The Value of Life

Mister Rogers told us we're each valuable, but the people who sign our paychecks make it clear that some of us are more valuable than others.

In the human economy we are developing a scale of monetary value for human life. The way we are treated in the economy makes it clear that our monetary value reflects the value our fellow humans place on us in our various roles.

Sure, some people seem to have beaten the system and gained an unfair valuation. But it isn't a meritocracy. It's just a price tag. If you have X amount of money, you deserve Y amount of indulgence and consideration.

Some valuable roles and professions seem a trifle undervalued. The fact that they are shows that their value is not absolute. Some people would disagree on the fair rate of pay for a teacher, a policeman, a nurse, and many other occupations. Does the monetary value reflect the value of the character? Not always, and maybe not often. And there lies the problem. By giving cash value to people we create a caste system. Low caste wage earners of high character deserve to rise to higher earning status. But if they vacate their low caste job, the next person in it may not do it with the same level of responsibility and integrity as our high-character low-earner brought to it.

Some people will always remain in low caste positions due to certain personal limitations. If we give them services based on their ability to pay they will die sooner, possibly suffering more, than someone who happened to have more money. If they gave faithful service, do they deserve to receive little in return just because they couldn't or wouldn't furnish themselves with money?

Clinically we can say that this is how the game is played and those are the breaks of it. But let's restate them early and often, to make sure we all know them and agree on them. Examine all the consequences of using each other in such a way. We may re-endorse the idea as the best available every time we review it, but it should not go unexamined, unquestioned.