On Violence
Dear Brian,
I have been watching the events in Mumbai unfold, and I now see that the number of dead has risen to 183. I have been watching the news quite a bit. In fact, with the prevalence of media on the net, I found myself watching three news streams, scanning Twitter for live news, viewing the city on Google Earth, and checking out various non-traditional media sites. At some point I was overloaded and have only checked back occasionally.
I have been watching the politicians extress their “outrage”, but I don’t feel the same. I am dissapointed, but not angry or outraged. Perhaps terrorism has become so common that it no longer makes me angry. When I was watching the news they were describing other terror attacks in India, and they seem to occur almost monthly now. At some point you ave to start viewing it like a car accident where someone dies. You express your condolences, and then move on with your life. Besides, what does anger really solve?
In the midst of all of this I had received a newsletter from Jason Calacanis. It was regarding the violence. In the mailing he provided an essay and a video link for a gentleman named Mr. Pinker. In the video Mr. Pinker provides an argument that violence is at an all time low, and that violence is on the decline. It is hard to argue with his evidence. Based on his argument, perhaps there is a reason for hope.
With hope,
Robert