Item — HN Reader

>> If they killed every single person in the country no one would give a shit. Same way no one gives a shit about Yemen.

What's your point exactly?

Is it that human nature is broken, and that we should try to compensate for it [by trying to force ourselves to care more] ?

(Because I wonder how many atrocities there are in the world, and how that scales if every internet stranger needs to be angry about every atrocity or else...)

3 comments

We should address the atrocities we are responsible for and try not to repeat them before getting outraged over the acts of others.

It has not really anything to do with human nature, its the power structures in the west that have vested interests to shape the mainstream narrative. Some atrocities are getting coverage, its not at all arbitrary which ones. Its more a sign of how incredibly effective they've become in pacifying the entire population in the west through media and politics, institutional corruption, sham elections, etc. Western democracy is beyond broken, will never get fixed and things will only get worse. But I agree with the majority of people who can still form coherent thoughts in their minds, much easier to just stick the head in the sand and deny that what I'm stating is demonstrably true.

If the West is bad at reporting, is it better elsewhere, maybe in China or maybe in Russia, even India? Or is it that almost everyone is like that?

Are people in Santa Barbara bad because they don’t keep up with things in Sparks NV too much?

Exactly, as long as it doesn't manifest itself in exactly the same manner as north koreas dictatorship, everything is fine. sticking head back in the sand

>Is it that human nature is broken, and that we should try to compensate for it

No, that if we should be aware, we should be aware for all injustices, not just follow the ones we are force-fed by hypocritical self-serving interests (e.g. our country's diplomacy and subservient media preferring this victim over that, or getting outraged at this player over that - because it suits some diplomatic plans).

Especially when they atrocities they point people to look at are much more minor than others they purposefully ignore...

In general, getting one's own opinion, as opposed following the government/media agendas of enemies and victim's du jour, and knowing when they're manipulated, is a good thing...

should see through crocodile tears hypocritic concern, and that we should be aware of all injustices

>> not just follow the ones we are force-fed by hypocritical self-serving interests

Nobody is force-feeding anybody. TV news is dead, the newspaper is dead. People read the news they find interesting.

If you really think the reason people prefer read US-weekly to civil wars in foreign countries is because "The Man" then you're in for a rude awakening.

>Nobody is force-feeding anybody. TV news is dead, the newspaper is dead. People read the news they find interesting.

Newspapers and periodicals still set the tone at higher echelons, richer/older/more socially standing demographics, politicians, journalists, academics, and so on. Whether in print form or web format doesn't matter much.

And TV still has a stronghold in most families. Even with the internet, people watch more TV now than they did in the 70s and 80s ( https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/05/when-... ) -- and it's not all Game Of Thrones and the like.

But the point is rather moot, as the force feeding doesn't need to happen through newspapers/TV. The web, and even social media, would do just as good.

The main thing is to have the same narrative fed 24/7, with small diversions (e.g. everybody agreeing that X is the enemy du jour, but disagree on being hawks or doves against it. For even more fun, usually the "doves" don't promote a much softer touch that the hawks, just disagree on the details and subtlety).

>If you really think the reason people prefer read US-weekly to civil wars in foreign countries is because "The Man" then you're in for a rude awakening.

Not sure what the above means.

But people don't even care about civil wars in foreign countries, until their government decides to be involved, and to the degree that it reflects one or another partisan view.

There are tons of civil wars and atrocities Americans don't know and don't care enough to learn about. They just take a second hand opinion on the ones they are told, from one of the opinions on offer -- if there wasn't one, they'd be blissfully discussing some actor's divorce, The Joker or whatever the media bring up next.

World affair savvy, the public, is not. Heck, most couldn't even name the name of the Vice President, or their Senator, but they can still manage to mumble that "X" (enemy du jour) is bad, because this or that news item caught their eye, it's what's talked about in editorials, and social media viral stories, and so on.