More than numbers

Dear Editor,

“War is hell,” stated General Sherman with the obvious. Then why do wars continue? Why are populations slaughtered? How can human beings do this to one another?

The answer lies in dehumanization.

The most frequently cited is the German holocaust of the Jewish people. How could they mentally deal with plucking neighbors from the populace, stealing their belongings, and shipping them off to be exterminated? By changing them from humans to numbers. Dehumanization.

The first step is to control the media. And the Nazis did. They convinced the fellow Germans Jews were all thieves. Worst of all, Jews did not fight hard enough for Germany in World War I — despite 50,000 Jews dying in that war. Jews proved an easy target for Hitler to pin Germany’s problems on in the 1930s. They had to be eliminated.

But who can mentally handle the slaughter? Even Hitler’s SS couldn’t do it. Neither the German SS nor the German soldiers seldom faced the Jews they killed. They rarely even met them.

The killing was done by convicts. Prisoners were released and treated better as long as they stole the victims’ assets for the government and then gassed them.

The media never reported the deaths of people. Germany was never killing people. They were just changing numbers.

Dehumanization. It’s been going on forever. Even in the United States.

Black slaves weren’t people. The Supreme Court stated in the Dred Scott Decision slaves weren’t human, they were property. Just another farm animal — and they were treated that way.

Japanese-Americans weren’t human during World War II. It was fine to lock them up and steal their assets.

Vietnam wasn’t about humans, it was a Friday night statistic. Almost like a football score. Weekly update: 2,448 Viet Cong dead; 53 American Service personnel died. No names. No faces. Just numbers. 2,448 to 53. We were winning. Bigly. How shocked we were when the war ended and we learned over 58,000 Americans had died there. How could this be? Didn’t the numbers say we were winning?

Today: Are minorities people? LGBTQ? Those of other religions? Are immigrants human? Are Gazans human? Are Iranians people?

Deportations. They are not about humans, they are just numbers.

Our wars are fought from high in the sky, from distant missile launchers, from unmanned drones operated from miles away.

We see rubble, we see destruction.

Do we see carnage? Or do we hear numbers?

Do we see shattered lives or is it just collateral damage?

The 9/11 attacks will live with us forever. The holocaust will be with the Jewish people forever. Do we expect Palestinians to forget the “flattening of Gaza?” Do we care? Should we care? Are they just numbers?

James Spangler, OD,

Warren

Fine line in facts

Dear Editor,

Fox News and MS NOW present different, diverse political worlds. The differences in topics covered, what facts are cited and by whom, and what opinions are expressed are astonishing, which leaves viewers with two different thoughts of political reality. We are obviously not sharing the same facts, conclusions, and priorities.

The key questions are which “world view” best represents the truth and which network is more deserving of trust?

According to Claude AI, Fox News political speakers “tended to be partisans rather than deep policy expert commentators; score of 6.5 out of 10.” “MS NOW tended to have credential policy voices.”

Fox News viewers (Trumpers) tend to ignore or are unaware of Trump’s personally insulting, degrading and threatening reporters, particularly women reporters, when doing their job asking penetrating questions. Fox News tends to not present these incidents. MS NOW does. Fox reporters tend to ask “softball” questions and act as a forum for Trump to amplify his political reality.

The Edward R. Murrow Award is given for news coverage excellence. PBS has received the most awards. MS NOW/MS NBC has been awarded multiple honors. Fox News has received only two Murrow Awards. The Award Committee has its criteria and is considered an objective body.

I prefer PBS News Hour Channel 3 at 6 o’clock on weekdays and at 5 on weekends.

I trust them and as a backup I go with MS NOW, the “multiple awards” network. Many of their conclusions coincide with PBS. I appreciate Fox sports and many of their other shows.

Trump had federal funding for PBS stopped, “too non supportive” and labeled “fake news.” “Trump rejects non-supportive facts and things he does want to hear.”

Whether Trumpers know or not and likewise whether Fox News covers Trump’s “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation” and “inflation is a con job,”we all see local gas price signs and experience across the board higher prices. We also know Trump ordered an attack on Iran., something Trump campaigned against doing. No news network or politician can ignore or spin $50 gas tank fill ups and federal spending $1 trillion a day on Iran, or Trump’s executive orders to levy tariffs. These are facts. The people can draw their own conclusions of political reality.

Does it make sense to trust information from an organization reporting on a government with which it is so closely connected. Trump has a number of former Fox News people in his cabinet and as advisers.

It smells, walks, and looks a lot like a state influenced news operation with an agenda, a dangerous and undesirable situation for a democratic society requiring straight information, the good and the bad. We have had too much fantasy.

Former Fox News man, Tucker Carlson, apologized for promoting Fox News political reality and advocating the election of Trump.

Don Scott,

North Warren