When lives lost in a disaster begin to rack up like a pinball score, devastation thousands of miles distant finally begins to hit home. But far too often, it seems, death tolls – “42 die in skirmish”, “112 perish in crash” – mean so little to so many. Only when a critical point of death is reached is there media coverage and international empathy. Perhaps we have become desensitized to death on smaller scales, maybe larger scales as well. Human history is riddled with terrible tales of major loss of life – genocides, world wars, epidemics. Yet, as technology speeds communication around the globe, we see and hear more of smaller tragedies transpiring everyday. Adding to this atmosphere of death, the same technology enhances the deadliness of modern arsenals and more havoc is wreaked on an ever-expanding population. It is easy to see how we have become so flippant and cavalier about life and death in the 21st century.
The catastrophe in Indonesia, however, rises above the grim white noise underlying our media. With alarming speed, the lives of 100,000 and counting have been washed away, along with the lagging infrastructure of underdeveloped and undervalued countries. Reading the news accounts of the developing situation, I have been hit rather hard and moved to help in my own small way. Yesterday I donated a modest sum to The World Food Programme, administered by the UN. Many more organizations can use our support right now, including those listed at nytimes.com and apple.com. Today I am sharing some of my thoughts.
There is more that we can offer to the people of Indonesia, though – to those who face any tragedy – beyond that of financial support. In times of great human loss, when our hearts are open and minds sensitive to the fleeting flame of life so easily extinguished, let us touch that place of compassion. Let us know our own capacity for compassion and love for those people and places not listed in our address books or holiday lists. In doing so, we can begin to counteract the distressing trends of selective compassion and general disregard.
It is my belief that our culture is facing a crisis of values. Not the loss of a subjective morality of “life” dictated by forlorn and outdated institutions. Rather, the simple, undeniable value of Life – in all its forms and expressions – so greatly diminished in our modern, “civilized” society. Case in point, despite the incredible loss of life, world financial markets have displayed nary a blip in response to the current tsunami-induced crisis in Indonesia. I have even heard reports analyzing the potential consequences of this catastrophe in the insurance sector, reports of thinly-veiled relief that the devastation affected such an undervalued – and hence, underinsured – part of the world.
Let us instead value life over markets, people over institutions, despite the scale or proximity. May the unfortunate circumstances playing out in Indonesia remind us of the tenuous, yet beautiful nature of our time on planet Earth. While it is unlikely that such efforts can prevent another natural disaster of this proportion, they most certainly will help to abate future disasters of the man-made variety.
Filed under: The Globe
