Imagine the impact if people alive in the 1950’s had encountered these articles, all from today:

     Sixty dead in suicide blasts in Nigeria

Two explosions at a crowded market in northeastern Nigeria have killed at least 60 people.

The twin bomb blasts, thought to have been carried out by female suicide bombers, hit a market in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

“After the first explosion happened and people started to gather, a second explosion took place,” Al Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh, reporting from Abuja, said…

Hospitals have been flooded with injured residents, Al Jazeera sources said.

     Suicide blast kills dozens in Afghanistan

Officials say bomber targeted volleyball tournament match attended by large crowd in province bordering Pakistan.

People living in the 1950’s would have been deeply shocked. Not fake “shocked,” like our politicians pretend to be. Truly, deeply disturbed.

Today? For most people? Just another day in the news. Background noise, if they even hear about these events at all. The mainstream media tends to ignore them in favor of politicians sniping at each other, the demonizing of trumped-up enemies, the antics of movie stars, and lies masquerading as economic statistics to get people to spend and borrow rather than save.

     ‘Scores dead’ in air strikes on Syria’s Raqaa

Government raids on ISIL-held northern city have mainly killed civilians, with hundreds more injured, activists say.

     Pakistan says 20 fighters dead in air strikes

     Iraq’s Anbar grapples with devastation 

As usual, if people are getting blown up, it’s easy to find US involvement:

     Group: Death toll of U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria tops 900

     Hacked US Documents Said To Reveal Extent Of Undisclosed US “Lethal Aid” For Ukraine Army

And here’s a headline from Oct. 17 that says plenty (hat tip to JS):

     Pentagon readying for long war in Iraq, Syria

Every day, people are literally being blown to bits in the many conflicts (these used to be called wars), on the many battlefronts around the globe. Many are killed, many more seriously injured, still more are devastated in their minds and hearts. What has happened to us that such events do not sink in? How can these reports just pass on by like reports on sports or the weather?

Think this killing is just in the Middle East?

2,200 National Guard Troops To Be Deployed In Ferguson Tonight

     Forget Ferguson, 244 Teenagers Have Been Shot In Chicago Since Michael Brown Died

Statistics on the war in Chicago from this site:

So, we’re blowing up and shooting people, we’re killing off lots of species, we’re killing the oceans, we’re poisoning our farmlands, we’re draining the world’s great aquifers so quickly that entire cities are sinking, we’re fracturing the Earth’s crust for oil and gas and pumping the poisons from the process back into our aquifers, 30 million people are held as slaves, 800 million people don’t have enough food or clean water…you know this sentence could go on for a long time.

And yet, and yet…this is the status quo that people want to maintain. This is the system they want to keep. Maybe with a few minor tweaks around the edges, a few reforms.

What has happened to us? How did we get so distracted, so numb? What will it take for people to awaken?