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Nine people injured and they ask for millions while families in Afghanistan are compensated with $5000 per collateral fatality (and if I remember correctly ther

by danbruc 12y ago

Nine people injured and they ask for millions while families in Afghanistan are compensated with $5000 per collateral fatality (and if I remember correctly there was at least one case where it was $200 per killed and $75 per wounded). This doesn't sound like justice to me. Yes, it is a bit apples and oranges, but then again the people were just civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time. Addendum: I am aware that this is quite a bit off-topic, but I just had that thought how kind of ridiculous it is, to go to such lengths to get financial compensations while the state will just hand you a couple hundred or thousand dollars and case closed.

Crito 12y ago
Is "Nine people injured and they ask for millions" problematic because of " families in Afghanistan are compensated with $5000 per collateral fatality"? Or is "families in Afghanistan are compensated with $5000 per collateral fatality" problematic? Are we trying to drag the value of a human life down, or are we trying to pull it up? We can treat everyone equally by treating everyone like shit, or we can treat everyone equally by treating everyone well. I'm sure you didn't intend it, but your comment reads as though you are you are upset that the former are asking for so much, not that the later got so little.
- danbruc 12y ago
  I wanted to include a line about that but finally decided against it. I like neither option. Would it really be any better if way paid a million for every fatality? Yea, we killed your children...but hey, you are a dollar millionaire now, buy some nice stuff to cheer you up! Maybe the money would be spent better trying to avoid such incidents in the first place instead of attaching a price tag to accidentally killed people. In the end I am really unsure what the best option would be.
  - Crito 12y ago
    Family members are a part of the support network that people have. This includes emotional support, as well as more tangible support such as financial or residential, as well as informational support (family members teaching each other about society and life) and social support (for instance family members refering each other to friends or professionals (lawyers, doctors, carpenters, etc)). When somebodies family member is killed, their support network is reduced. Financial compensation can help to offset the damage done to their support network. It's not just about making people feel better.
- pessimizer 12y ago
  >We can treat everyone equally by treating everyone like shit, or we can treat everyone equally by treating everyone well. Either are better than valuing American lives as multiple orders of magnitude of the value of Afghan lives.

by danbruc 12y ago

Crito 12y ago

Is "Nine people injured and they ask for millions" problematic because of " families in Afghanistan are compensated with $5000 per collateral fatality"? Or is "families in Afghanistan are compensated with $5000 per collateral fatality" problematic? Are we trying to drag the value of a human life down, or are we trying to pull it up? We can treat everyone equally by treating everyone like shit, or we can treat everyone equally by treating everyone well. I'm sure you didn't intend it, but your comment reads as though you are you are upset that the former are asking for so much, not that the later got so little.

danbruc 12y ago
I wanted to include a line about that but finally decided against it. I like neither option. Would it really be any better if way paid a million for every fatality? Yea, we killed your children...but hey, you are a dollar millionaire now, buy some nice stuff to cheer you up! Maybe the money would be spent better trying to avoid such incidents in the first place instead of attaching a price tag to accidentally killed people. In the end I am really unsure what the best option would be.
- Crito 12y ago
  Family members are a part of the support network that people have. This includes emotional support, as well as more tangible support such as financial or residential, as well as informational support (family members teaching each other about society and life) and social support (for instance family members refering each other to friends or professionals (lawyers, doctors, carpenters, etc)). When somebodies family member is killed, their support network is reduced. Financial compensation can help to offset the damage done to their support network. It's not just about making people feel better.
pessimizer 12y ago
>We can treat everyone equally by treating everyone like shit, or we can treat everyone equally by treating everyone well. Either are better than valuing American lives as multiple orders of magnitude of the value of Afghan lives.