Would destroying a national land mark (such as Big Ben, Eiffel tower ) be worse for the morale of the nation than a terrorist attack killing 10,000-20,000 civilians?

Are you conducting a survey for your “colleagues”?

Lives > monuments.

Not at all… If terrorists destroyed the Eiffel tower I’m sure some of us would start liking these guys. 10 to 20K dead people would be something else. Even I don’t hate parisians enough to want them killed randomly.

20,000 is just a number if you don’t know the people.

Either would be hugely devastating, but I think an attack resulting in deaths is far worse.

@Jack_Haas why do you hate Parisians at all? Did they do something to you?

@seano What? I don’t have to personally know every person who died in an attack for it to still affect me. Those people have families, they are innocent lives and could have very well been someone I know or love, or someone I know and loves family or friends. It isn’t just a number.

I don’t think this is an appropriate topic for discussion.

@holden Because I’ve never met a Parisian who didn’t fit the worst stereotypes about french/parisian people. I have had nothing but horrendous experiences in Paris, like millions of people.

It would depend on how the 10,000 to 20,000 people were killed.

If it were something like detonating a big bomb, it would be bad for morale.

On the other hand, in the US, air pollution contributes to 50,000 deaths per year, and firearms cause 35,000 deaths per year, and neither one of those seems to cause any significant morale problems.

@Jack_Haas ahem.

Each target has huge symbolic value, although I would guess that you think a landmark has more symbolic value than a large number of people. I would think that killing the people would have more symbolic value because it would show greater strength than just knocking down a building. It also puts more fear in people, since no one knows where you will strike next. Fear is what you want if you’re a terrorist.

If the landmark is the target, people will think you’re just going for symbolic targets. While they may take it personally, they won’t be as afraid that they are next.

Why, are you picking a target?

I think that the deaths of many people would have a larger immediate effect on the morale of the people but the destruction of a national landmark would be remembered for longer.

The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic. Quote falsely attributed to Joseph Stalin

@holden Weird that most people in just about every country in the world make the exact same generalizations then

I’d like to see you try to do anything to the Grand Canyon.

In all truthiness, destroying a landmark doesn’t have as much of an impact as a terrorist attack killing thousands.

We don’t talk about “losing the Twin Towers”, we talk about the lives lost on 9/11.

In the grand scheme of things, you can rebuild things, but you can’t rebuild or restore lives.

This coming from a mostly unemotional, analytical person

Life is more important than a statue any day….