Value of Life

I (Arthur) have been thinking a lot about the value of human life.  No, this isn’t the result of existential angst; it is a very pragmatic question whose implications have a dramatic effect on a variety of questions.  Hence, if you care, dear reader, walk with me through my line of reasoning.

The theological answer is that man possesses an immortal soul which Christ came to redeem with his infinitely valuable blood, thus every human life has infinite worth, right?  If true, how do we play that out as a society that must make constant concessions between safety and practicality?  In 1987, many states increased their posted speed limits from 55 to 65 mph.  People consequently spent less time in transit while traffic fatalities increased by a third.  Take the value of all that saved time divided by the lives lost, and you come up with $1.5 million.  This was deemed an acceptable societal cost, and no real movement has ever gone into reducing speed limits ever since.

I work a bit with OSHA safety compliance at work.  OSHA sets the worth of human life at $3.5 million, meaning that someone deemed the cost of implementing each requirements is less than $3.5 million for each life that will be saved.  I don’t know if this is the right value or not (other notable values are the FDA at $9.1 million, the Department of Transportation at $6 million (obviously public opinion keeps the speed limit higher than that number would give us), and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission at $2 million), but this thinking has given me pause each time I hear about how much regulations stymie business.  I know people don’t feel this way, but isn’t this effectively saying that the government is accessing the value of human life too high?

One line of thought would argue for “market based solutions,” which would argue we don’t need the government making these decisions, acceptable risk is calculated every day by people going about their lives making their own decisions.  Perhaps that is correct, but then:

·     Is a market based solution going to ensure those reaping the benefits also pay for harm accrued, i.e., does the market ensure a factory whose air pollution increases rates of asthma in a community will ultimately pay for the lost quality of life?  Can the market ensure the people experiencing harm from market decisions are the ones being compensated for their hardships?

o   Are consumer choices the thing compelling companies to pay for caused harm or change their practices?  If so, would we all be so much better off that people are going to have enough money that they can make conscience-based purchasing decisions?  They sure don’t now.

o   If not consumer choice, is it worker choice?  Doesn’t that place people in the weakest financial position into possibly exploitative situations? 

·       Is a market based solution tenable in all circumstances?  How does fluctuating demographics, technological advances, business cycles, and a slew of other variables effect the balance of market solutions?  Are we comfortable with the idea that valuation of human life at any given instance will be dependent on these variables?

·        Will consumer choice really reward ethical companies, or will lower cost goods and services garnered unethically drive ethical companies out of business?

·       Do we really expect the “invisible hand” to value life and human dignity the same way we do?  Even if everyone held high regard for human dignity, wouldn’t market competition drive good men to strive to cut costs as much as possible, forcing tough choices between safety, cost, and practicality?

·         Is there any historic precedent supporting this assertion?

Perhaps the market is truly that powerful a tool, but my current understanding of history and economics has caused me to doubt the efficacy of a pure market-based approach.  Many good people genuinely disagree with me in this area, but I hope we are united in our belief in the sanctity of human life, and that our dedication to this premise takes precedent over any ideological preferences regarding markets, or the role of government, or anything else.

Anyway, that has been a musing of mine for a while now.  I hope you found my thoughts on the matter interesting enough to justify the time spent reading, and that in thinking about how our society can be the most just, we may show that Omnia Vincit Amor.

Facebook Friends

Arthur and I aren't big participants in social media.  (That is expect posting our entire lives to this blog.) We don't tweet, use hashtags, instagram, snapchat, etc.  I do frequent Pinterest but this for "research purposes".  Occasionally I will stay in touch with friends on Facebook since no one seems to email anymore.  Last night I logged into Facebook to check a message (which I was notified of in my email inbox).  And this screen popped up:

Arthur and I have been Facebook friends for 7 years.  I am sure that when Arthur sent a friend request and I accepted that it would just be adding to the 300 or 400 random acquaintance friends one acquires during college.  Little did I know that in the future this friendship would be the most important in my life.  I thought about posting a reply to this Facebook notification or making a status update and tag my husband in it but I am not sure if he has logged into Facebook in the recent era.  Instead I used our favorite form of social interaction-- me sitting at the top of the stairs yelling down to him in the basement-- and it is far more effective.  He got a big kick out of this.  Facebook must have some algorithm to determine which friends are "important Facebook memories".  I suppose it can connect the fact that we are married.  It is not using the amount of interactions we have on Facebook to garner this information.  Here, in its entirety is our Facebook relationship:

 An apology about a discussing about Civil War generals and exchanging textbooks for a class.  That is it.  When dating I think we made our relationship "Facebook official" once I had an engagement ring on my finger.  But even this glimpse of our relationship that Facebook has recorded is a snapshot of our relationship today.  We are still learning to apologize and say, "Hey, I was wrong", and we still borrow each others books-- except all the books are yours, mine, and ours.  Omnia Vincit Amor.

