Column: Desensitization is negatively affecting us

Mace Mackiewicz, Copy Editor

With so many horrible things going on in the world it is easy to lose perspective on how horrible they actually are.

Desensitization has made it so people see these tragedies happening worldwide, and we are so used to it we either don’t or can’t feel anything about it.

I would argue that every tragedy that happens in the world whether it be a terrorist attack or natural disaster should be treated as a big deal.

Whether it’s in our own back yard or miles away across the ocean when terrible things happen to people we shouldn’t just turn around to it.

I’ve seen people take what happened in France and blow it off because we have our own problems or other people are experiencing terrorism every day.

You can care about all of them.

Not caring or being effected by a tragedy shouldn’t be the norm, and it doesn’t make people better that they don’t care or make it out to be a small problem.

People in the U.S. are guilty of having a U.S.-centric view of the world.

Even I am guilty of seeing the world through the lens of only what I have experienced.

But it’s important to have perspective on what’s going on in the rest of the world, and to try to care about things that effect other people than just ourselves.

What happened in Paris is a tragedy there’s no other word for it.

Belittling it because it happens elsewhere is not the way we should be reacting to it.

People were murdered.

Becoming numb to mass murder shouldn’t be the norm and I understand it’s the way some people cope but we should also remember all of the people who were effected including the family members of the victims.

I am not saying you have to be devastated by these events, but you definitely aren’t required to feel nothing at these events.

There may be outside pressure to constantly be strong when these things happen or to be “edgy” and act like it doesn’t matter or you don’t care.

There’s no reason to go on social media and shame people for caring about world events.

While sometimes people are manipulated into caring about things like Invisible Children did with Kony 2012, not all people talking and hoping for people in these things are “slactivists” it might be hard to believe in this day and age but people can care when things go bad.

Mace Mackiewicz is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].