Monday, May 26, 2008

The Value of a Human Life: $129,000 or $500,000

Background
From Times, Stanford economists have demonstrated that the average value of a year of quality human life is actually closer to about $129,000, from the Medical Insurance's value of $50,000. However, the US Government pays $500,000 death benefit to a dead sodier's family.
Once upon a time, on a sunny evening with a distant rainbow in the east, sitting on the wet green lawn near the roses, Albert and Trebla went into an argument AGAIN...

Albert:Is there a value to a human life?
Trebla:Yes.
Albert:How much do you worth?
Trebla:Couple of Billions, may be
Albert:How much do I worth?
Trebla:A few hundred, at most!
Albert:What? Explain!
Trebla:I am a beautiful lady. If I marry a rich guy, he may be willing to spend billions to save my life. You are just an ordinary man. Nobody really cares about you. You are worthless.
Albert:Hey, remember, we are twins. You carry the same gene as me!
Trebla:But value is subjective.
Albert:Aha, that's why *I* worth Billions and *you* only worth hundreds.
Trebla:The question is *should a third party judge the value of one's life*?

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Which is more dangerous, Religion or Neglect of People's will?

Background
At an interview [video], Andrew Bacevich, a Professor of International Relations at Boston University.who is a Vietnam War veteran with more than twenty years in the US army before joining academia in the early '90s said, 'what is the meaning of a democratic system if when the people speak their voices don't translate into any politically meaningful effects? And when somebody like the Vice-President, as you quoted, can get away with basically saying, "The people - what do we care? What do they know?"'. McCain, a US president hopeful seekd the endorsement of John Hagee, a controversial evangelical leader argued in a late 1990s sermon that the Nazis had operated on God's behalf to chase the Jews from Europe and shepherd them to Palestine. According to the Reverend, Adolph Hitler was a "hunter," sent by God, who was tasked with expediting God's will of having the Jews re-establish a state of Israel. [reference here].
What the future will be when the politics of mightiest military nation in the world is dominated by this neglect of people's will and the over-whelming influence from religion.
Once upon a time, on a sunny evening with a distant rainbow in the east, sitting on the wet green lawn near the roses, Albert and Trebla went into an argument AGAIN...

Albert: What is the difference between USA and an Islamic country run by extremist?
Trebla: USA has a large military and the Islamic country does not!

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