How much is a poor person worth?

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GORDON
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Post by GORDON »

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Malcolm
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Post by Malcolm »

That really depends on the black market organ trade in their region, doesn't it?
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Post by TheCatt »

How much is a disabled person worth? Or a retarded one? Or one with a terminal illness? How do you distinguish? Do people have intrinsic value? What about people who want to work, but are just plain... stupid or incapable?
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TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

I'd have to say that people - in general and as a baseline - are worth nothing. Actually less than nothing, considering the costs of raising an infant. So we all start with a negative intrinsic value. Where we go from there varies tremendously.

But then I've never bought that whole "life is precious and sacred" nonesense.
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Post by Malcolm »

I might hear an argument for "precious" or "valuable." It can be. "Sacred?" Hell, no.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
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Post by GORDON »

It's a shitty question to ask, but when we become required to pay for everyone who can not pay for themselves, aren't we then allowed and required to ask? We're going to be paying for food, housing, education, and tonsillectomies, but I assume we wont be paying for bionic limbs when they set themselves on fire when smoking crack. Where's the line?

We're gonna need some death panels to figure this out.
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Malcolm
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Post by Malcolm »

Even if you give otherwise useless, worthless fuckwads free cash, they'll find a way to waste it.

Each Congressman's salary should be directly linked to how much cash all the other states have to pump into his shitty one, perhaps on a per capita basis. If your state's sucking up more than it's "fair" share, the excess gets deducted. After that's exhausted, we'll start garnishing their kickbacks, too.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
TheCatt
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Post by TheCatt »

Maybe we do need death panels.

i mean, is it worth $50,000 a month to keep someone alive?
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Malcolm
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Post by Malcolm »

TheCatt wrote:Maybe we do need death panels.

i mean, is it worth $50,000 a month to keep someone alive?
Do they contribute more than $50,00 to us? If it's Warren Buffet, I might vote "yes."

If it's Bruce Campbell, "hell, yes."
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
GORDON
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Post by GORDON »

Malcolm wrote:
TheCatt wrote:Maybe we do need death panels.

i mean, is it worth $50,000 a month to keep someone alive?

Do they contribute more than $50,00 to us? If it's Warren Buffet, I might vote "yes."

If it's Bruce Campbell, "hell, yes."

This is the core of my question.

The ironic thing is, if they are worth keeping alive from an economic standpoint, they probably don't need government health care.

edit - Well, not exactly. But a government-run health system still isn't the way. As Thib said elsewhere... they want to cover routine visits to the doctor, which can't be covered if you want to call it "insurance."

Anyway.




Edited By GORDON on 1251766368
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TheCatt
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Post by TheCatt »

I don't think EVA is the way to judge lives.
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Malcolm
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Post by Malcolm »

TheCatt wrote:I don't think EVA is the way to judge lives.

Given finite resources & requiring infinite results means a system has to get brutal in its priorities. & when I say "has to" I mean that it will necessarily evolve that way. Your resources are finite. That means somebody might die of curable diseases. Magic Johnson's rich ass is still alive, but pretty much only because he's independently wealthy. We ain't all going to get to be Magic.

Shit, what are we going to do when there aren't enough organs to go around? I don't give a fuck how ironclad your plan is, it can't conjure a new pair of lung & kidneys from nothing. People can live w\ just one of each. If we're following the "everybody gets fixed at every opportunity" philosophy to the jack-booted extreme, then we start forcibly harvesting from healthy folk.

Course, this all based on the notion that we have to have some way to stamp a numerical value on someone's life.




Edited By Malcolm on 1251770064
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

I don't give a fuck how ironclad your plan is, it can't conjure a new pair of lung & kidneys from nothing.


Well, now that the government is going to get involved in this stuff, maybe we'll find a solution.
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Malcolm
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Post by Malcolm »

Shit, I'm ready to implant my brain into a robot frame right now. Or get a jack installed in my spine to surf the net w\ my mind.

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Edited By Malcolm on 1251773237
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
GORDON
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Post by GORDON »

Malcolm wrote:Shit, I'm ready to implant my brain into a robot frame right now. Or get a jack installed in my spine to surf the net w\ my mind.

"I know kung fu."
"For the last time, NO you don't."
I want to go into a Bridgette Barbeaux-bot.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
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Post by GORDON »

Regarding my opening of the forum registration:

I just deleted 50 registration attempts by obvious spammers, and allowed 6 through... which are probably spammers. I won't have patience for this for long.
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TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

Considering the apparent ratio of spammers to real people (so far 56 to 0) it may be best to close it again.

Damn spammers. We can never have nice things around here.
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Post by GORDON »

Would help if I changed forum software, but then we'd lose about 5 years of posts.
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TPRJones
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Post by TPRJones »

There's no export / import functions to carry it all over?
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Post by GORDON »

I've heard of interspecies importing/exporting of forum data, but I haven't looked it it for over a year.
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