September 11, 2001 was a bad day all around. Planes being flown into two iconic buildings, as well as the Pentagon and the ground, killed just less than 3,000 people. That event has resulted in a massive sociopolitical change in the United States, a change many argue is largely for the worse. But let's look at 9/11 in the context of other recent events:
September 11, 2001 = 2,998 killed cite
2008 Sichuan, China Earthquake = 70,000+ killed cite
2004 Boxing Day Tsunami = 230,000 killed cite
Compared to these two more recent disasters, 9/11 looks pretty tame in terms of casualties.
Some will counter "but 9/11 happened to people in MY country." Fine...let's take a look at a "disaster" on the order of 9/11 that happens every week in the United States.
During 2007, 45.7 million Americans, or roughly 15% of the population, went without health insurance at some point. cite, cite
Last year, approximately 75,000 died due to lack of care that would have been prevented had they had insurance. cite That number is expected to rise in 2008.
So, while we mourn the loss of life associated with 9/11, we should also realize that the fact that the US is the only industrialized country to not offer health coverage for 100% of its citizens results in more than 20 times as many deaths every year as that one event. The US could end up spending $2.4 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or roughly $8,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States. cite
Are we really better off spending that money on a "war on terror" than we would be investing it in a "war on disease?" The numbers seem to suggest that we are not.
The earthquake and tsunami victims weren't murdered. There's a HUGE difference!
Are we sure that just having health insurance would save all these people? Our emergency rooms are clogged with social parasites who do just fine without it.
Heh! Read your cite: looks like our money would be better spent on higher quality physicians. Our bozos kill 100,000 per year!
The people in the buildings were human beings(upper class, over lords, or white collar cast)! The wretched creatures killed by lack of health care were only working class(blue collar, or slave cast - regardless of their race, colour, or national origin). It is the will of the human beings' god that the slaves be thinned out this way. This makes for stronger slaves, that can breed more hardy slaves in the future.
Get real! It is like this in all countries with a non-homogeneous population. Are you so naive that you actually think that slavery was abandoned?! Why would they want to change an institution that gives them such a good life???