Desensitizing Tragedy

While looking for a catalyst to comment on for this blog, I found a very interesting advertisement, pictured here:

I thought this was interesting because it introduces the idea that the horrible event that was 9/11 is likened to the threat of smoking. While smoking is a real problem many people face, I have a hard time believing that it is as severe or thought to be as severe as an attack due to terrorism. Sure, smoking is bad, but it's not something that can be necessarily forced upon an entire nation like a terrorist threat can. 

This brings me to my main point - that a recent tragedy with great impact can be called equal in value to a health problem that only a percentage of the population faces. If this were to be taken as true, then would it be true that the recent shooting in Arizona could be equated to stealing from a grocery store? I would be hard pressed to say so. The entire idea is a fallacious argument, and quite frankly, ridiculous. There have been many different large-scale events recorded throughout history, and I have not yet seen any advertisements that use them in this way.

There is also the inherent problem of people who were personally involved in these events. For 9/11, most of the world was watching the events unfold on a screen, and not there in person. To say that those of us who were not there in person share the same emotional impact that the people who lost family members do is untrue.

Not only that, but the people who do not have a personal connection will likely not care enough about its anniversary each year to put effort into respecting those who were the heroes. We as a nation do not reflect upon other recent tragedies, so why even try to do the same for 9/11? Yes, it was terrible, but even bringing it up each year does not change anything about it. As I said before, there are many people who have a personal connection with the event and I am sure they do not appreciate that memory being brought up again and again. On the other side of the event, there are people who honestly don't care enough about it to give it more than the respect they think it might deserve. This could very well be a personal problem with not caring enough about the country of America and what it really represents, and I would hope these people do not take 9/11 as a joke.

This brings my main idea back full circle. Historical events should be reviewed and learned from, not compared to the problems of everyday life and people. Trying to prevent and lower the amount of people smoking is a noble cause, but I feel that it could have been handled in a much better, more tactful way, and I have my doubts that this will cause anyone to stop smoking within the week. This advertisement is probably rather offensive to all the affected lives of the event, and trying to present it as on the same level as smoking is not something I appreciate, either. Many who see this will not think that smoking can be equated to a bombing, and will probably just pass over it, making this a very ineffective advertisement, and showing that the idea that we can take horrible events of the past for granted does not help further the progression of society.