this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023
69 points (98.6% liked)

AusFinance

990 readers
17 users here now

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

File this under "I'm got mine, the rest of you can sod off"!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You just reminded me again of this random article I read a long time ago:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/03/the-market-as-god/306397/

Without paywall: https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fmagazine%2Farchive%2F1999%2F03%2Fthe-market-as-god%2F306397%2F

It just keeps feeling relevant. The most relevant part to this comment chain:

What is the value of a human life in the theology of The Market? Here the new deity pauses, but not for long. The computation may be complex, but it is not impossible. We should not believe, for example, that if a child is born severely handicapped, unable to be "productive," The Market will decree its death. One must remember that the profits derived from medications, leg braces, and CAT-scan equipment should also be figured into the equation. Such a cost analysis might result in a close call—but the inherent worth of the child's life, since it cannot be quantified, would be hard to include in the calculation.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Very interesting and insightful comparison! Thank You;