Value of Life

September 20th, 2012

Adv. Composition

The Value of Life

        Life is simple, yet very complex. We’re born, we grow, we die. Simple yes, but there has to be more to life then that. What makes it worth living, worth the struggle and pain of society and nature. What gives a life value?

        In our society, we often place the value on someone’s life after they have passed. Calculating the and reviewing feats they did while living, we come to a conclusion. We honor them, forever recording them in books and history. While they are still alive, we give them honorary titles, awards, and mentions. For the famous, there value is remembered for many years, kept alive by our system. For those who are not though, its much different.

        The general public’s value is based off the opinions of the people around them and their jobs. In a family, the parents have value as they bring in an income, raise and take care of their children, and give their time to society. Neighbors and coworkers see them and appreciate their work. If that person was gone they would be missed in the places where they are needed and by the people who knew them. This gives them a value. But what about when they die? If the circumstance is unfortunate enough the government must pay, then it has to assign a momentary value to them. Unlike the publics system, the government does not use opinion or any personal account to do so. They are cold and official, using pre-made calculations to get their number. Basing the value off the persons work habits and family number, there is no room for small feats and individual relationships. Even if this person is the captain of girl/boy scouts, neighborhood watch, and makes blankets for orphanages, that will not give them anymore to the number the government had already calculated from work and family.

        Is this acceptable though? With the pain of loss inside us, we as humans most likely will not be satisfied with the number the government places. We wish to make it higher and higher, to show the worth that person was to us. To keep their memory alive, and to show that they mattered. The momentary value and personal value of an individual do not match up though. These numbers can not be compared, but we do it anyway. The families of the victims of 9/11 did just this. Appearing greedy ad they asked for more, they wanted to show the love and personal value their family had to them by getting larger sums of money. They did not see the money as a crutch to life normal, but a low tier placement of there loved one value chart.

        For many people the unfortunate happens and they end up on the streets. Seen as worthless, useless to society, we deem them as not having value, a nuisance. When these poor people die, nothing is given. Not even a tear. Just a groan as government workers must remove their remains. Their value level is so low that those of higher value ether wish to help them, or complain and want them to be removed. There people were once someone’s child, someone with value and potential. How was it lost? Why can we cast them off and wish death upon them simply because they have fallen so low, and can not pick themselves up again. Why do we value what a person does in live, and not the life itself?

        Society assigns value to life in a few different ways. Mainly, it deems it off of what that person is doing while alive, what they do for the people around them. For the government, it deems it off their job performance they did and could of done. Others, say it’s the gift of living itself that has value. What we need to see is that life is value, not what one does in it. We cant assign a number value to a life, the same as we cant take it away.