As wars are waged, women are raped, young men commit suicide, boats in the Mediterranean sink and desperate homeless migrants head for Calais, it’s Cecil who commands our hearts unwarranted levels of our attention.
The world burns, and Mia Farrow tweets the dentist’s address in the apparent hope that mob justice will reach him.
Many of you will say I am engaging in classic whataboutery. My suggestion that in your outrage you are neglecting more important, significant causes is met with the counterargument that as smart, sophisticated people, you can sustain more than one thought at once.
You can be outraged by many things simultaneously, and you’d like to just enjoy your moment of horror at Cecil’s plight. Sharing your upset on Facebook and Twitter isn’t virtue signalling, it’s part of the complicated and rich tapestry of your engagement with the news.
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