tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737941.post112897926695820252..comments2024-01-14T17:27:30.511-05:00Comments on Law, Legislation, and Lunacy: Pondering Walter Williams: Price of LifeDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14364155797420903461noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737941.post-1129223142888115202005-10-13T13:05:00.000-04:002005-10-13T13:05:00.000-04:00True that a priceless object has no price but that...True that a priceless object has no price but that's because that price is viewed as infinite. Because infinity is a concept, not a number, you can't attribute a value to it; it becomes priceless.<BR/><BR/>I have problems claiming anything is priceless because everything is exposed to risk. During the Cuba Missile Crisis, we came incredibly close to a nuclear war, which is awful close to destorying all humanity. If life (in the general sense) was priceless, that wouldn't have happened. <BR/><BR/>Now you could claim that people just forgot for those extreme few days. But I would argue that the whole Cold War toed that line of nuclear annilation and that lasted several decades. I don't think anything is priceless.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14364155797420903461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737941.post-1129176866215705102005-10-13T00:14:00.000-04:002005-10-13T00:14:00.000-04:00"Priceless" simply means "without price" so price ..."Priceless" simply means "without price" so price is irrevelent. So can you buy a life and do with it as you will? No. That is slavery. It doesn't matter how much money you have, you cannot buy the Hope Diamond. In that respect life is priceless. However you can put a monetary value on ending a life like when a company decides that it's cheaper to settle with survivors than fix a defect.<BR/>JasonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737941.post-1129159432933618152005-10-12T19:23:00.000-04:002005-10-12T19:23:00.000-04:00/signed, for the most part. I'm unsure what you me.../signed, for the most part. I'm unsure what you mean by "life," in this presumably broad sense. It is the idea of life, of what it represents and allows? Or do we think of our life bein priceless but we just don't know it? Or is the overarching existence of life, as in, "me dying isn't SO bad because there are others like me that will continue to defend what I stand for?"Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14364155797420903461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737941.post-1129125973880572602005-10-12T10:06:00.000-04:002005-10-12T10:06:00.000-04:00See, I would say that Edison's life was not pricel...See, I would say that Edison's life was not priceless, nor the Wrights. Would you be willing to kill, say, a million "replaceables" to save Edison or either Wright? If their existence is priceless, you would have to say "yes." But I have a feeling you'd say "no."<BR/><BR/>I'll agree that prices (and pricelessness) differ from person to person. But prices are form from the consensus of the masses. If one person values her life infinitely, then that value has infinite weight on the general price, driving that price to an endless bound. Because, by your words, everyone values their life infintely, all values would reflect that priceless value. As I showed before, that is clearly not the case.<BR/><BR/>Because you are willing to engage in risk, you clearly do not think your life is priceless.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14364155797420903461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737941.post-1129101106478839652005-10-12T03:11:00.000-04:002005-10-12T03:11:00.000-04:00Is life priceless? Yes and no. I t deoends from ...Is life priceless? Yes and no. I t deoends from who's perspective. From my perspective, it is. I would pay any amount and endure any strife if I know that I would survive.<BR/><BR/>However, To an objective observer, different lives are worth vastly different amounts. <BR/> <BR/>Obviously Orville and Wilbur Wright's lives were priceless and then some. Thomas Edison... priceless.<BR/><BR/>Bill Clinton... what did he produce?<BR/>George Bush... what did he produce?<BR/>etc.<BR/><BR/>Lives have value based on how useful the person is. Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers were GIANTS compared to men like Bill Clinton and both Bushes. Who were all expendable and replaceable parasites.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737941.post-1129038260914693672005-10-11T09:44:00.000-04:002005-10-11T09:44:00.000-04:00Just because the producer can make a profit on sel...Just because the producer can make a profit on selling food doesn't mean that s/he couldn't make MORE of a profit by charging more. If people valued their own life infinitely, then producers could infintely bid up the price, no matter how many producers there are.<BR/><BR/>Infinity/n equals infinity, where n=number of producers.<BR/><BR/>But because it's finite, prices go down as the number of substitutes increase.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14364155797420903461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737941.post-1128987563926622912005-10-10T19:39:00.000-04:002005-10-10T19:39:00.000-04:00Well, forget that last part. I agree with you that...Well, forget that last part. I agree with you that crossing the street hints at a finite value even of my precious life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737941.post-1128987212475152332005-10-10T19:33:00.000-04:002005-10-10T19:33:00.000-04:00The price of food or life sustaining equipment doe...The price of food or life sustaining equipment doesn't say much about how much we value life. It rather tells us what it's worth to the producer to grow the food.<BR/><BR/>I myself would pay everything I had (as well as sell my soul to the devil) for food when starving. Wouldn't you?<BR/><BR/>*My* life has infinite value to me, I think. *Your* life is a lot cheaper though ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com