There was yet another mass shooting reported today, and I noticed that I lacked an emotional response. There are so many of them these days that I’ve become desensitized. Which is embarrassing to admit, even to myself. Which made me wonder if I should make myself care about mass shootings or if I should live my life not being affected by reports of them.
Which made me realize that we should wonder that about any world problem we have or lack a visceral reaction to. It is said that there is a war on Christmas. Do I care? No. Should I care? No.
Animals in factory farms are killed very young. Do I care? Yes, that's so sad. Should I care? Not specifically about their age because in practice, letting them live longer is even worse for the environment.
Word has it global warming is a problem. Do I expect that problem to affect me, personally? Not really; I have plenty of privilege to keep me safe. Should I care about the issue? Yes, obviously, I should care about nothing more.
We should make explicit the consideration of what is and is not worthy of our outrage. Our gut is notoriously unreliable as an analysis machine.
