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This "somebody somewhere" comparison is callous and dismissive. These are billions of people that live under horrid conditions of tyranny and/or abject poverty

This "somebody somewhere" comparison is callous and dismissive. These are billions of people that live under horrid conditions of tyranny and/or abject poverty. Hundreds of millions of people lived through the Arab Spring - not "somebody somewhere". Many of them watched their country descend in unprecedented violence that cannot be compared to tear gas and pepper spray. To them, those are indeed first world problems. Protesters in Syria were slaughtered with machine gun and anti-aircraft fire. Protesters in Iraq were fired on with machine guns. Protesters in Egypt were killed by snipers from the roof tops, exploded in bombs, and then jailed and quietly executed. Protesters in Libya were massacred by the army - and then by terrorists. Protesters in Iran were shot, arrested, and disappear. AND THEN three of those countries fell into civil war. As bad as things may seem in the US, they don't even compare to what happens in other countries. How many innocent black Americans were killed by police in any given year? 10? out of 300 million people? ....oh, and the police involved have been arrested and charged? Please forgive the civilians in Syria who were bombed with nerve gas for not sympathizing - their civil war is still going on - almost 10 years now.

dragonwriter 6y ago
> These are major HUGE segments of the world population that lived If it was literally every other person in human history other than those in the present day United States... ...it still wouldn't have any bearing on discussion of the injustices in the United States. It's nothing more than an irrelevant distraction technique. (And while it's a valid example of the general issue, no one before you raised immediate issues IN THE US.) > Please forgive the civilians in Syria who were bombed with nerve gas for not sympathizing Literally no one is asking for that. There is a difference between suggesting that, e.g., the Syrian experience you describe is irrelevant as a deflection in a discussion among people who are subject to, and responsible-as-citizens-for-their-governments-actions in the present problems in the US and suggesting that those American problems ought to be a concern for the victims of the violence in Syria. I would suspect most people in the current American protest movement, while gratified by the support that has been shown in numerous other first world and even some developing nations, weren't looking for international attention and don't particularly think that it ought to be an urgent concern for people who are neither subject to nor responsible, even in the sense of the Democratic responsibility of citizens, for it.
- koheripbal 6y ago
  > ...it still wouldn't have any bearing on discussion of the injustices in the United States. Of course it would. Because our resources for charity and good will should not be solely given to Americans. There are far far more needy people outside America.
catalogia 6y ago
Either I have utterly failed to express myself effectively, or this is not a charitable response. I'm not sure which. I'll try one more time: it should be possible to empathize with the plights of many people, not only the ones who are worst off. Obviously some people have it worse than others, I hope I've made my acknowledgement of that clear. What I don't find productive is telling some people you don't care about their problems because other people have it much worse.

dragonwriter 6y ago

> These are major HUGE segments of the world population that lived If it was literally every other person in human history other than those in the present day United States... ...it still wouldn't have any bearing on discussion of the injustices in the United States. It's nothing more than an irrelevant distraction technique. (And while it's a valid example of the general issue, no one before you raised immediate issues IN THE US.) > Please forgive the civilians in Syria who were bombed with nerve gas for not sympathizing Literally no one is asking for that. There is a difference between suggesting that, e.g., the Syrian experience you describe is irrelevant as a deflection in a discussion among people who are subject to, and responsible-as-citizens-for-their-governments-actions in the present problems in the US and suggesting that those American problems ought to be a concern for the victims of the violence in Syria. I would suspect most people in the current American protest movement, while gratified by the support that has been shown in numerous other first world and even some developing nations, weren't looking for international attention and don't particularly think that it ought to be an urgent concern for people who are neither subject to nor responsible, even in the sense of the Democratic responsibility of citizens, for it.

koheripbal 6y ago
> ...it still wouldn't have any bearing on discussion of the injustices in the United States. Of course it would. Because our resources for charity and good will should not be solely given to Americans. There are far far more needy people outside America.

catalogia 6y ago

Either I have utterly failed to express myself effectively, or this is not a charitable response. I'm not sure which. I'll try one more time: it should be possible to empathize with the plights of many people, not only the ones who are worst off. Obviously some people have it worse than others, I hope I've made my acknowledgement of that clear. What I don't find productive is telling some people you don't care about their problems because other people have it much worse.