Crans-Montana was a massive tragedy.
47 dead (at the time of writing), a number that will likely increase, as there are also 115 injured, many in serious condition, and several missing. Italians, French, and people of other nationalities.
A New Year’s Eve party; people who attended were not destined to see the new year. In a luxury club, the Le Constellation, at a luxurious ski resort.
Written by Papa-Ratsis
I have often expressed the opinion that despite our claims to the contrary, not all human lives are valued equally. There is an unwritten cost, primarily determined by social and economic status and secondarily by country of origin, color, and religion. But mainly, as we said, by social and economic status.
47 lives were lost due to an explosion at a party because of inadequate safety measures.
Perhaps there isn’t a media outlet without at least 10 updates since the tragedy occurred. From the initial estimate of 10 dead to the current 47 (so far), we’ve learned everything, with updates for each increase in victim count, eyewitness statements, reports from those responsible for the venue where the tragedy occurred, statements from the fire department and police, local officials, and Italian police. About the waiter who lit fireworks, about the Daily Mail report, the extreme situation mentioned by a Greek eyewitness.
And all this without omitting the mourning, grief, and unspeakable tragedy in lament form from the media for the tragic incident.
And I repeat: For me, as for many people, the value of human life is determined by nothing other than it being human life. I don’t care about their wallet, class, or origin. The loss of life saddens me equally whether it is someone anonymous or someone whose name is known worldwide. (Except for a few cases, but that’s another discussion topic.)
The point I want to emphasize is the media’s stance. The issue is top news, top position and priority as they say ‘at work’, on all websites, radios, TVs etc. All of them. With continuous updates and an army of journalists and correspondents searching for every last detail. The color on the walls and the age of the building.
However, 47 dead was (and is) an ordinary day in Gaza over the past two and a half years. It’s a weekend in Ukraine and Russia. It’s four hours in Somalia, two hours in Sudan, and an American forces raid off Venezuela’s coast.
All these though are prioritized as top news only if there’s nothing more significant at that moment (a statement from Mrs. von der Leyen or a major transfer by Barcelona for example). And if they become top news, it’s due to flow and will be ‘demoted’ with the next available news.
And of course someone might say that on one hand it’s war so losses are expected while the other is an unfortunate event. A bad moment hence shocking because we don’t expect it.
So then, do we find losses with clear intent to kill less ‘disturbing’ than those from bad moments? Is that right?
No, that’s not true either.
Unfortunately or unfortunately society is shaken by death when it involves a prosperous often white often Western European ‘important’ person in society. When death finds a poor insignificant dark-skinned person from somewhere even they don’t know its name then it’s completely insignificant.
And let me say it a third time, because these need repetition not to be misunderstood. I am not ‘suggesting’ we shouldn’t mourn for Crans-Montana’s dead but I wonder why we don’t mourn equally for those outside Khartoum.
So did we end up somewhere? Yes. Right where we started:
The lives of people do not have equal value.
The 47 dead Sudanese from Rapid Support Forces 47 dead Palestinians from IDF fire and bombings and 47 dead Thais from Cambodian bullets do not have the same ‘weight’ in our conscience nor the same impact on our emotions as 47 dead (mostly European) tourists at a Swiss ski resort.
Let’s finally admit it and move on with our lives.
