A Bit of Perspective

I've been a more-than-casual news junkie since I was in junior high, and I think I've become pretty knowledgeable about a lot of the things that go on in our country, if not the rest of the world too. So I've known for a long time that congressional hearings are pretty much just public political masturbation. They're not really supposed to accomplish anything, just a lot of posturing for their constituents on the issue du jour. I mean, was it really necessary to spend our tax dollars holding hearings on steroids in baseball? I'm as disappointed as anyone in what's happened to baseball, but in the grand scheme of things, is it really worth it?

So it should come as much of a surprise to see Congress today holding hearings on mine safety (that's Tom Harkin in the picture showing a messaging system that should be in all mines). Don't get me wrong--it is extremely sad that those 14 men have died this month in mine accidents (12 in the Sago mine, 2 more this past week). I do have great sympathy for them and their families, and I know it's a real blow to the communities. But at the risk of sounding like a complete jerk (not the first time), let's try to get a little perspective here.

In the first 3 weeks of 2006, 14 men have died in these two coal mining incidents in the U.S. In 2005, 22 coal miners died in the U.S., continuing a steady decline in the number of mining deaths year over year. It's still the second most dangerous profession (percentage-wise I guess). In China, over 5000 coal miners died in 2005, but they've got a lot more to go around, and we hardly want to compare ourselves to China.

But how about some other numbers to put a little perspective on that one?

In the same first 3 weeks of 2006, 49 U.S. servicemen and women were killed in Iraq, along with 11 civilians, and 20 more in Afghanistan. So that's 80 people dead in those same 3 weeks, and that's just the Americans. It wasn't easy even finding this information. Wonder why?

But that's an old story--no point fighting against the war anymore, right? How about some other numbers?

On average, in the U.S. over the course of three given weeks...

1000 people die in handgun incidents

1000 people die in traffic accidents

Last time Congress had a chance to address gun control, they wouldn't even uphold a ban on automatic rifles, much less do anything to control the handguns and hunting rifles that caused most of those deaths. And I don't think they're in any hurry to make auto manufacturers add safety features to their cars that could help save some of those folks.

But that's still penny-ante. I'm shooting higher. Let's be global for a minute, go big-picture. Say 25 miners die this year, allowing for a couple more unfortunate accidents, following the pattern of the last several. So 25 for the year. Throw those poor Chinese fuckers, another 5000, and let's just guesstimate that in the other countries that mine coal, probably another couple thousand, round it all up to 8000. Seems like a lot, right? But in the same given year...

3 million people will die of AIDS

5 million people will die of smoking-related disease

9 million people will die of hunger

Yes, those are all millions. I'm sure hearings have been held on those issues, but you don't hear much about it, and they sure haven't done anything about it. I didn't even mention the relatively smaller yet still significant genocides the Congress has ignored over the years--the Balkans, Rwanda, the Congo, Darfur.

You know, I'll give Tom Harkin up there a pass on this issue. His father was a coal miner, so he's sensitive to the issue. But ol' Robert Byrd there to the left gets no such pass, even though he's from West Virginia. He's a typical political grandstander, just standing up there pandering to his constituents, making them feel like he's focused on the issues that matter to them. Well, he's wasting our time, money and potential to actually accomplish something.

I realize it's a pointless argument. Even if the Congress spent all their time meeting about things that really mattered in the world, they still can't really do anything besides blow hot air. It's just depressing that nobody even bothers to talk about the things that really matter.

I suppose there's something to the idea that people just can't process the concept of millions of people dying. We can only deal with death on a personal, individual level. When things get too big, we start to lose the perspective and tune out. Even when it's not half a world away, even when it's right in our own backyard.

You know, this sounded a lot better in my head this morning, way more impactful. Maybe it was that I couldn't gather all the stats I wanted to. I suppose I could have, but what do you expect? It's not like I'm getting paid for this.