Amanda Ripley What Is A Life Worth Analysis

Should the value of life be comparable to the average dollar? Throughout human history civilizations have valued life to their own understanding. Ancient Egypt believed in a material based afterlife, that it was not over, but the soon beginning. Religions around the world preach of a better life in another realm. However, our modern society has placed the value of life to the equivalent of paper money. Should the life of a human being be compared to dollars and coins? Many would say yes. However, I feel it is what we do in live that makes it valuable. Death is the end of the road, so let that not stop us from making the best choices while we live.

To truly answer if a value should be put on a human life, Amanda Ripley, author of “What Is a Life Worth”, wrote on how human lives after September 11th, 2000, were placed into a monetary value chart so as to “compensate” the families for their loss. “Is a poor man's life worth less than a rich mans?” Ripley wrote ( Ripley 56). A man by the name of Feinstein had to create a chart that “accurately” calculated the life of a human being.

This chart was based of previously set compensation funds for families of firefighters or police officers. Many felt that the chart was inaccurate and did not give enough. Some were happy that they received what they could. In the end, each recipient had to ask themselves, “Is the amount of money truly worth the life of my loved one?”.
The Human Life Calculator “accurately” calculates the value of someone's life.

It takes into account an individuals savings, assets, life insurance policy, and a few other elements. Overall, it gives an estimate based off of your input as to what you, a human being, are worth to society. To put a value on someone's life can be realistic but it cannot be viewed as a “social norm” or something moral. The website reads, “This calculator will provide only a rough sense of your human life value”, and that “it is the best estimate available” (Human Life Calc 63). With websites like this available, the idea of human life becomes less “valuable” in terms of emotional value and more “valuable” in economic or business terms. The question still remains, should life be valued only by what we make, money wise, in life or should a monetary value be so easily placed on it? Roger Ebert felt

differently.
Roger Ebert, pulitzer prize recipient and well-known movie critic, lost the ability to speak after dealing with a cancer in his mandible. However he did not let his loss of speech stop his career. In Chris Jones article, “Roger Ebert: The Essential Man”, he discussed what Roger went through emotionally and physically to get through life's hurdles. Ebert could have very well quit his journey and died a sad man, but he kept living and doing what he thought made life valuable. “To make others a little happier… is about the best we can do” (Jones 54). He felt that life was valued not by monetary substance, rather by the happiness we shared with others that they can remember us by. Even though in a depressing situation Ebert wrote, “There is no need to pity me. Look I am happy” (Jones 53).
The value of life has been compared to many different things. Some money, some happiness, and yet there are more ways people think about life than ever before in our modern age. Life cannot simply be put into a monetary value. As humans, it is up to everyone of us to make sure that what we do in life is what makes it valuable. The emotional value is worth much more than the monetary.