Life Is Cheap And Getting Cheaper

As this page is written, the fuss over the Indian ocean Tsunami is winding down, after 10 days of intense media coverage. Life of over 150,000 people washed away in an instant, and the world is getting ready to move on to other matters. Contrast this with the attention span on a 3000 person disaster in America three years earlier, which triggered expensive wars in following years.

There is good tsunami related information recorded on WikiPedia, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake

If your country has not got the financial resources, then LifeIsCheapAndGettingCheaper, because the average person is getting poorer.

Interesting information I have heard related to the Asian Tsunami

one source reported the Asian leaders met and considered early Tsunami warning system for the Indian ocean but rejected it. This occurred recently. If true, then the tsunami deaths could have been reduced greatly
- IIRC, something to that effect was reported on BBC Newsnight on 4th January, in an interview with a representative of the existing warning network.
It was mentioned that even if the warning system was functioning, a lot of people would have ignored the warning. Perhaps future tsunami warnings would be taken more seriously, like the false alarm in India days after the disaster.
relief workers were fighting for access against teams of experts from developed countries anxious to identify the dead. This was because the need for "identification" of western victims affected the work on disease prevention. The experts also wanted to bring in refrigeration equipment, when the greater need was for water and medical supplies.

It is not about whether life is cheap or not, it is about nature being so much more powerful then man sometimes, that there is nothing anyone can do and no one to get angry with. Nothing left to do but try to pick up the pieces and stubbornly go on about life. Quite different then deliberate man made murder.

At least their brains are: BrainsAsaCheapCommodity

there is nothing anyone can do ... but try to pick up the pieces

This is true for the tsunami. However, it's not true for the deaths of thousands of U.S. citizens (and, of course, other humans around the globe).

My neighbors and I have a metal device that kills over 3000 U.S. citizens every month [*] (more or less).

Since humans have survived for millennia without this metal device, it's technically not necessary. Something could be done, to prevent at least some of those deaths.

I find it hard to understand people who want to spend billions of dollars to fight something that once killed almost 3000 people, and could potentially kill more U.S. citizens, but don't want to spend the same amount to fight something that actually is killing over 3000 U.S. citizens every month. -- DavidCary

[*] Accidentally, of course. http://nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds.htm

Regarding media/public attention span, 2004 tsunami vs 9/11

follow up on "Contrast this with the attention span..." in first section of page

Or other earthquakes that killed tens of thousands well before, and were quickly forgotten. People didn't value life more at the time of 9/11, it was over-reported because people were shocked that the US could be attacked.

People definitely didn't value life more in 9/11, they were just incensed that the US could be hurt.''

No, it was just closer.

[As a resident of NYC at the time of the attacks, I have to agree. There was very little grief or sadness, save from people with direct connections to one or more of the victims. The attitude of the general public was much more a sort of "How dare they" anger. I saw this mirrored on the national level as well.]

Perhaps the difference is that the WTC deaths were the result of deliberate action by individuals who know what they were doing, as opposed to an act of nature?

Our current safety laws are far stronger than they used to be. If people died from building railroads and dams back then, they just shrugged it off as part of life and moved on. Now there are giant investigations and lawsuits. Of course it is possible that we may be slipping into back into past patterns as businesses become a de-facto voter also.

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