The Relative Value of American Lives

Which life is more valuable, the unidentified American on the left or the Iraqi child on the right?



I am saddened and angry that over 1800 American servicemembers have been killed in Iraq. Thousands of others have been maimed. It is sickening that uncounted thousands of Iraqi people have been killed or maimed in this unjust war. I have read that perhaps 100,000 civilans have lost their lives, but it does not appear that the military keeps track of "collateral damage". When I talk to my pro-war conspecifics, they are pretty cavalier about Iraqi civilian deaths and would even support a more brutal policy no matter how many Iraqis died. These are otherwise nice people, but they do not seem to recognize the worth of non-Americans as human beings. As one man put it, he would rather see 1,000 Iraqis die to prevent the death of one American soldier or marine. Of course, the USG could bring the soldiers home such that a moral dilemma of that nature need never present itself.

Am I supposed to regard the life of an American more highly than the life of an Iraqi or other nationality? I just can't seem to do it. Nationality is a category that one falls into largely as an accident of birth, and my fellow Americans have done nothing special to merit my particular affection simply because they are subjects of the same government thugs as I am. I sympathize with them and probably have a lot more in common with many of them than I would with someone from a distant land, but I don't know more than about 1,000 people personally. The rest are no less strangers to me than the Iraqis. I didn't choose to be an American; I was born in Tenneessee and have been labeled an American as a consequence. My ancestors wanted to secede from the US but were coerced into remaining subjects of the gang in Washington, DC.

I don't see the Iraqi people as a threat to my life or liberty, and I have no cause for complaint against any Iraqi. In contrast, many of my fellow Americans, including the nice folks around the water cooler at the office, seem to be looking to tax me more, to have me surveilled more, to have my liberties increasingly curtailed. They are much more of a threat to me because they make these bizarre claims on me based on my being an American.

I don't owe you anything special simply because you are an American. I am obliged by my faith to love my fellow man, and last time I looked nationality was not a qualifier of this obligation. An American life is not more valuable to me than the life of someone of another nationality unless the American happens to be a kinsman or an acquaintance or someone I admire. Just about any Iraqi child is a damn sight more lovable than Dick Cheney.

When I say things like this, my conspecifics inevitably come back with the "why don't you leave" argument. This makes no sense at all to me. Wherever I go, some state will claim me as a subject against my will.