Colext/Macondo
Cantina virtual de los COLombianos en el EXTerior
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;'';
Dice PANG (leyendo lo escrito por Leroy Sievers, Executive Producer,
Nightline Offices, Washington, D.C.
--VIDE INFRA--y pensando en la tierrita, �Cu�nto vale una vida en Colombia?
...Sabemos, por lo menos en algunos casos, cu�l fue el costo de ciertas
muertes y vemos que hay unas que son m�s caras que otras ...Pero una vida...
�Cu�nto vale en pesos colombianos? �cu�nto en d�lares? �Si ser� que
podemos darnos esos lujos?):
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Escribe Sievers:
"It appears now that U.S. Special Forces made a mistake when they attacked
a village in Afghanistan a few days ago. Rather than attacking a group of
Taliban, they may have, in fact, hit a group that supports the new interim
government. The CIA has now gone in and paid at least some of the families
of those killed one thousand U.S. dollars as compensation. A fortune in
Afghanistan, although I'm not sure where they are going to spend their new
100-dollar bills.
Which brings us to tonight's broadcast. How much is a life worth? I know
that insurance companies have tables that they use to compute that value
in order to reach settlements. The question now is how to best compensate
the families of those killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the
Pentagon, and onboard the hijacked planes. A fund has been set aside, in
part from the airline bailout bill. The reasoning there is that if all of
the victims' families sued, the airlines might go bankrupt. But how should
the money be divided up? The same amount to every family, that seems fair.
But clearly some of the victims would have made more money over their
lifetimes than others. Shouldn't that be recognized? Some will even ask
why should a poorer family be enriched when their family member would
never have made that much money over their lifetime had they survived. And
who gets the money? Spouses, that's easy, but how do you divide it up
among the children, or other family members if there is no direct and
obvious heir. What about domestic partners or fianc�es?
I think everyone agrees that the families of the victims of 9-11 should
be taken care of. But what about victims of other terrorist attacks, like
the bombings of the embassies in Africa? As far as I know, they have not
received compensation. For that matter, some have questioned why these
families should be compensated, when the families of victims of the type
of violent crime that occurs every day, are not. And as time passes, you
start to hear ugly things, people complaining that the families of 9-11
victims are greedy. It can get ugly. And quite honestly, I feel a little
squeamish about raising some of these questions myself. But it is a real
practical issue. Some sort of solution will have to be found, and I'm sure
that not everyone will be happy with it. I think it all comes down to
issues of fairness.
I cannot imagine the depth of pain that these families must feel. I would
think that no sum of money would make that pain any less, and for that
matter, I cannot imagine any of these people enjoying that money. I don't
think I would want to rush out and buy a new car. But there are bills to
pay, and children to send to school, and rent or mortgages. So how do you
put a number on the value of a life lost? I find myself simply asking more
questions here because I don't have the answers."
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