How Much is a Life Worth?

[craigharper.com]

Earlier this year one of our favourite celebrities, Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin met an untimely and tragic death. There was widespread mourning and I, like many, was surprised and saddened. I loved him; thought he was an inspiration and a great role model.
I spoke to people who were absolutely shattered by the passing of the 'wildlife warrior'. People who had never met the man were crying and his death dominated the news in Australia for weeks. We were a nation in shock; one of our favourite sons had 'died before his time'.
It wasn't fair.

In the same week I read the following:

"According to UNICEF, over 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death."

Isn't it pathetic that we live in a world which seems to value some lives more because they are prettier, funnier, wealthier, more talented, more influential or more visible.
One of our favourite celebrities die, and we fall apart.
30,000 kids die daily and we change the channel because 'those' ads make us uncomfortable.
Especially those kids with flies on their face.
Tasteless.
We don't need to see that.

30,000 kids die and we don't bat an eyelid because we don't know them.
They're statistics.
They're meaningless numbers in a foreign land.
It's not real to us.
Imagine if those little black faces were white.
I wonder if we'd be more concerned?

Don't misinterpret what I'm saying; I'm not suggesting that the Croc Hunter's death was anything other than tragic...it was.

But what I am saying is that all lives are sacred, and of equal value; no matter who they are, the colour of their skin, or their country of origin.

The three year-old who quietly dies from starvation today in the Sudan (and he will) is just as important as the millionaire, celebrity who kills him or herself with drugs.... or the high-profile philanthropist who gave away millions and died of old age.

In fact, to me, the three year-old is more tragic and significant because he never even had a chance. He couldn't waste his life like so many of us do... because he never had a life to waste.

I often talk about the quality of our life being dependant on the decisions we do and don't make. Well, I've been negligent because I haven't really discussed the fact that so many people (millions) have their destiny decided for them because of the situation they are born into.

For some people, decisions don't really come into it.

About four billion people (over half of the world's population) live on less than $2 per day.
That's not you or me.

We're blessed.
Let's act like it.
Let's complain less and appreciate more.

Let's value all lives.
Even the one's we can't see.
In the time it took me to write this post, over one thousand children have died as a result of their living conditions.

Imagine if everyone who could do something (anything), did it.

'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing'.
Philosopher, Edmund Burke

Are you are good man / woman?

[stephencp]

"The three year-old who quietly dies from starvation today in the Sudan (and he will) is just as important as the millionaire, celebrity who kills him or herself with drugs.... or the high-profile philanthropist who gave away millions and died of old age.
....
Imagine if everyone who could do something (anything), did it."

I wish I thought like this, but I don't.
Is the life of a criminal "worth" the same TO ME as my own, or my family's? No.
Is the life of billionaire philanthropist (who is indeed doing "something" about it) worth the same TO ME as another who is not contributing anything? No and I hope to become the former.
Is even the life of the sports star or celebrity who entertains millions "worth" the same as another whom someone doesn't know? I regret to say, probably not.
People will surely think, "but no one should HAVE to contribute anything to society" and that is true. Their souls are just as important as another's. However, don't then judge others because they don't care to contribute either (to help someone else.)

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics
TSTN | The Success Training Network

[ReallyGoodIdeas]

To a certain extent I'm with you Craig. I find it hard to get overly upset when a celebrity dies. I didn't know Steve Irwin, never watched any show he was on, so to me he IS the same as the 3 year old boy in Somalia who will die because of mosquitoes or unclean water. Steve's death got far more publicity, that's all.

If I don't know the person, it's hard to get upset. We tend to feel we know famous people, and so feel a loss when they die. Princess Di's death upset a lot of people, and I know I was hugely upset by John Lennon's passing.

This is all on an emotional basis. On some other level all lives are equal, but I also see what Stephen's saying, some lives have had more of an effect on the world than others. The 3yo Somalian didn't get much of a chance to affect the world, while John Lennon, Princess Di and Steve Irwin did.

How about extending the theory - how about all the animals that die when we chop down a forest?

Joy to you
Hazel

[Alvin]

Hey, life is unfair, and we all have to deal with it.

