What's a Few Million

Last night I was having dinner with my family and we were discussing the Chernobyl disaster. For context for future readers who may not remember exactly what was happening in the world on March 18, 2011, the world is currently on edge, waiting to find out what will happen with the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. Well, some people are on edge. Other people are stupid and still advocating expanding nuclear energy. But that's another blog.

My dad said there was a recent report published that said that Chernobyl caused roughly 1 million casualties to date.

I was astounded. 1 million. That is an enormous number.

I scanned my history lessons in my head. Trying to get a grip on the number 1 million, I offered the alternative number that in the Vietnam War, only 55,000 died.

My dad said "55,000 Americans."

I looked at him blankly. Meaning...whaaat exactly?

"Three million Vienamese died."

Three million Vietnamese died.

3,000,000.

Three times as much, apparently, as died from radiation poisoning because of Chernobyl.

I was a history major in college. I was a model history student 1st through 12th grade. I read history for fun. I'd rather discuss ancent battles than current housing markets, and could argue more effectively about Hitler's rise to power than George W. Bush's. And yet I never knew that so many Vietnamese people died in the war. Never did it even occur to me that the token 55,000 only referred to us whiteys.

3 million.

3 million.