Virginia Tech shootings yet again open another dialog - Cheats - http://maxpages.com/codesector5/Virginia_Tech

Not the type of dialog that you expect me to say. Not the conversations that everyone are talking about. Example, Gun control, School Security issues, Bullying and Depression amongst students, etc. None of those really pertain to me so I'd like to take this in a different direction.

What I'm talking about is indirect double standards most American people set. Almost 200,000 Indonesians died from the Tsunamis a few years ago and it barley gets any coverage or support from the American people. Yes, it got support for a week or so, but NOWHERE near the support that people here gave attention to Hurricane Katrina. Yes, it was a tragic thing that happened. I don't deny that. People are still not over it and are playing victim. The main reason we pay so much attention to Katrina or Virgina Tech is because they happened on OUR soil and are relevant to a lot of us. Tsunamis that happened in Indonesia clearly aren't that important to a lot of Americans. Yes, we acknowledge that it happened and feel bad, but why don't we feel sympathetic and do something about ALL the world tragedies opposed to just the ones that happen in our own country? Example, Dar-Fur.

33 people died from the shootings at Virgina Tech and it is indeed tragic. Americans die in Iraq every day and we don't seem to make it a big deal. Sometimes they don't even get their name mentioned on the news. Let's just not stop there. What about the Iraqis fighting for their freedom that die everyday. Why isn't that a big story? I'm totally against the "War" and I have this view. I'm assuming its become routine now and reality that people die in "War" everyday. But people don't just die in war. Hundreds of thousands of people die EVERY day. People die in Africa, Dar fur, over sees, in the U.S., China, everywhere people die. I understand that you can't cover all these people and that shouldn't be done. But why are some massacres covered and some not? Is 33 people even a massacre? It's tragic certainly. It should be covered. But not to the point that it is being covered now. If you're going to cover a story where at least 20 people die in a certain place then you have to cover a majority of those stories. Drop the double standard or don't cover them at all. I think the way to go is to acknowledge and be aware of all the deaths and deaths from tragedies that occur, but move on afterwards with your life and realise it is a part of life. Grieve and get over it. Would all these people that died really want for you to be stuck in the pass of their death and make it so you'll never be the same? Of course not. You acknowledge the situation and move on. Unfortunately, this is hard for some people and not everyone thinks that way.

Another angle I'd like to tackle is what society has done for this tragedy to happen. The shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, obviously had a lot going on and his obvious way of getting things out was to kill people. Does that make the Kid "evil" as I've heard him been called? No. It means he was obvious disturbed and this was the only way the guy knew how to get his anger out. He's a victim in a sense of verbal abuse from peers and others and not feeling like he belonged. In that sense, I feel bad for the kid. I also feel bad for the 32 people he killed as well. Maybe if someone paid attention to Cho sooner then this whole ordeal would not have happened? Possibly. Either way, it happened. Instead of focusing on how this guy was a "Psycho killer", focus on how downing the verbal and psychological abuse teenagers and young adults do to each other and reach out more that way. In fairness, Cho should have gotten over the things that people were saying to him, move on with his life, and not left what others say affect him. Unfortunately, easier said then done for most people in our society. According to Zachary Hicks, maybe he should have egged a bunch of people's cars opposed to actually killing them. However, his apparent conduit was killing people. Not the greatest means of a conduit, but one nevertheless.

To wrap it up, what happened at Virginia Tech was obviously a tragic thing but tragic events happen in our world daily and either all of them should be brought to our attention or none of them. If your going to pay a lot of attention, a week now that this will drag on into months, then pay that much attention nationally to other tragic events that happen through out the world. Not just a day or two. All or nothing. Drop the double standards. Most people are only concerned about something if it effects them somehow. The world would probably be a lot better place if we were all concerned when something tragic happened. However, something that's tragic to one person may be completely irrelevant to the next. Again, everything always comes down to that magic word "relevance". I think the best thing we can do is just live our lives and when something rel event comes up, acknowledge it and move on. If something like racism is completely irrelevant to you, then oh well. Don't lose sleep over it. Live your life and move on. That's all you can do.

One more question. If 9/11 happened overseas would you care as much or even really give a shit?

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Page Updated Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:26am EDT