What is a Life Worth? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Civilization and the legal transition have brought for new practices that have established numerous intense discussions both in the social and political realms, for example, the main aim of government imposing monetary value on human life and issuing payouts. It has been a topic that has got the attention of many scholars with different perceptions, for example, Ripley Amanda and Feinberg Kenneth who tries to determine the worth of human life. Ideally, there are different perceptions on the topic, but it is wrong to place a monetary value on human life and issue payouts. Moreover, the purpose of the article is to provide critics on the role of the government towards human life monetary value and payout compliances to the families of the disease.

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The U.S government should care and protect its citizens in all means possible, but placing monetary value is not the right approach to care for these people. Moreover, it is inhuman to issue payouts according to the employment scope of the disease; thus, bankers receiving more payouts than the police. Feinberg states "The law required that I give more money to the stockbroker, the bond trader, and the banker than to the waiter, the policeman, the fireman and the soldier at the Pentagon" (2). It is clear that the U.S government ignores the ideal value of life by creating the class and discriminatory properties among the grieving families. Ideally, according to ethical norms and religious practice all lives are equal, and there need not be a comparison, but the morality of how each diseased spent his/her need not to be compensated since it establishes the lack of respect, concern, and appreciation if an individual since he/she is tagged just like property. Moreover, Feinberg illustrates " Mr. Feinberg, my husband was a fireman and died a hero at the World Trade Center" (3). In other words, such government actions tend to destroy the diseased memory as well as reputation left.

Ideally, to better understand the cruelty or wrong approach of establishing monetary value and issuing payouts to families of the diseased, one needs to understand the value of a dollar. Economics proves that there are various cases that the value of a dollar can either be weak or strong; and when it is weak, the U.S economy becomes vulnerable to other strong currencies such as the Yen and Euro. Does the same affect the value of human life? It is a question that embraces morality rather than political structures since most of the bereaving families understand the importance of the dead and their memories are cannot be compensated. Also, a life cannot be compared to an entity that competes for power and authority over others, just like the economic worth of a dollar.

Moreover, Ripley state "Feinberg says he will make sure no one gets zero" (9). Ripley places emphasis on zero as the identity of those with dismal or low-income jobs, those that contribute less to the U.S economy; thus, placing dismal regards and appreciation on their lives. Also, most families had more connection to the dead than the government who recognized the individual through his/her social security number and role in the community.

Conclusion

To conclude, it is wrong for the government to place monetary value and issue payouts to the families of the dead as a form of compensation. First, these families need closure by creating good memories of their loved ones; thus, putting a price on the heads of the dead represents lack of respect and accountability of the person's contribution to the country, society, and family while he/she was alive. Additionally, by using the fluctuating value of a dollar, the worth of life cannot fluctuate, but it is permanent because even though the dead had different roles in the society, their contributions are equal due to their duties rather than their financial wages.

Work Cited

Feinberg, K. What Is The Value Of A Human Life? 25 May 2008. <https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90760725>. Accessed on 6 November 2018

Ripley, Amanda. WTC Victims: What's A Life Worth? 6 February 2002. <http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,198866,00.html>. Accessed on 6 November 2018