Who Would You Grieve For?

[NoDaniel]

As you've already heard, Whitney Houston passed away a few days ago. However, every day thousands of children die due to starvation and malnutrition. The question is, who would you grieve more deeply for? A celebrity who has deeply impacted your life, or children that die in the thousands everyday?

[mooseantlers]

Undecided. For one, the celebrities are an emotional attachment so I grieve them cause they mean something to me. And the children is an ongoing problem that is always happening, and it is a problem that effects such a vast number of people that I do feel bad that that kind of thing is happening.

[The Sandman]

Why grieve? They all go to "Heaven."

[Original Poster]

Whitney Housten, she was successful and earned it. Those children need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

[The Sandman]

Whitney Housten, she was successful and earned it. Those children need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Sounds just like how God operates. Omnipotent indeed! Someone who has all the power of God and let's all this suffering continue isn't "Omnipotent" as much as "A sadist."

[mcwillis]

Sounds just like how God operates. Omnipotent indeed! Someone who has all the power of God and let's all this suffering continue isn't "Omnipotent" as much as "A sadist." The saving from starvation of millions in the Third World requires only ordinary 'powers' and is the responsibility of humanity as a whole. For the Masters to use 'supernatural' powers to end the starvation would be an interference with our free will, and against the karmic law. The 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia, for example, was unnecessary - foreseen and warned against for years by the aid-agencies, and the result, not simply of drought (an 'act of God') but of poverty and political machinations.

[The Sandman]

The saving from starvation of millions in the Third World requires only ordinary 'powers' and is the responsibility of humanity as a whole. For the Masters to use 'supernatural' powers to end the starvation would be an interference with our free will, and against the karmic law. The 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia, for example, was unnecessary - foreseen and warned against for years by the aid-agencies, and the result, not simply of drought (an 'act of God') but of poverty and political machinations. What a crock.

[mcwillis]

What a crock. Would you explain which part is untrue?

[mcwillis]

Whitney Housten, she was successful and earned it. Those children need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. You must be joking buddy. Just to stay alive, millions in the Third World work harder, and for longer hours, than any 'developed' worker would countenance. Just to get water (often impure and potentially dangerous to health) many walk miles per day in temperatures of 40 degrees centigrade. To gather firewood for cooking becomes a major, all-day task. Without money or technology which Westerners take for granted, miracles of ingenuity are performed daily in otherwise hopeless conditions. I believe it is precisely the appalling complacency implied by this remark that maintains the dangerous imbalance between the developed and developing worlds. We owe them our help.

[Original Poster]

You must be joking buddy. Just to stay alive, millions in the Third World work harder, and for longer hours, than any 'developed' worker would countenance. Just to get water (often impure and potentially dangerous to health) many walk miles per day in temperatures of 40 degrees centigrade. To gather firewood for cooking becomes a major, all-day task. Without money or technology which Westerners take for granted, miracles of ingenuity are performed daily in otherwise hopeless conditions. I believe it is precisely the appalling complacency implied by this remark that maintains the dangerous imbalance between the developed and developing worlds. We owe them our help. If they live in such terrible conditions it's because they didn't work hard enough to improve their conditions. Helping them would mean rewarding their laziness. If they want my sympathy, they need to earn it like Whitney Housten did. We don't owe them anything. They were the ones that let us colonize them in the first place. They were the ones that couldn't develop fast enough and improve their technology and infrastructure to a level defensible against exploitation. They deserve to be exploited. I don't even see why we ended the slave trade. It was a perfectly legitimate business. Still is. Millions of people disappear every day to be trafficked in sex trade and I applaud that.

[The Sandman]

...Millions of people disappear every day to be trafficked in sex trade and I applaud that. Um, what?

[Original Poster]

Um, what? If my answers frighten you cease asking scary questions

[Seroquel]

Nope.

[Solarflare]

Okay, I'll be the one to say it. Of course children dying in Africa is a far more important problem, and of course more saddening. However, we are talking about a celebrity who impacted your life. Think about a celebrity/ famous person you impacted you and think, WHAT IF they died. Now think about how sad you are right now, because RIGHT NOW, children are dying. If you aren't that sad right now, then of course, you would be more saddened by the celebrity dying. This is why I voted celebrity. haters gonna hate.

[NoDaniel]

Okay, I'll be the one to say it. Of course children dying in Africa is a far more important problem, and of course more saddening. However, we are talking about a celebrity who impacted your life. Think about a celebrity/ famous person you impacted you and think, WHAT IF they died. Now think about how sad you are right now, because RIGHT NOW, children are dying. If you aren't that sad right now, then of course, you would be more saddened by the celebrity dying. This is why I voted celebrity. haters gonna hate. Finally, an honest answer I can agree with.

[Arra]

I do not grieve over the passing of people I don't know.

[SpaceCowboyDave]

"Pitty not the dead, but the living"- Albus Dumbledore

[Burke]

I voted before I read the OP I thought children meant my own. Neither would've been my choice

[Solarflare]

Really!? No one would be sad if Shigeru Miyamoto died!? Tsk Tsk Tsk

[Burke]

I do not mourn for those whom I do not know in a personal matter. If somebody who influenced me died I would be somewhat sad, but I would not mourn my loss and would probably get over it completely in a few minutes.

[Supernova]

I bring this up pretty much any time there's anything in the news about a pointless bit of a celebrity's personal life (which is pretty much every day).

[AURON]

I find this so interesting that none of this "hey guys X's death is more important than y's death" stuff was going on when Micheal Jackson (or most other recent celebrities) died. Heck, remember when all those wild exotic animals got released and they had to shoot them all? Most people were sad, angry at the guy who did it, and angry at the cops and people who were behind the decision. Not one person mentioned "hey what about da troops who are getting killed everyday!?". Another example is Amy Winehouse...people were just like "oh we saw that coming". To put things in a closer perspective. Just imagine talking to your family about one grandparents that passed away and someone says "I'm going to miss Grandma more than Grandpa...we shouldn't discuss him at all right now". The point I'm getting at is: any loss of life regardless of how a person chose to live it is never a good thing.

[Zhaylin]

This sounds callous, but I don't even "grieve deeply" for those I love. At least not consciously. My grief spills over into my dreams for decades, though. But when I'm awake... what can you do? For those starving etc you can help by trying to make a difference with your time, money and/or resources. But what if you have nothing to give? Do you beat yourself up for not being wealthier or in some sort of political/religious power position? I hope not. You move on with your life. Once someone is dead, shed some tears, feel sad, feel mad, acknowledge the loss then continue living the best you can.

[The Sandman]

I appreciate those who mourn the living. I appreciate the idea that if we walked around mourning everyone around the world who is suffering, we would lead a miserable existence. Televise the facts surrounding the death of Whitney Houston, and then show images of the suffering in Darfhour with electrodes to someones head. I think you will find we mourn both. If you don't mourn the children suffering in some remote third world nation, you may be a sociopath, but I don't care to pass judgement on you. I don't know why you think the way you do. Remember, this is a poll. It evokes a bunch of emotion, and people feel they have to pick a side when in fact, they don't mourn one more or less necessarily. Of course, some do mourn on more or one less. The point is, I think a lot of people mourn both plenty. I should throw up some divisive poll and stir the pot!

[SpaceCowboyDave]

I don't feel bad for the one who died as much as I feel sad for myself and others who happen to be alive. I'll miss those musicians who were influential to me, simply because music is a part of my life, therefore they were, and I would be loosing what I enjoyed.