4 ms·
Stories like this annoy me. I get why it's news, new flu strains are always a possible rerun of 1918. But still. Tens of thousands of people die every year fro
by forktheif 13y ago
Stories like this annoy me. I get why it's news, new flu strains are always a possible rerun of 1918. But still.
Tens of thousands of people die every year from flu, mostly elderly people. But now 17 mostly young people have died, it's more newsworthy.
It's kinda like they're suggesting that once you're 65, your life really doesn't matter much any more.
- jmathai 13y agoYes, it's more newsworthy when a 20 year old dies than a 70 year old. Why wouldn't it be? I don't think there's any implication that this says anything about how much we value different people's lives though.
- nodata 13y agoNo it's suggesting that this is NEWs. Young people don't tend to die from flu.
- erkkie 13y agoIt depends on the virus strain, in some strains it's the young and strong who die easy due to having a stronger immune system reaction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm
- TeMPOraL 13y agoBottomline, the only entity that can be accused of ageism here is the nature. I regret to inform everyone, but yes, biology discriminates.
- fauigerzigerk 13y agoThis isn't ageism. It's simply that "dying of old age" has always meant to die from some common illness that younger people don't die from as easily.
- mseidl 13y agoThere is a huge difference though, in that millions and millions of people get the flu, and very small percentage of people die. With things like bird/swine flu, a much, much higher percentage of people die.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]