Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Pointing out this disparity doesn’t mean excusing what’s happening in Ukraine. But it does raise troubling questions about how selective our attention is and what sorts of victims elicit our compassion and outrage which we more or less ignore.
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On top of the ethnic / racial similarities of most Canadians, along with the heavy presence of social media, there is also the fact that this war is taking place in the middle of the second most "important" continent - i say that tongue in cheek, but you get the idea.
Also, this isn't a civil war or an insurgency of rebels, but an invasion by a world power. People know who Putin is, they know about the fall of the USSR. This is history they, atleast somewhat, understand. It's an easy choice to pick a side.
How do people pick a side in Tigray conflict? do average people know what that is? what countries are involved? where is eritrea? who is running the country? who is the "good guy" here? will they just turn out to be another bad guy? Isnt this all the fault of Europe anyway? can't we just re-design the borders? can't they just have democracy?
Not discounting the utter travesty of those events, but we can't go around blaming the collective conscience of a nation or its people on the fact that they pick and choose what conflicts to be outraged at. There is only so much ugly news people can take before they are desensitized to it.