The Tragedies of 2017 Will Test the Bonds That Connect Us, Now and for Years to Come

If you could see grief on a map, there would be rings of anguish radiating from whole regions of the U.S. right now. From Texas to Florida to Puerto Rico and Las Vegas, the hurt would expand with each person affected to the people they’re connected with in all parts of the country. No state would remain untouched by the events of 2017. The magnitude of the suffering over the past few months is unfathomable to those who haven’t spent time in a war zone or in countries where nature’s most brutal assaults are even more frequent. Houston and Florida are still reeling from sequential hurricanes. Puerto Rico hasn’t gotten to its feet in the wake of Maria. The people of Charlottesville, Va., watched hate march into town and take one of their own–an event from which they’re still recovering. Now a man has hauled a cache of weapons into a hotel room in Las Vegas and unleashed a hailstorm of death on concertgoers below, killing dozens and wounding hundreds. We have run out of adjectives for these kinds of events. Last year’s deadliest mass shooting in American history has been overtaken by this year’s deadliest mass shooting in American history. The last set of catastrophic hurricanes has been eclipsed by this year’s set of catastrophic hurricanes. These tragedies are accumulating so fast, we forget that many of the ramifications are just starting to unfurl. The hospital staff members, first responders and brave samaritans in Las V...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Las Vegas Source Type: news