The Value of a Human Life

"One death doesn't make too much of a difference in a land of so many deaths".

-in the book 'Riot' by Shashi Tharoor

Modern day media organizations are really good at a form of story telling that relies heavily on the use of imagery and its vividness, going far beyond the good old principles of objective reporting. Observe how the antics of UBL (as Osama Bin Laden is known in CIA circles) and his band of brothers on that fine September morning in Mahhattan, is forever etched in our collective consciousness as "9/11". 9/11 can, in theory, mean different things to different people, but does the mainstream, modern day media want it to be so? And just when the general level of interest in 9/11 was for certain waning, what comes to the media's rescue?

"7/7"!! Or so they would have us believe.

The larger question, I would assume, that needs to be raised here is how societies characterize incidents like the above in the collective minds of the people, keeping in mind that human lives are lost in such incidents. The characterization of these incidents by the media should, in some ways, be just a reflection of the same in the minds of the people who consume the media's offerings. More specifically, the question that often comes to my mind is that whether western or advanced societies value human lives a lot more when compared to poorer and backward societies? The reaction of the west to incidents like these where typically a few hundred or at the worst (like in 9/11) a few thousand lives are lost does betray this fact. Even if we step out of the world of terrorism and mindless killings, it does seem that these societies are always geared to the protection of human life in almost every aspect. Better healthcare, better measures for public safety, strict action against offenders ranging from polluters to tobacco companies and a general notion that being a member of the society at large will ensure in some basic form of protection against threats to life.

Contrast this to the situation in countries like India. I have never bothered to collect the facts, but I am quite sure that the number of people, who die in road accidents or for lack of immediate medical attention after a trauma or for some other such stupid thing, will be far greater in number than any 9/11 or 7/7 will face. This of course does not include wars, riots and other such forms of mindless violence.

So, what really is the worth of a human life? Is it contingent upon the economic or social background of the life in question? Are the lives of people in advanced societies really all that more valuable? Is the value of a human life subject to the principles of economics? The richer you are and the more resources you can afford to spend, the safer your life would be? Or can all this be explained by the differences in the belief systems? Does fatalism have a part to play here? But then are all poor societies generally fatalistic in their beliefs?

Keeping all this in mind, it is quite difficult for me to comprehend the reaction that followed the both 9/11 and 7/7. The general sense of outrage was there, but then does it all warrant some of the crazy reactions that we have see? The quest for revenge and crusades and more bloodshed in general (never mind that the only people whose blood will be shed are those who belong to places far away and are accustomed to death in any case).

In the end, I guess people can expect me to share their grief but they should not expect me to comprehend their outrage, living as I do in a place where death is a hard reality.