The question shouldn't be; 'are you a good man/woman?'. It should be; 'what can we, and what do you want to do about it?'

I recognize that I am immensely blessed to be where I am, so I give a little bit of what I have every month to a charity that feeds the hungry. It's the least I can do, and it's a more empowering action than feeling sorry about the whole situation.

You can do something, so what do you want to do?

[tc33]

According to countdeath.com, 62 million people died last year. That equates to roughly 170,000 deaths that occur every day. Think about that. 170,000. Each day, of every month, of every year. Interestingly, malnutrition/starvation isn't even in the top 20 causes of death.

Should each of us carry around the guilt of allowing this to happen, when we could have done something?

My personal answer is no, but I'm only providing statistics here...enjoy!

[Keith]

I know I've posted this before, but it offers a new (to me, anyway) slant on your question:

The Jain's Death

(it starts with some religious text, but read on even if that disinterests you - the main story starts a couple of pages in).

[Markus74]

If we're honest then we have to admit that a life isn't worth too much. Except for those people immediately affected of course.

You can drive on the highway, a drunkard rams you, your car crashes. You're dead. Game over.

You're a soldier and you step on a mine. You're dead. Game over.

You get born in Sudan and die of hunger as a child. You're dead. Game over.

You're at the beach when a tsunami arrives and drown. You're dead. Game over.

You get raped and killed by a pervert. You're dead. Game over.

You walk on the street, a madman shoots you in the head. You're dead. Game over.

And the world goes on.

But maybe the reincarnation believers are true and we come back.

And we should make the most of our lives anyway! Even if we'd die tomorrow.

[Keith]

This is possibly a bit callous, but it seems to me that we devalue individual human lives by having so darn many of them!.

When statistics like "36,000 people per day die of starvation" are not only possible but a minor blip on the radar, there's something really, really wrong!

If the human race truly considers the quality of individual human life important, then why do we keep producing more people than we can care for?

[Markus74]

Originally Posted by Keith

This is possibly a bit callous, but it seems to me that we devalue individual human lives by having so darn many of them!.

When statistics like "36,000 people per day die of starvation" are not only possible but a minor blip on the radar, there's something really, really wrong!

If the human race truly considers the quality of individual human life important, then why do we keep producing more people than we can care for?

Good question.

And by the way: most humans care more about their dog or their cat that has just died than about thousands who've died in plane crashes, wars and droughts. And it's not surprising. We don't have any real emotional connection to these anonymous people who perished in these events.

Fact is that if Life has an inherent value then EVERY Life should have this value. But this is obviously not the case and rather wishful thinking.

How much was the life of a kid worth who got killed because of his shoes? Or his iPod? $100?

[tc33]

Originally Posted by Keith

If the human race truly considers the quality of individual human life important, then why do we keep producing more people than we can care for?

Good point, Keith. If I'm an adult in Sudan, and everyday I see my economically-equivalent neighbors' children die of starvation, should I really be trying to start a family? Should I expect "everyone else" to come to my assistance in helping me feed my child, and hope that they feel guilty if the child dies?

If I don't have enough food to feed myself, how can I bring another life into this world and expect it to have a fighting chance? How about some personal responsibility here? Don't dump your poor decisions into my lap and expect me to feel guilty about your situation, as if I personally created your hardship.

OK, I'm done ranting

[Michael Chui]

The worth of a life is measured by the person determining the value. Worth is always a perception, not an intrinsic property.

[joshbickford]

I am so thankful that I was born in America. I may have been quite poor by US standards growing up, but compared to the majority of people on the planet I was rich, very very rich.

Even being able to have a computer is a huge blessing we've been given. Think of all the people out there that have a cloth and a stick to their name, that's all.

Be thankful that you've been blessed with everything that you have, and make sure to do everything with your life that you can, since the blessings you have make you more able to accomplish more than someone that has nothing.

[Markus74]

Originally Posted by joshbickford

I am so thankful that I was born in America.

Just curious: Thankful to whom?

[stephencp]

"If the human race truly considers the quality of individual human life important, then why do we keep producing more people than we can care for?"

