Oct 12, 2006 2:31:51 PM cite

Because we are naturally inclined towards what is the best. It is a basic human desire, for that which is better, or else we would stil be weilding stone axes and wearing animal skins. Some people are better than others. Obviously this opinion of who is better will vary enormously depending on what society you are in, what kind of people you are exposed to, what kind of standards u adhere to, etc. but unfortunately, subconsciously we hav such ideas embedded in our minds. We would all like to think that we are open minded and non judgemental and value all human lives equally, but we dont!!

by gracerochford

Sep 10, 2006 7:40:55 PM cite

That's all.

by mbl

Sep 10, 2006 2:31:58 PM cite

I think an advanced and civilized and powerful community would consider themselves more valuable than other low-civilized communities. This consideration changes over time and location. Now, generally, the western culture (North America, Europe, Australia) consider themselves that they are in the upper deck of the ship, because they are leading the world in terms of their voice, military power and science and technological innovations. However, this might change in future, and a time might come when the leadership would move to China, India or the Arabs! In fact, in medieval times Europeans where in their 'dark ages' and would certainly at that time will not consider their lives worth more than others. The various revolutions in Europe created this mindset. Apart from the above explanation, there still remains some other factors, which is pertaining to human psychology. White is considered better than black. So, black Africans are usually considered 'inferior' to 'white' westerners.

by sharaf

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Antoschka - Ekaterina Moshaeva: Every life is unique, whether it is human life or life of animals and plants. A human life is unique, because every human being is a wonderful world in its variety. I think the fact, that people kill other people, is abnormal and crazy. How is it possible? Unfortunately, it happens everywhere in the world; every day, every minute people kill and die. There are actually many kinds of murders. There are murders through mines and weapons or terrorist actions. And there is a slow killing through poverty, humiliation, or oblivion, or discrimination, - all this sorts of murders, which could hurt more than destruction of the body. We live in a body, but his death is not actually our death. And a murder of a human spirit is the most dangerous and repugnant one. Unfortunately it happens. And I think we all came here to prevent this. There are fantastic, wonderful people here, like Jonathan Granoff who is engaged in the disarmament problem and does a lot to bring leaders of different countries together so that they could feel, that there is an opposition. He brings through people’s ideas. And if critical masses of people who are against the war come together, may be there would be not as much of wars.

by Antoschka - Ekaterina Moshaeva

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Abbas Beydoun: Principally no, but we always do that. We always eat meat and trample on flowers. I think that this issue is bigger than just being moral, because it is the human system responsibility to achieve equalization between all lives. To achieve something like that is impossible. Personally, I believe that animal life is equal to people's lives, because there is no rule that considers people's lives worth. I am not vegetarian even I ate fish today in the morning, so I am contradictious. Talking about equality of lives implies hypocrisy because we do not apply it.

by Abbas Beydoun

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Alvaro Restrepo: That's a very important question too. There are fist, second and third class deaths and first, second and third class lives as well. This is something absolutely unacceptable. The genocide of Ruanda for example. If something similar had happened in a first world country, the entire world would have reacted in a forceful way. But they were just a million of negroes who killed each other in Ruanda, then we perceive it as a cruel way, almost as a natural selection process, a natural regulation process. I think that this is one of the most serious sins that we can commit. Of course, there are first, second, third, fourth, fifth class lives and deaths, and this is absolutely unacceptable. In my opinion this has also to do with the economic power of the different countries, of the different people. There are lives that are worth more because they have a higher price and there are others that are worth less because they have a lower price, because they are poorer societies.

by Alvaro Restrepo

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Ana Lucy Bengochea:

by Ana Lucy Bengochea

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Andries Botha: Well, I think the question, is a statement is really perplexing to believe that, one would think, that your life is more important than somebody else’s. As to why we do it, I guess it’s a fundamental fact of reality that the world is a subjective lens embodies itself, as you see it for yourself. However, the secret would be is to see yourself much smaller, at a much smaller level than which you currently do and this is really see your own humanness as being part of somebody else’s. Humanity indirect to humanness, so, I’m not exactly sure why do we consider that there are lives more important than ours. Simply because we do, I suppose. I know we shouldn't but we do. This is a very, very strange idea. A very strange idea. It would be terrible but we do.

by Andries Botha

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Angaangaq Lyberth: Nicola, you should be sitting down at your own Parliament and ask that question. You should make them aware that that is your question. And you should make sure that they answer every word of your question. As I should at home sit in my Parliamentary building and as the very same question. As everyone else in this beautiful circle, they should go home and ask that question to everywhere. Life is equally worth everywhere. 6-1/2 billion of us are equally worth. Never again believe that other lives are less equal than to others. Everyone of these people sitting here, every one without any exception, are equally worth. Why we don’t? We still that believe that others are better than the others and they are not. I will give back to you the answer. Nicola, you need to do better in ensuring that every life on Earth is recognized as being equal to anyone else’s life. Anyone’s. 6-1/2 billion times. Did you hear me?

