Another tragedy

The Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin is alleged to have said to Averill Harriman, the then U.S. Ambassador to Russia, that 'The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions is a statistic.' From one point-of-view the death of many may just be a statistic, but from the point-of-view of the individuals and families that are affected by the violent killing of a friend and loved one, every death is a tragedy.

Earlier this week forty nine people who were just enjoying themselves were slain by someone who thought that they had a cause or a reason to justify taking the lives of others. Yesterday Jo Cox MP was killed by someone who may have thought that they also had good reason to use violence to make their point. All their deaths were tragedies.

Jo Cox's death was a tragedy for her husband and young children, but it was also a tragedy for the rest of her family, her friends, her constituents, and those who knew her. A brief look at her biography shows that she was someone who cared deeply about others, and for whom becoming a Member of Parliament was a way of taking that caring attitude into a forum where it could do good for an even larger number of people. Her death diminishes us all.

It appears from the news coverage that I have seen that the man who is alleged to have shot and stabbed Ms Cox may have been motivated in some way by the increasingly rancorous arguments both sides have been presenting in the current pre-referendum debate. Those campaigns have been put on hold for the moment as a result of Ms Cox's murder ... and one hopes that when they resume, everyone involved will try to tone down the level and style of rhetoric that was being expressed prior her death.

Yet again, I am sure that I am expressing the thoughts and feelings of all my regular blog readers when I state that our condolences and sympathy go out to Jo Cox's family and all those who have been affected by her murder.