Casualty Mathematics and the 9/11 Yardstick
My fellow blogger and dear friend SLH, had this to say in a recent post: “Can we all please stop using 9/11 as a measuring stick whenever an earthquake or an epidemic kills more than 3000 people.” My answer to that is no, we cannot, my dear SLH.
SLH further: “If Such a concept held any substance the people who apply it would realize that numerically 9/11 was not so appalling.”
You, my friend SLH, just aren’t familiar with the necessary equations. The numbers were, by international standards, extremely appalling. It’s what I call 9/11 maths. Here’s how it works:
Using the recent hurricane in Bangladesh as an example, I will judge the severity of their troubles with my 9/11 measuring stick.
American GDP per capita: 43,500 – Bangladeshi GDP per capita: 1,700
43,500 divided by 1700 = USA has roughly 25 times the GDP per capita of Bangladesh
So, 9/11: 3,000 dead
Bangladesh 4000 dead
3,000 times 25 = 75,000 Banglas
So, if 75,000 Banglas die in an unprovoked attack, they can call that their 9/11.
Conversely: 4000 / 25 = 160
If 160 Americans die in an unprovoked attack, it’s our Bangladeshi hurricane.
