Enough with my ranting. Now to actually consider the article from a ethical point of view. Lately, I have found myself learning more towards a utilitarian point of view especially when it comes to this issue. I feel that doing the greatest good for the greatest number seems to be the only logic answer at this point. The libertarian viewpoint does not work for me because clearly the government needed to step up and do something. Granted the fund was created for all the wrong reasons, yet it was need to help families that suddenly lost a primary source of income. The egalitarian view point also does not seem to be logic in my mind. There is no way to equally deal with a situation like this. Not everyone has the same life style and living costs. Certain elements, such as children, need to be taken into consideration. So I'm stuck with utilitarian viewpoint. It may not be the best, yet it seems to be the one that works for me.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Human life...Priceless
After reading the articles for dealing with the government helping victims of certain national tragedies, I was sickened by the whole idea of it. I do believe it is the role of the federal government to help provide for its citizens but way the Congress basically takes a human life and formulates into dollars seems horrific when one really considers it. I don't envy Feinberg for his job. Frankly, I can not believe why anyone would want to be in that position of deciding how much one life is worth. I was also horrified by the victim's families. People who got several million dollars were upset because they felt they deserved more. I really feel like this screams volumes about our country as a whole. Also it made very upset to see the real reason why the fund was created. It really had very little to do with helping people but more about making sure the airlines were legally covered. Again it makes me very sad to see the reality.
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I absolutely agree with you, Nicholas, that Feinberg has to have one of the worst jobs on the planet. He is faced with the enormous responsibility of doling out money to people who will never be satisfied with the money they're given, not out of greed, but because they feel that their loved ones' lives are priceless. He is hated by those who get the most money, the least, and everyone in between. On top of that, he doesn't even get paid for this awful job!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't necessarily agree with you that the "fund was created for all the wrong reasons." I actually think that protecting the airlines would benefits the U.S. economy in the long run and helps provide social catharsis for the 9/11 attacks rather than increased feuding about them. At the same time, the fund helps the victim families. It seems to me that the fund is, in some ways, a win-win scenario that is very consistent with a utilitarian view of ethics.