Ranking Tragedy by the Numbers:
I have seen a lot of tragedy in my life. Notice I said SEEN. My own life has been remarkably free of real tragedy, mostly luck---not the kind of escape from tragedy I could remotely claim I earned. But teaching in an urban area exposed myself to good people living lives of quiet desperation. While my terminational years to date have been encapsulated with relatively good heath, financial security, pleasant interactions with others, and days filled with my own peculiar activities---including all this writing---there is always present this keen awareness of how much tragedy is part of so many lives. Yes, these pictures from life's other side sort of haunt me. My defense, not unlike the defense of others living the good life, is to keep these realities and responsibilities at bay. You know, the "well there is not much I can do about it" solution. In moments of stark honesty, I wonder about Christ's statement that "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven". I wonder what constitutes being rich? Like others I probably hope that refers to those with more wealth than I.
Unnecessary death is certainly a tragedy. But how do we measure the tragedies of unnecessary deaths? My favorite cat recently died and that still makes me feel like choking up. But outside of me there is no one to mourn. When that bridge collapsed in Mn I felt real bad for those who died. I guess if 25 had died instead of 8 it would have been even a greater tragedy. And of course it is, but the truth is I felt even worse when my cat died. It is hard to be objective about tragedy, to give it any quantitative value. I suppose the more who die unnecessary deaths the greater the tragedy. And the greater the tragedy the greater should be the response to the tragedy. But really, there is little correlation between the quantity of the tragedy and the response to it. I have put together some numbers below which indicate the number who suffered from particular tragedies:
100 million, 57 million, 40 million, 10.6 million, 5 million, 4 million, 2.2 million, 2.1 million, 2 million, 700,000, 106,000, 38,000, 29,000, 15,000, 6000, 5200, 4000, 3,700, 2500, 1,836, 23.
One could reasonably postulate that the greatest priority and and greatest resources should be spent on those tragedies which involve the greatest number of people. At least if one were a Christian this would seem to be the case since according to Christian doctrine we are "all God's children". Of course!. But human nature doesn't work that way; thus most organized religions are based on delusionary rituals, emotional prejudices, and self serving egos. This pattern has not changed since the beginning of organized civilizations. But with this little logical game here let's assume that we SHOULD spend the most resources and give the highest priorities to those problems causing the most deaths. Here goes:
100 million---according to the U.N., in the near future, this is how many humans on the earth will die from starvation. No matter, I don't personally know anyone who is dying of starvation. If there are such people I could slip in a little prayer for them before I go into some food satiated sleep. And if this is a problem, I have never heard anyone bring this up in social conversations. The existence of the U.N. can be a real annoyance, always trying to bring into the forefront matters which just irritate the hell out of those of us who think they make it all up anyway.
57 million---these are the number of deaths worldwide from preventable diseases each year. Well, I have good health insurance and I did it the old fashion way----I earned it. The last thing this country or this world needs is socialized medicine. I got's mine, let them get's theirs. What is wrong with these people anyway? Don't they know how to take care of themselves? Dumb bastards.
40 million---number of people in the United States with no health insurance. Too bad, that's the way the free enterprise system works. If they would just show the initiative to get a good job they would have health insurance. The sooner more of them die the better off this country will be.
10.6 million---number of children who die from preventable disease. Well---okay, maybe kids can't be expected to know how to take care of themselves. At least they weren't aborted which really, really, really would infuriate me. Human life is really, really, really precious and I think any female, for whatever reason, who aborts a child is going to hell. I mean, this kind of thing really, really, really, infuriates God---at least the God in the religion that I inherited. The 10.6 million children that die from preventable diseases---Hey! that's life. And who wouldn't want to be pro life.
5 million---the number of deaths, in proportion to today's U.S. population, who would have died in the American Civil War. It is unfortunate that some Muslim country back then didn't invade our country and impose some sort of solution on us. Maybe Muslim countries don't have 'Freedom fighters', or generate a big enough weapons industry to be of such kind help.
