Reflection #13 Worth

For this week's reflection, I would like to talk about the worth of people, and when I mean talk, I mean to go on a reflective route - letting my thoughts flow as I write. I have to put forth a disclaimer before I begin my thought process, I believe that all people have worth and should be helped, not everything I write is what I truly think just other people's thoughts.

Now that that's over with, let's start with the US. In the US, it is a common thought that all people on a base level are equal and therefore should have equal opportunities. One way that this idea is helped is by the fact that the social ladder isn't rigid, as there is no royal family or caste system. However, while that may be the base thought line, not everyone acts on it. People who might not be royalty in the US but have generations of wealth do not necessarily have that same belief. Is it not true that they are better off in life and have more rights simply because they have money? Could it not be argued that those who are wealthy are worth more? That those people are the true ones able to change the social order? It was not a Jewish slave that freed them from Egypt, it was a Jew who had been raised as a prince. The first African American president was not one raised in low-income housing, but one that had been raised by their white mother. These two scenarios can be seen as proof to some that they are worth more.

People in the US, as was seen in class a few weeks ago, believe that all people are worth saving, which implies that they are worth the same amount. However, is a small country with no significance worth the same amount as a country that has oil or some other important resource? Some people might argue that they are, yet others argue they are not. On a worldly scale, that small country has no worth, they are just a small country. A company will not invest in a country that has no incentives and going on a darker path, international aid will not be funded unless the country they give aid to have some sort of incentive for it like oil or something similar (Just a quick note, not all international aid is that way, some of it is privately funded, this is just mentioning the ones funded by countries).

I am switching gears yet again to focus on the individual person yet again. And this is just to conclude my thought process with some questions. Does a homeless person have less worth than a middle-class family? How would people from different countries view this question? And to answer them plainly: In the US as I mentioned before they wouldn't be worthless, while in a place like Russia they would be and would be seen as good for nothings that aren't doing anything with their lives.

I think this would be an interesting topic to debate in class and I hope to learn and study more about the worth of people as I believe it is an important topic for International Relations.

- Eli