When the dust settled in Paris on Friday evening, and more questions than answers were available, the world shed a tear for not only the attack on the city, but an attack on the free world, an attack on a way of life.

While this is an issue which must be handled delicately and carefully, and in no way am I attempting to belittle the recent attacks, it is important to step back and view this event on a larger scale.

A shocking virtue has taken over the western world: We seem to value certain livelihoods over others.

Americans have fallen under the spell of selective empathy.

In reply to the attacks, Americans responded in a manner which you might expect after an attack of this scale.

The New York Times reported on one of these gestures, citing West Point Military Academy’s football team taking the field yielding a French flag.

Other examples have been seen all over the world; displays of blue, white and red were noticeable in nearly every major city on earth.

A filter on Facebook allowed users to add a French flag mosaic to their profile pictures.

A truly amazing response by the world community showing that they will not stand for terrorism.

This attack, however, was not a singular event. Just one day prior, a suicide bomber, claiming the same allegiance as those in the Paris attacks, killed 43 and wounded 239 in Beirut, according to an article published by CNN.

If you didn’t hear about this attack, you are not alone.

No Lebanese flags were flown at football games, no American skyscrapers were lit up with its colors, and Facebook users were not given the option to advertise their sorrow in the form of a profile picture filter.

If you think this is the only other recent attack taking human lives, a quick Google search will be able to inform you further.

Perhaps it is unfair to compare two tragedies, and that’s not what I am trying to do. Rather, I’m realizing that looking at these things on a larger scale is necessary.

It is worthy to note that France is often seen as the oldest ally of the U.S.

“We have blinders … and an attack in Paris is a particularly nasty wakeup call for Americans,” said Patricia Glazebrook, director of the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs at WSU. “There is an ‘us-them’ going on between the global south and the global north … we just don’t identify with the people of Beirut and the people of Lebanon in the same way as the people of Paris.”

When there is an attack on ‘us’ it seems to gather the empathy and attention one might hope for any loss of life, but when it happens to ‘them,’ it is little more than a blip on the screen.

Americans have a harder time placing themselves in the shoes of those in Middle Eastern nations than those in European nations.

“The media could open up the situation to it being a little more complicated, we could each remember that many Muslins do not support the Islamic State, and that not all Arab or Muslim countries are the same” Glazebrook said in regard to seeking a solution to this problem. Above all, perhaps, “I think we need healing … as a planet, as a world, we need a lot of healing.”

The United States has become numb to the shocking violent reality of the world, and it’s time we wake up and become responsible global citizens.

The overwhelming response to the Paris attacks shows that Americans care, they do have the ability to recognize violence and see that these types of terrorist groups have no place in this world.

Moving forward, take a step back when things happen which shock the world, look at them from a broad point of view and keep a level head. If we demonstrate that this type of violence will not be tolerated anywhere in the world, justice will be brought to those who decide to defy this act.

Philip Grossenbacher is a sophomore English education major from Lynwood. He can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of The Office of Student Media.