4 million---the number of Iraq refugees with no homes after we invaded Iraq. Well, war is just that way, and those who supported the invasion of Iraq understand that-----like if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen (or your home). The decent amongst us who support this kind of invasive behavior into sovereign countries understand that supporting our young soldiers is not in the form of not sending them into such a situation, but wailing over their deaths and cheering them on to continue the killing. After all, after you send a young person to some sort of needless death, a good heart felt cry or public tear or two with marching bands and large flags and wounded soldiers on display is good for one's soul. Nobody ever meant for them to be dead. They are heroes. Heroes? After you push somebody in front of a bus, they are then heroes? I don't think so. Whoever supported pushing them in front of the bus are guilty of something period. Or maybe it is just those leaders who convinced their citizens to support such a venture who are guilty of something. Placing blame is always so difficult. Will Rogers was probably right in that if you shot 10 people at random, probably 7 of them deserved to be shot for something. I wonder where all these Iraq refugees will go? I suggest putting them next door to those who supported this war and giving them their jobs. I mean fair is fair. Well, maybe just once in a while it ought to be. Life is rarely fair, these dumb homeless war refugees probably can't grasp the realities of life or appreciate the sacrifice of those Americans who support the Iraq War. Ok, ok--it is the next generation paying for the war, but if called upon no doubt my generation would sacrifice if asked to do so. Well, maybe. Frankly, I can't remember any war past my childhood in which the average American suffered in any way. This is really remarkable---war without pain, at least for the vast majority of us. Some sarcastic bastards even suggest that war keeps our economy in high gear.
2.2 million---These are the number of persons in prison in the U.S. That represents 23% of all the people in prison across the globe. The reason crime in this country is rising according to those in the know, is that we don't put people who break the law into prison long enough. And look, there is nothing heartless about this---we spend $30,000/yr to cage 'em up. The worst are the yng punks who sell recreational drugs to those who can afford them---they get locked up for mandatory 10 yr sentences. We call it tough love. If they can't get a job now, imagine their chances when they get out. Why do these slime balls even exist? It makes you almost wish their mother had aborted. And her mother before that. Maybe we could send these punks to fight in our invasions, make them be useful. Fortunately, the only reason we have room for them in jail is that we rarely jail white collar criminals. There is something not so compulsive about jailing white collar criminals, the finest and most successful amongst us. The behavior of white collar criminals is just more understandable, more close to home. Being a little over zealous about money is not exactly something any of the rest of us are guilty.
2.1 million---Vietnamese battle deaths during the Vietnamese War. Damn, we killed 2.1 million of these creepy midgets and they still won the war. Well, Bush wasn't the President then. And we weren't smart enough to have invented a voluntary army back then otherwise we might be still over there in the killing fields, driving little creepy midgets like that into extinction.
2 million----number of Jews killed by the Germans during World War II. This really gets confusing. If one is a holocaust then the other is not? Well fair is fair after all. The Jews got their own country after suffering such a loss and so did the Vietnamese. I wonder if the Vietnamese have a Holocaust Museum. Probably.
700,000---number of Iraqi dead in the current Iraq War. I guess Bush is right, we are winning the war, there are only 4000 Americans dead. I doubt we can get up to the 2.1 million mark here, I don't think the population of Iraq is big enough. Imagine if we ever left the country what kind of slaughter might ensue? On the other hand could it possibly get any worse? When will those dumb bastards, of a religion which supports such widespread killing, ever learn that 'Father (the U.S.) knows best'? I am sure Jesus would be right out front for us, leading the charge, and by now there would have been enough dead to have ended this war. By common sense definition, if we go to war God is on our side. Has there ever been an exception?
106,000---number of deaths in American hospitals from drugs properly prescribed and administered. This is kind of different from the rest of the figures since it is not clear what could be done to stop this. These same drugs save far more lives than are ever killed by their use. These, by definition are not avoidable deaths.
38,000---number of Vietnamese who died after the war from unexploded bombs and land mines. This use of violence to solve conflict is getting real efficient on both sides. And for those who support violence to resolve conflict be patient----soon this violence will likely come to your own neighborhood, if not from foreign terrorists then from angry rascals on the bottom of the economic totem pole. Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice greed and to deceive.
29,000---number of people killed by firearms in the U.S. per year. In the whole Iraq War only 4000 deaths. I guess the whole Iraq War is safer by the numbers than our own streets. Should we flee to Iraq? This numbers game gets really complicated. Ah, not to worry, a large percentage of these firearm deaths occur in the ravaged areas of our War Against Drugs. These are, for the most part, expendable citizens, the shallow end of the gene pool, those not smart enough to have selected the right parents, the right schools, the right neighborhoods, etc. You make enough bad choices---you pay. Bang. You're dead. One less enemy. Of course with our love of guns today it is more like rat-a-tat--tat-tat-tat a whole bunch of you are dead.
15,000----deaths from recreational drug abuse. Wow, 106,000 die from properly prescribed drugs in hospitals and only 15,000 from recreational drug use. Maybe we need a war against Hospitals.
