagers from Beliz to Swizterland--and of course Japan. I blame my avatar--he is nerd.
That video clip made me vomit into my prosthetic leg.
On a more serious note, I don't think that the value of one's life can be judged by how much media coverage that they get. It is odd that on many occasions you blast the media for their faults, yet somehow they are able to give value to a humans life.
They don't give value to life, they simple try to exploit and benefit from the destruction of it.
/makes racecar sound while waving hand over head once from front to back
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