Inherent Value of Humans
I studied inherent value as an undergrad, so it is a concept that has been around for eons, I’m sure.
It is this idea that living things have value unto themselves. There is no need for performance, no need for earning money, no need for work, just a belief that there is value because you are alive.
It’s a difficult concept for me to wrap my arms around for myself. Since I can remember, my parents drilled into my head that hard work is rewarding and self-sustaining. Those who do not work are “lazy” and “irresponsible”. I lived in a time and place that did not have the luxury of financially supporting anyone. All had to work. Finance became the measure of value, those who made $5.00 an hour were less important than those who made $10.00 an hour.
Those who are educated are more valuable still and society rewards them for their education. The more education, the better a person could be. The other option for people included, beauty and wealth. The beautiful could find usefulness by attaching to wealth, either through matrimony or work.
On the non-financial side is parenting. There is very little that is more gratifying than a young one who needs you desperately. Small children look to their parents for everything. Mothers and fathers often measure themselves by the satisfaction of their children. They feel their worth increases with happy children.
When faced with the concept of inherent value, as an undergrad, I failed. It was hard for me to understand and to believe that the value is in being alive. I kept wanting to assign value based on work and performance. I was chided by my professor, but he realized the concept was obscure for most. The exam question was about the intelligence of dolphins and the ethical obligations of humans to protect them from extinction. I kept coming back to the dolphins’ value to humans. “No”, my professor iterated, they are valuable unto themselves without humans.
A belief that I am sorry for…Each person has their own possibilities, not to be judged by others.
And so, it goes that such beliefs touch every single part of any life. Believing in work as the redemptive human quality means that those who do not work have little value as humans. It creates exactly the kind of staircase of values that I am stringently opposed to. I vehemently believe that all are equal. So how do I maintain two opposing beliefs? I probably do it the way that most people do, and that is to ignore one of the beliefs when the other belief is dominantly active in my life. In other words, we all change our values and beliefs in our lifetimes depending on circumstance.
Now, I am not working. I was forced to take a retirement based on my illness. I don’t have the money to retire so I depend on my husband for my livelihood. This is exactly the kind of life that I sneered at when I was in the throes of a successful career based on my own hard work. I believed everyone was capable and should be working and working h.a.r.d.
Full circle. All people are equal and have a right to life and living. Our way of living is our own private decision and not to be interpreted by the beliefs of others. As a human, I have the right to be. I may not perform, I may not work, I may not earn money, these facts do not change my fundamental right to live.