Quote:
|
Originally Posted by tw
Lives have finite value. Society can be manipulated by emotion to grant more money for that death. That is emotionally gratifying - and wrong. Compensation based in emotion should be miniscule. Human life has a known value - no matter how insulting, cold, or ruthless that may be. How much that value is even changes with the person.
What is the purpose of compensation? The future. So that others need not suffer from the same human failures. It is normal and must be expected that humans will always make mistakes. Designs must continue to advance as solution become available and normal human activity – to make mistakes – becomes less catastrophic. The fact that lawyers are necessary says so much about – are symptoms of - others in society. So many forget the purpose of that compensation - so that others will not die.
|
I understand the purpose of the compensation completely. My point again is that
1) I cannot put a value on such things and
2) Society feels it MUST put a value on such things.
Its a paradox, I realize that. But limiting the amount of compensation is simply telling a corporation that if they put out an inferior product or behave in an unsafe way, that it will cost X in compensation, no more - no less. Said corporation simply factors this "price of business" into their product. That doesn't benefit anyone other than the corporations.
Human life cannot have a known dollar value - that is, simply put, the value of life. - That everything has a monetary value or can be measured in dollars and cents. The mentality that you can factor out some dollar figure to equal a life is the real problem. Once that mentality is allowed to pervade, the society as a whole is doomed. Holding something so precious as a human life and quantifying it into a monetary unit or value cannot be tolerated.
Whether it makes things easier or streamlines the system just belies that the system is already fucked up and needs to be overhauled - capping or setting compensatory limitations is a very futile attempt at rectifying the situation. It's trying to cure a symptom - NOT the problem. Its as useful as putting oil into a car with leaking seals - the system doesn't need oil, it needs an overhaul.