By The Editorial Board
The conflict between Israel and Palestine hit its two-year mark on Oct. 7. The Russo-Ukrainian War has ravaged Europe for 11 years now. As the conflicts continue, our capacity for empathy has become increasingly limited. War was once a means to an end — peace. Now, it seems like world leaders treat it like the end itself.
“Five killed in large Russian missile and drone attack.” “Outrage after Israel kills five journalists in ‘double-tap’ attack on Gaza hospital.” “Israel kills 10 Palestinians in Gaza as ceasefire talks take place in Egypt.” These are just a couple of headlines from the past week. These headlines, which spell death and loss, overwhelm our news consumption, and we barely notice.
Our news is so saturated with these stories that we’ve become desensitized. The headlines that once brought horror now just bring a vague numbness. Perhaps we’ve become numb to it because it’s easier to be numb than to face the alternative — a deep sadness for those who suffer from war and the knowledge that there’s just nothing you can do about it.
One article describes this feeling as “compassion fatigue.” Brad Bushman, an Ohio State media researcher, described compassion fatigue as “a kind of emotional or attentional filtering that protects us from suffering becoming too stressful or traumatic to cope with.”
In other words, when caring becomes too draining, we stop caring. The longer a conflict continues, the less compassion people have for the victims.
Our world is filled with war. According to the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, there are currently over 110 armed conflicts throughout the world: over 45 in the Middle East and North Africa, over 35 in Africa, 21 in Asia, seven in Europe and six in Latin America. These conflicts range from being days old to years, from receiving national attention to never making the news.
It feels like every other day there is a declaration that World War III is on our doorstep. In fact, Poland officially enacted Article 4 of NATO after 19 breaches of Russian air drones. Article 4 of NATO states that, in the event of an attack on a NATO member country, members will gather to discuss how to respond. The article reads, “The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.”
In our over-politicized and under-empathetic world, war is a given. But desensitization doesn’t have to be the only response. It is possible to care for those suffering, though we’re far from the conflict. We don’t have to trade compassion fatigue for apathy. And in a world where strength is rewarded and kindness rejected, it’s of the utmost importance that we remember and respect the sanctity of human life. No life is disposable, not for any political boon or any level of power. War doesn’t save lives; it takes them. And while war is a necessary evil of our world, it doesn’t have to be our first response.
