Your people, My people, Death of these peoples.

So I really do not know how to explain this but I will try my best.

When an American dies in any situation (not just war) and a person of another country dies, it's like, alot of people in America care about the american because it is "OUR PEOPLE".

I just don't freaking get it. We are all people. In this world. We are all here, whether you are in one part of this world, or the other we are all still people.

I just don't get why alot of people only care about OUR people and not all people alike.

American or not, I do not care. We are all people and all share this world and I would not feel differantly about an american dying or another person of a differant country dying.

Is there a specific incident you are referring to?

it may be the kind of "group mentality" that people on sports teams have, just on a larger scale, and a little bit extreme.  When one person on a sports team gets hurt, they all feel for that one person, and become stronger, i think it may just be the patriotic americans way of helping themselves feel stronger.

 i dont think that anyone in america thinks less of an african citizen dying, or an italian citizen dying... if they do, thats pretty messed up.

its almost like some people on this planet feel like they should help their continent become better than another continent, when we all should be sticking together, we all breathe the same air, and share the same water (its a little different in other parts of the world, but when we start running out, the others feel it too!)

It may also have to do with identifying with the deceased - that is, they see how the same thing could happen to them - they temporarily see their face, or the face of a loved on on the deceased.

Just curious Schnooder - have you had a recent experience or seen something that prompted this post? (It just doesn't seem to be the kind of topic to come out of nowhere...)

I think that most people care about others(I know I do) but people react more when its closer to home.   (9/11 is a good example of this) 

Original Post by loeloelaura:

 i dont think that anyone in america thinks less of an african citizen dying, or an italian citizen dying... if they do, thats pretty messed up.

 

Actually, I've enountered quite a few people who have no remorse over some people in a third world country dying, or the possibility of them dying, even if innocent (civilians).  These are the same people who advocate bombing the middle east "into a sheet of glass."

Heck, it's not just foreigners either.  They also displayed a remarkable lack of empathy and compassion for victims of Katrina too.

And yes, that's pretty messed up.

u are right, santonacci... i have stared open mouthed at the people speaking of third world people like they werent people... i cant imagine what they feel inside their black hearts!!!  

I don't get it either schnooder. Or when they announce death tolls, "10 dead, 3 Americans." and the other seven were....?

personally i don't feel affected by people who i don't personally know dying. I have no connection to them whatsoever, yeah its sad but at the same time, if i never read about it in the news or somewhere i'd never have known and would have felt the same towards them alive or dead.

I've lived all over the world and never thought a certain country was my own, i don't feel patriotism to anywhere, therefore i don't feel like any country is my own so maybe thats why i feel this way.

If a solider was to be killed in the war i don't see it as a loss to my country per say, more just someone getting killed doing their job, one of the risks of being a solider etc. I just don't feel a connection enough with anywhere to even think to suggest they were one of our people...

Original Post by lifeizsweet:

personally i don't feel affected by people who i don't personally know dying. I have no connection to them whatsoever, yeah its sad but at the same time, if i never read about it in the news or somewhere i'd never have known and would have felt the same towards them alive or dead.

I've lived all over the world and never thought a certain country was my own, i don't feel patriotism to anywhere, therefore i don't feel like any country is my own so maybe thats why i feel this way.

If a solider was to be killed in the war i don't see it as a loss to my country per say, more just someone getting killed doing their job, one of the risks of being a solider etc. I just don't feel a connection enough with anywhere to even think to suggest they were one of our people...

I dont feel a connection either but what I am trying to get at is what is the differance between an American dying and a person of another country?

What happened schnooder?  This post doesn't sound like you.  I mean, I don't know you, but...

Original Post by bettypage4:

What happened schnooder? This post doesn't sound like you. I mean, I don't know you, but...

whats that mean?

This just seems so general and vague.  It just doesn't like a post I would hear from you. 

Your posts are usually kind of happy and funny.  Smart alecky. 

Original Post by bettypage4:

Your posts are usually kind of happy and funny. Smart alecky.

haha yeah I don't know. I just overheard some people talking about how 4 americans died in something and how it was such a tragedy when 6 people from Japan tied in the same thing but "who cares about those chinks"

I was disgusted.

you got my point...

I agree with bettypage. I think those people are just a-holes. However, America is rampant with ethnocentrism so comments like that don't surprise me.

OK poking my nose in here, I know you're talking about America,  but this doesn't only happen there it happens in every single country around the globe, we get it all the time on the news.....

127 killed as beoing crash lands.....it's believed 27 Brits are amoungst the dead

78 people die as tour bus in Spain plunges over a cliff, 6 of them were Brits..

America devastated by Hurricane Katrina....it's believed there were Brits holidaying in the area at the time, a search has been launched to find them.

later

Brits have been found sheltering with locals after Katrina....all efforts are being made to get them out to safety!!!!

it comes down to the media assuming that you will only be interested in the people who have come from your own country....Hell the same thing happens between England and Scotland and we're suppose to be United.

it's sad but true.

This is not only in America.  In most other countires the land cares more about it's citizens rather than differing ones.  I know that in Israel the case is that they care more about the deaths of Israelis.

Well I try now to sound the most NOT anti-american I can be but...

for "foreigners", so non-americans, for example in europe (where I'm at), there is nothing more annoying than news about americans that died, simple because they always overdo it so bad... I don't wanna say that it isn't horrible if someone dies (!) it's just that they don't give a **** about us but for some reason the world gives alot on them.

My favorite example is 9/11. It was a horrible moment and I was sitting in front of the TV like everybody in the world and I was feeling bad and sad for the people BUT

(I was still a student then) only 2 days later we got forced, the whole school, to come out on the mainpark of the school and have a silence-time. Then someone hold a speech about how horrible that was.

For me, too much.

We never had that for all the victims of the wars in africa or bosnia or the suicidebombing victims in israel or palestina.

I personally felt cheated.

Why doing all that for the americans? Would THEY do that for us? I doubt it.

Then there was Katrina. Horrible thing again. But

in poland and germany were extreme floods just a few years before and the rest of the world gave a ****.

Again, why?

I don't know how it is in other countries though. I can only speak for my own. I'm german, we have the worst reputation that's humanly possible so even when german soldiers die nowadays for a good cause (even though, I personally don't think there is a good cause for killing, I'm a pacifist) even we germans ourself will be quiet about it and try everything to not show too much patriotisnm so the world won't see us even worse than they do already...

My basical complain is that the media pushes everything american but what happens in the rest of the world, is hardly cared about. And seriously - how much american would care if 1000 people in Somalia died? Like the person before me said: sad but true.

PS: I'm NOT anti-american in any way, just for the records.

well I obviously know it's not only in America but America is what I am talking about.