聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 In a second you鈥檙e probably going to be thinking to yourself, 鈥淚 wish she鈥檇 stop talking to those weird friends of hers鈥︹�� A couple weeks ago I discussed free will and if we actually had it, prompted by questions and discussion with a friend. This week we again got into a discussion and now it鈥檚 been on my mind, and was the only thing that would come to me as I sat to write this column.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So, I will ask three questions in the same order she asked me. Read them, then answer. Try not to think too long about them although they do get more difficult as I continue.
1.听听听听听听 Do you think all people have worth no matter what?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 My reply without thinking much was, yes.
2.听听听听听听 What about the same amount of worth?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I thought for a moment and replied, saying, all life matters. All people are worth the same although some end up in positions where they can鈥檛 give their worth to their community or to society. For example a beggar on the street is still worth the same as anyone else, even the queen poops, but life, circumstances, and hard times have possibly brought someone down so they appear worthless in people鈥檚 eyes. If they鈥檙e given a hand up though they might feel a sense of renewed worth and be able to prove to those who see them as worthless that they are worth the same as anyone else.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I continued with a thought that this is why I agree with socialist ideas of creating work for people because a lot of times societies鈥� so-called 鈥渦ndesirables鈥� just need an opportunity, a chance to show their worth.
3.聽聽聽聽聽聽 The final question鈥� Does your worth diminish if you bring harm to society?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I was now stumped and found my views of the other questions come into conflict. I was thinking about the general population, not about people who have committed truly heinous crimes like serial killers.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I still don鈥檛 have a definitive answer on this because on one hand I think about how the penal system is supposed to work, how in Western culture we鈥檙e of the mindset that if a crime is committed and someone is sent to jail for it, that jail is supposed to be a place of rehabilitation and then through different avenues people are reintroduced to society. They served their time and are now supposed to be contributing members of society.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Did the person steal food because they were starving? Did a kid who grew up in a ghetto shoot someone because of the circumstances they found themselves in, in that moment? Can they be helped so they become an individual who is not harming society?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 On the other hand, however, my mind wanders to the heinous crimes committed. Is a serial killer or a serial rapist really people who are worth the same amount as someone who is kind, volunteers their time, works hard, and is helping people?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A serial killer is not going to be someone who is rehabilitated and reintroduced to society. They serve multiple life sentences and live out their days, if caught, in prison.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Do we actually earn our worth? Is it that worth in the world actually hinges on a kind of point scale? Does everyone have potential for worth and some earn a higher amount of worth in the world than others through their actions, just as others鈥� worth would diminish as they continually harm society? Is it possible to regain your worth?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As you can see there鈥檚 a lot to actually think about within a mere three, what seemed initially like, easy questions.
