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November 24, 2004
Hardening of Arteries -- or Hearts?
Mother of soldier dies shortly after viewing the remains of her son:
Karen Unruh-Wahrer, 45, had atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, more commonly known as hardening of the arteries, which led to her October 2 heart attack, said Dr. Bruce Parks, Pima County's chief medical examiner.Unruh-Wahrer was said to be inconsolable after the death of her 25-year-old son, Army Spc. Robert Oliver Unruh, who was killed September 25 by enemy fire near Baghdad.
She died shortly after seeing his remains for the first time. Her family attributed the death to a broken heart, but Parks said hardening of the arteries generally develops slowly over a long period of time and often goes unnoticed by the victim.
I'm sure the doctor is right about the hardening of the arteries and atherosclerotis in the case of this unfortunate mother. But I believe the correct national diagnosis which led to death of her son, as well as tens of thousands Iraqis, is called hardening of hearts. Most people seem to not care one bit about Iraqi lives -- and barely care about American lives despite loud performances to the contrary on appropriate ceremonial occassions and campaign ads.
Posted by zeynep at November 24, 2004 09:19 PM
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Comments
The real question is how do you change people's hearts. As much as we want to give information, it doesn't do it. Even Sebastiao Salgado by showing pictures of people can't change people's hearts. I think this is the central issue of our time, empathy for the other, unfortunately, not good analysis.
Posted by: ahmad at November 24, 2004 10:26 PM
Bravo. We frequently hear about how charitable Americans are. What a load of you know what. There are far too many Americans whose idea of "compassion" is compatible with George Bush's description of himself as a "compassionate conservative."
Posted by: Eli Stephens at November 24, 2004 11:08 PM
Ahmad says: "I think this is the central issue of our time, empathy for the other, unfortunately, not good analysis."
I think about that a lot. It truly is the central issue of our time.
And, Eli, there is no question we have a deficit. Along with what Ahmad points out, no easy solutions here.
Posted by: zeynep at November 25, 2004 12:50 AM