MATH TEST
Rank these numbers in descending order, from greatest to least:
500
2
77
120,000
12
3
MORALITY TEST
Rank these events in descending order of scale of human tragedy, from greatest to least:
Deaths of 500 children in Gaza from military bombardment by Israeli forces, July-August 2014
Deaths of two New York City Police Officers at the hands of a single deranged gunman motivated by hatred of police, December 2014
Deaths of 77 Norwegians, the vast majority of them children, at the hands of a perpetrator motivated by hatred of Muslims and the “leftists” who tolerate their presence in Norway, July 2011
Deaths of about 120,000 Iraqis, as estimated by the Iraq Body Count project in 2012 (much lower than other casualty estimates using different methodology), caused by the bombing and invasion of a coalition of countries organized and led by the United States, since 2003
Deaths of 12 people in the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo at the hands of Muslim gunmen acting on their interpretation of their religion, January 2015
Deaths of three Israeli teenagers at the hands of two Palestinian gunmen, June 2014
But, of course, this is why they’re taught as different subjects. No?
What definition of “tragedy” should we use?
Number of innocent killed? What about a child who is less innocent than an adult killed?
The most numerous Iraq death toll does not distinguish between children and adults, including adult soldiers.
“Thou shalt not kill.”
No exceptions to that rule? Should I ask Chaney?
Yes. And then rank the number of media and politician words devoted to the horror and loss of these deaths. I expect the correlation is inverse.
One of the reasons for this, I think, is the assumption that the evil acts of non-government agents are, by their nature and regardless of consequences, more evil than acts of government agents. After all, today’s most serious charge of evil-doing, terrorism, cannot by definition characterize governmental military action. What a linguistic coup for those who do evil under the guise of national security.
This is a great test, David. I am partial to Math. It brings much clarity, doesn’t it?
I think that this is the most tragic:
For me, tragedy is not just scale, but also a catharsis from elements of the story. The stories of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, for example, could be more tragic than events than caused greater casualties, like a hurricane.
Here, the victims are children, they are in a very large number, it’s the highest massacre in Norway for a long time, they were peacenik children, and their society voluntarily practically disarmed its citizens because of opposition to gun violence (which I believe is a huge mistake). I heard that the killer intentionally used some kinds of bullets so that the victims would suffer more. Besides that, the killer was a racist who was slaughtering his own race and state security forces were negligent or complicit in this mass self-slaughter. I am against the death penalty, but the killer will not just get out of jail after far too short a time due to Norway’s mercy on prisoners, he also gets jail perks. On top of that, some of the same people who are trumpeting barbarity against Muslims at least indirectly encouraged what happened and were in contact with the killer, who appeared connected to powerful groups in Europe.
The 120,000 deaths of Iraqis is by far the worst in terms of scale, but it lacks that combination of perverse elements. It is a more straightforward act of barbarity and was callous. The US was perhaps not aiming for civilians but rather ignoring them recklessly and intentionally.