Snail Mail

The art of writing love letters, or any letters for that matter, seems to be lost.  Couples these days call, email, text, Skye, Facetime, etc.  No need for handwritten letters with instant messaging.  However when Alex decided to spend the summer in the wilderness of Alaska communicating with technology was out of the question.  There was not cellphone service.  Internet was an option for only certain hours on the weekend.  Mail was brought into camp 2 days a week.  We learned to write letters.  I’m not sure I would call them love letters as there was a general lack of mushiness but it was how we shared life for 3 months.  It took about 10 days for a letter from Kansas to reach Alaska which created a time warp.  However I don’t think we would trade the fact we had to write letters for a period of time.  We both discovered new things about each other through these letters that didn’t come out in face to face or phone conversations.  We still treasure this stack of letters that drew us closer together.  Here’s a few snippets:

We talked about what we were reading, thinking about, or had learned recently:

“Reading Anna Karenina is really taking off.  Typical of Tolstoy, it took 400 pages to get to the point where you say “This book is extraordinary.”  It’s been very frustrating at times and I’ll still get so riled up I’ll have to set it down, but it always draws me back.”   --Arthur, June 30, 2011

Happenings from our days:
"I had several hours of zipline training this morning.  The top of the zipline is on a 50 foot cliff with eagles' nests overhead.  When I jump off the zipline I always feel a little bit like Indian Jones.  Harrison Ford always seems to be smooth and composed and somehow his hat always stays on.  However, you've got something on Indian Jones.  As cool as Indiana is (anyone named for states have a certain level of coolness) I'm pretty sure he could never handle pythons and boas like the infamous Arthur, the snake charmer.  I really am impressed with the way you don't back down or avoid something you probably rather not do but have the courage to jump in and get it done."  Alex, June 4, 2011

"Last night I was in charge of getting the fire in the stove burning to keep the cabin warm.  After several matches I was finally able to get some of the kindling to light and had a blazing fire soon after.  I felt like I had discovered fire and was pretty pleased with myself.  I was able to take an old pile of wood and create light and warmth. (So I guess create would not be the correct word because of conservation of matter but I was still super excited.)  -- Alex, June 25, 2011

Some of our struggles dealing with being camp counselors for kids:

Arthur has always had a strong belief that teenage girls are going to cause the downfall of America. Apparently my experiences with teenage girls affirmed this. “After reading your thoughts on junior high girls, I shuddered for my country with the realization that the agents of its downfall are 150% greater in number; hence maybe 300% greater in attitude, than I originally thought.  Trying to establish stable government in Somalia again starts to sound like an attractive idea.” -- Arthur, July 6, 2011  (Little did he know at the time this rant was penned two years before our wedding day on July 6^th). 

And even included some romantic tibbets as well: 

“ Reading your letters have come in very useful.  They made me realize that I don’t know off hand what the difference between a seal and a sea lion is, so I got that corrected and am now more able to answer the questions of children at zoo camp if this issue ever arise.  I think it is really awesome that you get to watched them play and see whales.  I sure wish I could share that rock with you and take it all in, but in spite of all that beauty, the most attractive piece of the scenario would be the beauty I would have right beside me.”    Arthur, June 13, 2011

"It's National Hug a Tall Person Day- this possibly could become my new favorite holiday.  However at this point you are not at a hugable distance.  I guess since I can't give you a big bear hug I will just have to make due with hugging a big bear hear instead. -- Alex, June 5, 2011

These 'love letters' did have a unique part in our dating story.  At camp we always had to stand up and sing a song and dance during mail call if we got letters.  I hate singing and dancing but I was always more than willing to sing a round of Grey Squirrel and 'shake my bushy tail' if it meant getting a letter from Arthur-- well worth it.  Omnia Vincit Amor. 

Clueless in Camouflage

When we just left off in the story the girl was swept off her feet by the boy and the romantic evening he planned of playing badminton, eating ice cream, and dancing underneath the stars.  We continue on with this story with a repost from a few years ago:

We got on the subject earlier today when we were in Sunday school.  Someone was talking about how the longer you walk with God the easier it is to hear his voice, and how early on it can be like shopping for a gift for someone you've just started dating; you just have no idea what would really please this special person in your life.