The "human race" does not produce anything, individual people make choices to do so.

Stephen
Power-Book Library: Free personal development, success, inspiration and motivational classics
TSTN | The Success Training Network

[ReallyGoodIdeas]

And to be blunt, many people don't make conscious choices about bringing more people into the world. They have sex when they can (check other threads, it's what we're all after), and contraception is frequently unavailable. The children I sponsor in Burkina Faso (3rd poorest ocuntry in the world) come from small families, 1-2 children tops. But then they're still on their subsistence farms, not in refugee camps or being attacked by anyone. So their lives are probably not as chaotic as others.

Joy to you
Hazel

[wilsonng]

I sincerely think ( and I hope I don't get creamed for this) that all lives are sacred, but not all lives are worthwhile.

Some are worth more than others -- how, because of the way we live and contribute.

If you aspire and achieve great ideals, I cannot conceive why you cannot be worth more than one who has wasted his life in petty or useless things.

[John Wesley]

I don't understand why we are talking about death like it's an avoidable tragedy. Death is as big a part of life as life! If people started working together instead of preying on each other we could stop a lot of suffering, but tons of people would still die and we'd have new problems like over population.

[Alex Wu]

I am not sure any person is worth any more than any other, we all come from the spiritual realm and so are special in our own way. We all want to contribute meaningfully and all of us have our purpose for being here.

At any given point, the life we have manifested may not appear to be all that worthwhile. Even our patron saint Steve Pavlina (and I mean that in a positive way) was once a criminal sitting in a jail cell, probably at a lower level of existence than most of the people on this forum now... that was at a different time in his life. But clearly the value of his value was much more than met the eye!

I think it's important therefore that we regard each person for the immense power and potential they hold within them, not for what they appear to be at first glance. Being an economist by training, I know of the myriad ways in which we can value someone's life - simply ask yourself how much you'd be willing to pay to reduce your risk of lethal cancer from, say, 20% to 15%, and that's 5% of your life... multiply that by 20, and you get the statistical value of your life. If you value that reduction in risk at $100,000, then your life is worth $2,000,000 (we are using a number of sweeping assumptions here, though).

But we must remember that even people at the bottom of the social scale can, given the opportunity, be transformed into powerful people who contribute immensely to the quality of life on Earth. And that has a value greater than the few million dollars we might value their life at. How much of an effect do you suppose Steve has had on his entire readership? My guess is that it's somewhere in the billions.

[Greg]

Reminds me of a website I saw recently.

Sarah McLachlan - World On Fire

Take a look and comment back.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by Greg

Reminds me of a website I saw recently.

Sarah McLachlan - World On Fire

Take a look and comment back.

They made good choices for charities. I met the founder of Carolina for Kibera last semester (I go to Carolina, and he came to one of my classes), and Heifer International is one of the main charities I give to.

[ticktockclok]

Originally Posted by Keith

This is possibly a bit callous, but it seems to me that we devalue individual human lives by having so darn many of them!.

When statistics like "36,000 people per day die of starvation" are not only possible but a minor blip on the radar, there's something really, really wrong!

If the human race truly considers the quality of individual human life important, then why do we keep producing more people than we can care for?

Someone should make a list of 36000 celebrities and say "If all these people were born in worse conditions, they would be dead today."

[Liara Covert]

It may be unrealistic to be expected to influence the fate of every living creature on the planet. Yet, we all have the power to exert efforts that add meaning to our own lives and the lives of others. If you have money, you can do different things than if you have little or no money. Yet, even if you have no money, you can choose to do something. You have the ability to give of yourself. You also have the ability to help raise awareness about growing global problems to help people understand teh consequences of their actions.

I also concur with John Wesley. I don't think death is something to fear. I don't aim to rush my own death, but its meaningful to question how my own behavior and the consequences of it influence or even expedite death for people I don't know. I mean, how many people grasp the root cause of their own choices? Consider how many children you have or would like to have, your current lifestyle, and what kind of material or intangible wealth drives you. Do you help improve and restore the environment or contribute more to perpetuating problems? Consider what it would be like if your life revolved more around helping others than aspiring to have, to know and to do more for yourself.