What makes objects more valuable than people?

Question

Shiny rocks are more important than peoples lives? How can this be? You could pave your drive way with diamonds if Russia released it's reserves, what makes them more valuable than people's lives?

Answer 1

Greed & Addiction.

Answer 2

In economics, value is considered to be based on supply and utility. Supply is how easy a thing is to get; rarer things, like gold or plasma TVs, are generally more valuable than more common things, like sand or toothpicks. Utility is how much a thing does for a person, that is to say, how much enjoyment they get from it (this varies from person to person, of course). The resulting value can usually be represented in terms of money.

Another idea of value is the price a buyer and seller agree for a thing, but it seems to me this would vary enormously and so doesn't really give an indication of the value of the thing. Again, if you use this system, you can easily represent the value in terms of money.

Once you've got the amount of money a thing is worth (remember, here we're just using money as a unit of measurement, we're not worried about how much of it people have), you have to compare it with the amount of money required to improve the lives of a person or some people until the total increase in their happiness equals the total happiness in an average human life. If the object is worth more, then it can be considered to have more value than a human life (of course, most religious people would probably disagree with this).

Try reading this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_value_(economics)

Answer 3

$$$Money$$$
It may be true, that somewhere there are millions apon millions of diamonds to be had, but that fact that no one has them now, makes them rare. I believe that the government has stockpiles of alot of things, that they just aren't letting the public have. Such as gasoline! A military friend of mine says he knows the government has a stockpile of Harley Davidson motorcycles that are very rare, and if they were to release them, the value of this rare Harley would go down.

Answer 4

People who think money can buy all pleasures in life are the ones who value objects more than people.I also think that this is because of a flaw in their personalities,wherein they have some kind of obsession to be 'in control' of things because things cannot speak out,or express their view like people do.These people are cowards,but nevertheless,tyrannical at heart.

Answer 5

The primitive urge to be a 'have' rather than a 'have not''...
Most predatory pack animals will put self interest ahead of group morality. To consume whichever resources are available, be that the carcass of a dead animal or the mighty dollar...

Answer 6

I would have to say Greed is the culprit that makes objects more important than people.

Answer 7

Perceptions and priorities of the individuals making that call. It all comes down to the age old question to be selfish or selfless.

Answer 8

material things should never be more valuable than a persons life

Answer 9

My answer would be people are more important then objects

Answer 10

The fact that you can own an object but it is illegal to own a person.