CONTENTS
How much is a life worth?
How much is freedom from tyranny worth?
Is freedom or saving lives worth others' lives?
Is it worth alot of wealth to accomplish this?
Can people be taught higher levels of being, compassion, ethics?
Whose responsibility is it? Is mankind all one or are we separate units?
Conclusions
Conclusion 1 - How to proceed to the solution
Blog posting, related
12/31/10 How much is it worth to save others' lives?
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THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING.
Edmund Burke
(The unanswered questions below will be answered, though there are some concrete answers to some of the questions, already, below.)
HOW MUCH IS A LIFE WORTH?
HOW MUCH IS FREEDOM FROM TYRANNY WORTH?
IS FREEDOM OR SAVING LIVES WORTH OTHER'S LIVES?
IS IT WORTH ALOT OF WEALTH TO ACCOMPLISH THIS?
CAN PEOPLE BE TAUGHT HIGHER LEVELS OF BEING, COMPASSION, ETHICS?
It would appear that we would need to educate the Muslims, where about 30% approve of the unjust fabricated Jihad perpetrated by the Terrorists. That approval is out of ignorance, not just of justice overall but in terms of their own interests in having resources more committed to progressive purposes, avoiding destruction of many of their own resources, and losing many more Muslim lives than any foreign powers would take. Indeed, the foreign powers would not be killing Muslims were it not for the need to defend themselves - they have nothing against the Muslim people themselves.
WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT? IS MANKIND ALL ONE OR ARE WE SEPARATE UNITS?
THE CONCLUSIONS - WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
CONCLUSION 1 - HOW TO PROCEED TO THE SOLUTION
The point of rational problem solving is to come to an operational conclusion on how to proceed to the completion of the solution.
The answer to the question of urgency is that we need to hype the teaching of mankind to understand life and ethics at a much higher level - getting sufficient people to a high level so that evil on a mass basis cannot continue to exist. Though the end goal may not be achievable in 50 years or possibly ever, each milestone along the way will save enough lives, and quality of life, that such expenditures and efforts will always provide a higher benefit - we'll be ahead all the way.
However, as in the US educational system, we need to have sufficient resources applied to this worldwide that we can have a central, non-government controlled entity of practical leaders (not political, more like business-minded) that can formulate and execute a game plan. No game plan exists now, so there is much wasted in efforts and in lives. This entity will obviously have to raise money and garner more resources, but it will need to still be funded initially at $10 million or more with an ongoing commitment of up to $10 million a year minimum for 10 years. Of course, the leaders will have to be accountable and replaceable if they do not perform.
Some name that is clear and inspiring/motivational needs to be devised, but for now I'd call it The World Wisdom And Peace Team.
12/31/10
HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH TO SAVE OTHERS' LIVES?
THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING.
Edmund Burke
The question above is unanswerable in absolute terms, for it is based on a value judgment and on values. One part is judging the value of a life of another, from our own perspective. The other side is about what values we will fight for and what do we value, such as freedom and/or freedom for others.
Much of mankind has learned the value of cooperation with others. They have formed codes of "morality" designed to preserve the communities. Morality as an imposed value has worked more than it has not worked. But those who think more deeply about it find that they must harken back to asking whether the moral value or rule is still workable and ethical.
I know that if I am being threatened directly by armed men and am trapped, I will fight for my life.
But will I fight for another person's life? No, I won't, unless it serves in some way my selfish purposes and saving my own life because of us all fighting together.
Surely, I must defend against my being harmed physically. As a people, we must fight to protect ourselves against such harm.
But when it goes further out to the more abstract level, what is the right thing to do?
Most people will say attacking the Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan made sense. Beyond that, there is a debate.
Iraq was a stretch, but what were we to do once we discovered that there were no weapons of mass destruction? Were the world leaders who projected that Saddam Hussein would create weapons of mass destruction if allowed to continue to defy the international inspectors? Who knows. Perhaps they were right. People's lives were lost. Our soldiers' lives were lost - was it worth it to lose those lives, which we surely valued more than a foreigner's life? Was it worth losing Iraqi lives?
How can the worth be measured?
Happiness (or reduction of misery) is difficult to measure. So, in a global sense, the best measure might be lives saved that would have been otherwise lost. Though it is a guess, a reasonable guess will give us an answer to this.
"The result: 138 Iraqis and other Arabs killed per day, and 497 refugees created. That is what we're stopping in Iraq." Blogoram.com, NoBody Count . Saddam Hussein's Iraq was directly responsible for 1.26 million Iraqis and other Arabs deaths and for 4.54 million refugees. We can't quantify the number of deaths resulting from displacement and worsening of conditions to live.
The current war has saved over 400,000 lives on an estimated basis that would have been lost due to Hussein - plus whatever other lives would have been lost due to terrorists that have been eliminated. (The above reference was included in the comprehensive Iraq war coverage by MarkHumphrys/Iraq., in which the weird, unsound estimates have been logically addressed, with facts to back them up.)
There is clearly no doubt that the net benefit to the world of this was high.
And, still, there is the question of whether it was worth the lives of American troops, in terms of themselves and the effect on their families. There is no way to determine that from their viewpoint. The world did, however, benefit and mankind did, so in terms of theoretical ethics "the greater good for the people involved" was accomplished.
Still, I am saddened by it all. But that is the level of our world so far. The real question is what can we do about it that is a quantum leap forward, but without losing lives to do it!!!!
The Rational Problem Solver
futility of war - so many lifes lost, so little gained but more lost 0- foolish, nont reasonied out, like children with too much force.