by Angaangaq Lyberth

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Anthony Arnove: This is really a tremendously important question, and the reality is that life is not considered to be a question of universal equality. Our life in our world today is given a dollar sign and the value of certain lives is far greater than others. We see this even, for example, in the very cynical fact that insurance companies will give money to the family of deceased people, people who had insurance, on the basis of their earning power, on the basis of their class position in our society, so that certain people’s lives have more value in death than others. And then, also, of course the question of whose lives count in a political sense is even more profoundly unequal. The lives of Palestinians, the lives of Iraqis don’t matter as much as the lives of the people who are oppressing them. There are lives that [lose] experiences never will matter, account in the calculations of corporations and the calculations of governments. And in fact, their lives are an obstacle to the pursuit of the interest, pursuit of power of those in control of our world. So, the profound inequality exists in how lives are valued today really exposes the idea that capitalism is bringing about the growth of freedom, the growth of quality, the growth of the value of human life, it’s actually the opposite.

by Anthony Arnove

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Anuradha Koirala: Because some of us--some lives have more worth than others. Because we live for ourselves and not for others. We live for ourselves and not for others.

by Anuradha Koirala

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Anuradha Mittal: When I first saw this question, I thought of, if there was a way to bring this question to the people in Bhopal who in 1984 were affected by the gas leak from the Union Carbide factory. And out of that settlement basically which still has to reach many people is less than $800. First of all, can we actually determine what is the dollar value of a human life, of the communities who were ravished and continue to suffer even today, continue to go blind, continue to die, continue to suffer from all kind of respiratory diseases? So given that, yeah, I did want to bring this question to them and they would answer why do we think some lives are more valuable and how they -- what happened to them has been so ignored by a company like Union Carbide and time has gone by. I think I am guessing that they would say that the answer lies in the power structures. The people who have the power have decided that the people whose power has been taken away that they are meaningless, that their lives do not matter as much or they don’t count as much. But, it’s a matter of time when people organize as the people in the Bhopal have, whether it’s a women group, the people who were affected, they have organized to take back their power and to be able to say that it is not for somebody or some corporation to decide whose life is more valuable. And so, it is not really we, I would say, that we consider some lives as being more valuable. There is some among us who might think so but not all.

by Anuradha Mittal

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Ashok Gangadean: The question here is “we” and which “we” are we speaking, because if it’s “we” of say a Jesus or of a Buddha or of a Moses or of Mohammed or of a Lao Tzu or of a Lakota, of indigenous leader. That “we” would not treat some lives as more important, because that collective awakened global “we” that comes from global wisdom and global spirituality recognizes a sacredness of all lives, not only human lives, but of all life of expressing directly the fundamental truth of that infinite force by what everything we call, I use the word “logos” understood in this infinite name to be the sacred space of interconnectivity. And, when we speak from that culture, which I think has been the culture of a collective high wisdom of the planet, that “we” recognizes that we are all of equal worth and dignity. Every grain of sand is sacred, every part of nature is sacred. So, to the extent that the “we” is ego-based, yes there is that alienation and fragmentation and violence to the other that in the dominance of the other and the control of the other and the alienation of our self from that other that would lead to distortions of thinking and treating some humans as having more worth than others which is a distortion of global wisdom and spirituality.

by Ashok Gangadean

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Audrey Kitagawa: I don't believe that some lives are worth more than others. I believe that all lives are worthwhile, that all of life is sacred, and therefore we must honor and respect each life and all life forms as sacred. So there is no life form that is greater than or worth more than any other, and this is part of the sacred turn in life to be able to understand that from the spiritual perspective there is no high nor low in spirit and that life itself is sacred, is valuable, and ought to be honored and respected. So I don't believe that there are lives that are considered worth more than others. All of life is worthwhile, valuable, and sacred.

by Audrey Kitagawa

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Benjamin Fahrer: What are the basic dignities that each human deserves and why do we let so many people go without them? It’s a really good question. The basic human rights is access to the commons, access to clean water, to air, to land, to grow food, to communication, to freedoms. This are common, it should be basic to everyone that lives. Unfortunately, we live in a system now that has taken that, has taken away people’s common rights, common dignities to live and to be human. What it means to be human? We’re not human doers, we’re human beings. And so we need to have access to these resources in order to be. In order to be.

by Benjamin Fahrer

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Benson Venegas: Because of ignorance and lack of understanding, we forget the real meaning of life. There's no life better or with more value than others. Everyone as you see around in this circle moves at a basic rhythm. And the most primitive rhythm that moves our lives is our heart. And the heart [how many] people that is around the circle, one hundred and twelve people, it beats with a most primitive rhythm, and that beating is universal. So that give us a sense that everyone, every life, is important. Every human being is important. And all of us are part of the same level and concept, because we moves with the most beautiful and basic rhythm, that is the beating of your heart.

by Benson Venegas

Sep 9, 2006 11:35:00 AM cite

Beverly Schwartz:

by Beverly Schwartz