Do some people matter more than others? 

Does someone’s life “value” more than someone else’s? If yes, then based on what? 

Why do some people get more attention than the others? Have they earned it in some way?

Hello readers,

In my ASTU class, we’ve been trying to understand what Judith Butler is saying in her book ‘Frames of War’ and something that stood out to me is how she writes that the “body is a social phenomenon” (33) and that its “vulnerable” (33). She also questions herself on who is she responsible for and on what basis she is responsible for certain things or people, and who else is responsible.

Her views on how bodies are vulnerable and that some people are valued more than others based on certain social phenomena, and that “interpretation” is a “consequence of a certain field of intelligibility that helps to form and frame our responsiveness” (34) led me to thinking about how could we and why do we value or give attention to some lives over others; by “we”, I mean in general globally and media-wise.

I realize that there are various discrimination and prejudice factors such as social class, race and the “worth” of the person based on how they impact their community and the roles an individual plays. But, how and why are these factors still given place in the society? In the past few months, the various ISIS attacks that have taken place around the world gained a lot of media response and people from all over the world showed sympathy for the lives lost through mostly social media and public demonstrations. But something that became obvious after few of these attacks and more social media platforms responses is that, some people got more sympathy and empathy than others. The most widespread one was the Paris attack, when millions of people world-wide showed compassion and condolence, but never that big of a response for the lives lost in other countries such as Tunisia. However, something I’m really glad about is that very soon many people from around the world realized the difference in the scale of the reactions for the different attacks, and people started raising awareness through hashtags like #prayforgaza, #prayforlebanon and many more, instead of just #prayforparis. Movements like these definitely brings back hope in me for humanity.

Also, how would a “global citizen” answer to such questions, would they add a label of who is worth how much in the society, or would everyone be of equal “value”, or is there a more “pragmatic” approach?

In reality I think, although its pessimistic, that the global voice will always (or at least not in the near future) value some people over others. Nevertheless, I still hope that that changes and people feel compassion equally for innocent people, no matter which part of the world or social hierarchy they’re from.