Alex and I just turned to each other and laughed.

You see, once upon a time in a not so distant past, a happy boy who had just gotten the girl of his dreams to agree to be his girlfriend was walking with said girlfriend around a Cabelas.  This particular couple, having a shared interest in outdoor gear, found themselves in this Cabelas as part of a date.

Now it must be explained that this happy boy, eager to please this wonderful girl who had so caught his fancy, had primed himself to pick up on the slightest hint of what sorts of gifts his ladyfriend would most enjoy.  So when she (sarcastically) mentioned how functional and neat the camouflage polos they had just walked past would be (quoth the girl, "You could wear it golfing or hunting"), the boy thought he had struck upon the ultimate gift.

Imagine the boy's surprise when, a couple months later, this merry couple found themselves in this same Cabelas (this couple seems to really like outdoor equipment), and upon his mentioning that he didn't see any camouflaged polos, the object of his hearts desire said, "This is the women's section.  Women wouldn't wear anything as gaudy and awful as that."  The boy, having already purchased the garment in question, felt his spirits fall as he replied, "I have a confession to tell you."

At this point, his lady friend had no idea what confession was about to pour forth... this new boyfriend may be about to tell  about his criminal past or that he has a fatal illness or that.. who knows.   When he made the confession that he had indeed purchased a camo polo for the girl's upcoming birthday she started to laugh... in relief or disbelief...and continued to laugh...and is still laughing about it today.

Sure enough a few weeks later this girl unwrapped a camouflage polo with a poem that read "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, we've hung out for a while, but I still shop with no clue".

Now the boy had done his research.  He had asked three or four people to consult about his purchase and even contacted the girl's brother who was out of the country at the time to determine the correct size.  (Why he thought her brother would have a clue about size is still a mystery.)  Even though the polo was truthfully gaudy and awful, and the lady friend neither hunts nor golfs (so much for functionality), this gift was incredibly thoughtful.  The boy did his research, picked up on small hints (okay they may not have been hints at all but still give him credit), and should get bonus points for originality.  It is definitely one of the more memorable gifts exchanged in this relationship and the retelling of the story has garnered its share of laughs.

Anyway, we hope you enjoyed this story.  This might be the first time in our relationship that the concept of love conquering all- in this case, fashion deficiencies- played itself out, but it certainly won't be the last.  With that thought, Omnia Vincit Amor!

Dancing in the Moonlight

Since we are back to a slow news week I decided to post a few more installments of stories from our dating years.  You can read the first few here.  As you can see you haven't missed much because we are still in the first month of our relationship in this post. 

Looking back the first month of our relationship was a special time.  Stressful?  Yes with my upcoming graduation and starting grad school.  Emotional?  Yes, I didn’t realize the havoc that plays out in your emotions when a boy is interested in a girl.  Fun?  Yes, so much fun.  Throughout the first few months I wasn’t completely sure I was interested in starting a relationship, especially one with Arthur.  I was really trying not to like him but he was just so darn likeable.  He wanted to take me to a movie which sound like a full-fledge date and not just hanging out.  The movie happened to be an inspirational sports movie about South Africa’s rugby team.  I love sports movies and had just gone to South Africa the previous summer on a mission trip.  How could I say no?  He asked me to play badminton at the rec.  I love badminton and couldn’t turn down any opportunity if someone was willing to play since many of my acquaintances are not badminton aficionados.  I had always been told that guys have a sensitive ego with sports so you should let them win.  I am very competitive so I wasn’t sure I could let him win since I have a reputation to keep with badminton but I would be fairly kind, i.e. take it easy on him.  It turns out he was trying to do the same thing.  The next time we played we both played full out and it was so much more relaxing trying to slam a birdie in someone’s face than returning it nicely.  Probably the most romantic date Arthur planned was taking me dancing under the stars.  We had been talking about all the experiences we needed to have before finishing college.  Arthur’s roommate had a book about the 100 things to do while in college.  One of the items on the list was to dance under the stars.  He took me out for ice cream and then we drove to the park.  He put in a CD with the song “Dancing in the Moonlight” and we danced in the parking lot.  It was right out of the movie all high school and college co-ed in the 2000s thought was the most romantic ever—A Walk to Remember.  I had trouble sleeping and studying the next day for finals because I couldn’t stop thinking about how romantic dancing with Arthur was (plus I was developing a serious case of senioritis).  I found out that he initially wanted to dance to the theme to Jurassic Park but his other roommate talked him into the more romantic "Dancing in the Moonlight". That was a good move.  Omnia Vincit Amor.