How to tell a story

How to tell a story

Monday, September 1, 2014

Barbarism

The British PM said a moment ago that the world is shocked by Isis "barbarism." Beheadings, for example. Shouldn't the world be just as shocked by bombs, drones, missiles killing dozens at a time? At least a beheading is personal, existential. We kill abstractly, "but I was just following orders." We kill without having the visceral experience of killing. How is this less barbaric?