Two category five hurricanes, the largest mass shooting in the country, and a war against North Korea looming even closer every day. What do these things all have in common? Catastrophe. Hundreds and even thousands of people have been affected or could be in the future by all of those things, but so many people say they don't care about them. A conversation I had with a high school student the other day made me think twice about how our society perceives world issues.
"It isn't happening in my backyard, I wasn't part of it and neither was anyone close to me. I really don't care too much about it. I guess if something happens down the street then I would be involved and hoping to get help," said Maddy Montgomery.
Sure, many people don't watch traditional TV news or read the newspaper but it is almost impossible to avoid news completely because of social media. When the Las Vegas shooting happened a few days ago, there wasn't just factual news surfacing. There were personal stories from the people who were hurt, who lost a loved one, and who had to run for their lives. The pictures of people crying on the ground who were scared to get up and the piles of people just hoping that they will make it through the night are horrifying. Between the stories and pictures, how can anyone not care just because they weren't there when it happened? It's selfish.
What is it going to take to make people open their eyes and hearts again?
