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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to just turn off the tv whenever Nepal comes on and ignore it

215 replies

nettlewine · 29/04/2015 06:46

It just upsets me too much and makes me feel useless. I've already given a donation.

I just feel like it doesn't affect me so I shouldn't feel the need to see all the brutal details as it doesn't achieve anything.

OP posts:
BadLad · 29/04/2015 09:21

Nepal probably would donate to a huge natural disaster in the UK. I was astounded to see the list of countries which donated after Hurricane Katrina.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_response_to_Hurricane_Katrina

Lots of the poorest countries in the world.

CoolCadbury · 29/04/2015 09:24

Here you go: Gurkhas helping in the UK's disaster

SlaggyIsland · 29/04/2015 09:27

I have donated. Nepal is desperately poor. I have every confidence that the DEC won't misuse the funds.
Why are two silly childish children trolling this thread? Their parents should be ashamed.

eyebags63 · 29/04/2015 09:30

Why is anyone who expresses an opinion outside of the mainstream automatically labelled as 'trolling' or 'goady' on MN these days. Really shuts down any debate.

OrlandoWoolf · 29/04/2015 09:36

Someone who posts that they couldn't care less about the death of 10,000 people is either

a) Callous and uncaring
b) Trying to goad a response

I have rarely seen people post such a response to a natural disaster.

noddyholder · 29/04/2015 09:36

Once you have said you don't give a shit there is no debate!

Mrsjayy · 29/04/2015 09:37

What orlandowolf said

Stopandlook · 29/04/2015 09:39

Felt sickened by page 2 of this thread.

What I should do is not read MN

Koalafications · 29/04/2015 09:40

Do you really think this is a debate eyebags?! Shock

Posters saying that they don't care that people have died is hardly a debate.

LuisSuarezTeeth · 29/04/2015 09:46

Empathy is what makes us human. Very few people are completely lacking in empathy but they seem to have made a beeline for this thread.

usualsuspect333 · 29/04/2015 09:51

Have a look at the definition of Trolling, Eyebags.

n Internet slang, a troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory,extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response, or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

I'd say Rich is guilty of that.

DoraGora · 29/04/2015 09:52

Disaster relief ought to be treated as a separate topic from the national news, just as sport is. It deserves its own news area.

I find the switching away from normal, domestic topics to every incident which kills more than 50 people, no matter what obscure part of the planet it happens on, irritating and sensationalist, with accompanying images of grieving relatives. Of course you're going to be upset if a house has just fallen on your entire family. I don't need the news to tell me this.

NGOs will always respond. There will always be appeals. There is good reason to have the names of charities, contact numbers, websites, embassy details and so on available. There is a lot of important work that must be done. But, to chase 24 hr rolling news rating on the strength of it is wrong, stupid and annoying. It needs to be done properly.

OrlandoWoolf · 29/04/2015 10:00

It won't be in the news for long. What happens is the media moves on and then it gets forgotten about.

It raises awareness - if disasters were put in their own section (and now, the disaster section), that would reduce awareness and the amount of money raised.

We don't want a news which just focuses on what's happening domestically and ignores the plight of many people around the world. That makes people isolated from the reality of life for many people.

Thing is - there are many such disasters that don't make it to the news.

But - as someone said, the Royal Birth will soon take precedent. Because the tragedy of a country is less newsworthy and important than a Royal baby.

Chattymummyhere · 29/04/2015 10:08

I must live under a rock I had no idea this had even happened.

ihatethecold · 29/04/2015 10:15

eyebags

Seriously?

For me I got thoroughly sick of all the sex scandal / child abuse / jimmy savile stuff in the news a little while back. You reach a stage where you think "FFS, change the subject!".

Just nasty!

RedToothBrush · 29/04/2015 10:17

If we had a disaster, the Gurkas would help.

Beyond that Nepal might not contribute financially. BUT the rest of the western world would. And if we turned around and said that we didn't think Nepal was our responsibility I'm pretty sure those western countries would be quick to think they didn't have a responsibility to us either.

Just because you don't have a direct reciprocal arrangement, doesn't mean you don't have a responsibility which might effect how others help you in the event of a disaster.

There are some incredibly short sighted posters.

Some of my family have connections to Nepal, so its closer to home than perhaps somewhere in Europe might be.

BoreOfWhabylon · 29/04/2015 10:18

I don't watch the coverage, I know what is happening and have donated so I don't think OP is BU.

I know about the Gurkhas and their legendary bravery, I know how Nepal has helped other countries when disaster has struck, but here's something I didn't know about Nepal (from Wikipedia):

Nepal is one of the few countries in Asia to abolish the death penalty and the first country in Asia to rule in favor of same-sex marriage. The decision was based on a seven-person government committee study, and enacted through Supreme Court's ruling November 2008. The ruling granted full rights for LGBT individuals, including the right to marry and now can get citizenship as a third gender rather than male or female as authorized by Nepal's Supreme Court in 2007.

Please help them if you can.

(Oh, and ignore/report goadyfuckery. I do)

GunShotResidue · 29/04/2015 10:38

OP YANBU as you have donated and are aware of the situation. You're not burying your head in the sand you just don't want to see all the horrible images.

There are a few on this thread that are beyond unreasonable. Why is your life worth any more just because you happen to be born in a more developed country? Very ignorant and selfish.

And yes I've donated, and yes I know the money won't go to the corrupt. I've given to plan who's work I've been following for years, especially in Nepal as we sponsor a chid there through them.

Samcro · 29/04/2015 10:54

yanbu. I don't watch much news at the moment anyway(election)
what has happened is tragic, and people gawping at the news is not going to make it better.
i havn't donated as I never do, but still care.

duplodon · 29/04/2015 11:46

Yanbu.

I was at a course the other day where they gave a statistic, which I wish I could remember accurately, about how much more access we have to knowing the details of other people's lives around the world than the average Victorian. Needless to say there was a stark disparity. People used to just know a couple of hundred people over the course of their whole lives, even if they were well-travelled and well-educated. Now we have access to the suffering of billions.

Our minds are ill-equipped to identify with such grave suffering on an ongoing basis, but that doesn't mean we need to shut our minds and hearts to it either. I think you can and should feel compassion for the suffering of any other human being in a way that doesn't consume you, but perhaps that is not as possible if you endlessly watch coverage from a position of powerlessness. I think recognising the common humanity and feeling empathy is important, but not engaging as a spectator in the pain of others where doing so can have no positive impact.

expatinscotland · 29/04/2015 11:59

It's your telly, do as you like with it.

AuntieStella · 29/04/2015 11:59

DEC donation line: 0370 60 60 900

I've just seen Joanna Lumley's appeal for DEC. It's great that she's fronting it. As she said, the Gurkhas have helped us by serving with distinction in our armed forces for 200 years. Now it's our turn to help them.

If the controversies on this thread keep it in Active Convos (for the thread 'In The News' is much quieter), and it leads more people to donate, then it's done some good too.

CoolCadbury · 29/04/2015 12:23

duplodon but we aren't watching from a position of powerlessness. We can acknowledge, sympathise, empathise, witness and remember. We can also donate money to help.

redtoothbrush agree with your post apart from the fact that Nepal can and does help with disasters in other countries. See badlad's post about Hurricane Katrina. And I hope your family are ok. Flowers

wanderings · 29/04/2015 12:28

When chuggers tell us we "lack humanity" or "we don't care", we never have any problem telling them where to go!

I remember a link from MN to an article "why news is bad for you", which mostly said there is always an agenda behind news. Daily mail being a case in point.

RufusTheReindeer · 29/04/2015 14:42

Should have said at the start, I don't think the op is being unreasonable