This doesn’t mean that nothing bad happens today, but that it’s nothing compared to past atrocities.
Of course Mariupol is horrible and I feel empathy for the people there. It must be horrible. And I’m sure it’s no comfort to them that Mariupol isn’t as bad as past things.
But it is a comfort to the rest of the world that Mariupol isn’t as bad as stuff like Alexander’s siege of Tyre over 2000 years ago [0]. And that Mariupol will not be remembered in the list of world horrors. It’s unlikely anyone will be linking to Mariupol in 2000 years. And let’s be thankful that it doesn’t get worse than it currently is. And that we help the people of Mariupol.
Depends on your actual location. Modern democracies were able to tame the worst human instincts down.
But Mariupol 2022 will likely enter the pantheon of worst horrors in history. Nothing good about that.