6000---number of American Soldiers committing or attempting to commit (not sure whether this figure includes both) suicide during or after their stint in Iraq. I mean, wow---more American soldiers have killed or tried to kill themselves than were killed by the Iraqis. Nice war. You just don't find that kind of self murder in legitimate wars of defense. Next time I see someone running around yelling 'support our soldiers' instead of yelling "bring the soldiers home" I will wonder why they get such a buzz out of soldiers being driven to commit suicide. Reminds one of the Christians being fed to the lions. Well, I choose to be religious here and say, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they say." I guess good people get suckered into bad things.
5200----number of homicides per yr in the U.S. of young people between the ages if 15-25. Let me do the math here. In five years there have been 4000 young people killed in Iraq. In five years there have been 26,000 young people killed in this country by our own citizens. Maybe that is why young people volunteer to be sent to the killing fields----for safety. Also maybe to get a paycheck. My younger years were quite dull. I don't recall ever worrying for a minute that someone would shoot me in school or in a drive by shooting or some stray gang bullet might kill me. More of these American young people die in a year than people killed in the world trade center bombings. Maybe we should find out what cities these murderers of innocent people come from and bomb these cities into some kind of Iraqi style Stone Age. Seems we do have a good number of terrorists amongst us. But at least they are American terrorists. I mean family is family, give me a break.
4000----number of Americans killed in Iraq War. The 'surge' has slowed the rate a bit out in the killing fields so the point at which we reach the peace of eery desolation across Iraq will likely be postponed. 'Tis a pity, there are so many other places we need to invade for this or that reason, and the longer it takes us to pulverize one country the more our empire building gets derailed.
3700--the number of Afghanistans killed last year in the Afghanistan War. Look you slimy bastards, you can run around in those mountains, but our smart bombs will find you sooner or later. These dumb ass simplistic heathen hillbillies have been fighting foreign invaders for centuries, and each time one of them gets an American missile up their ass an appropriate revenge for one of the twin tower victims has been achieved. I kind of wish Jesus would just sort of put a missile up their ass for us, this mountain guerilla warfare is most inconvenient. I mean, if we are fighting this war in God's name why doesn't He help in the slaughter? Maybe God is some kind of peace-nik wimp.
2500---number of people killed in the Twin Towers. I am not good at numbers but maybe we have killed enough innocent people to have avenged the death of these people. I sure pray violence doesn't beget violence or the repercussions for all our 'freedom fighter' killings is going to get out of control. Going to? Get ready to hide.
1836--number of dead from the New Orleans flood. Wow again. That's less than half the young people killed in our country every year. Well, if these groups will just hang in there until we have left the killing fields we will find the money to make things better for New Orleans and the urban/rural ghettoes across our land. No doubt it will be a short wait.
23---number of people shot in one day recently in Chicago. Well, boys will be boys. They can't spend all their time playing violent video games, rap music, waiting to be deployed to the killing fields, and being stirred by Bush's 'you can run but you can't hide' or the even more stirring, "Dead or alive" message to perceived enemies---I mean at some point they feel a need for some direct involvement in this violence to solve conflict. If I weren't such an indecisive person I could rat-a-tat-tat on a select few myself. But there are so many to choose from.
I will not attempt to rank the above senseless deaths according to the amount of money and effort extended to prevent these unnecessary deaths. This would take more effort and time than I am willing to spend. Still, I think any reasonable person would agree that some unnecessary deaths we tolerate and others we do not. We are not, after all is said and done, "all God's children". So much of what we pretend to be our ethics, morals, religion----whatever the term chosen-----is really an illusion. My sarcasm aside, there is no halo around my head either. I used to tell students, "I am not prejudice, I hate everyone." As I have gotten older I see more clearly the injustices and cruel absurdities prevalent across the globe. Of course my age is the most useful excuse for non engagement in any of these matters. I kind of just hope the bubble on the good life experienced by so many of us doesn't break for a good 15 years. And I wonder, if there is a heaven of some sort, will all these people who suffered unnecessary deaths be ahead of me? Maybe when I get to the the entrance way to Heaven the entrance will be the eye of a needle and myself a camel. Maybe some clamoring to get in will be screaming how good they were to their own family but find out there is something called 'my brother's keeper' involving all humanity. On matters like this I just don't really know what to think. Maybe all of us as individuals, in the total scheme of things, don't really matter at all. Ethics has always been the toughest aspect of life for me to comprehend. When all is said and done, even if so little is really done, I see the Golden Rule as the best companion for an ethical life. For every action and belief one needs see if it meets the Golden Rule. That is perhaps the best anyone can do. It is universal, it is fair, it is comprehensible, and it cuts through all the ceremonial and pompous bullshit of religious sectarianism.
