What is a Person Worth?

"Western Society" prides itself in being the most "civilized" culture in terms of the way we teach our citizenry to value themselves, but we traditionally and to this day have sent mixed signals in terms of moral/ethical standards. Of course in terms of how women are and have been dubiously taught to value themselves, much has been written and debated. What needs more discussion is how our culture generally inculcates self-worth in people, especially young men and especially working class/lower middle class males. In the Ancient World in the Mediterranean cradle of our current civilization, the Roman social elite called the common folk "proles", which translates in substance as, "those who contribute to the population". In the labor-hungry, human-powered and largely slave-driven world of Antiquity, the average person was most prized for their reproductive ability. As sad as this was, there has been an even more unfortunate way our society has been teaching people to value themselves, and it stems from religious perversions of Christ's teachings which prize "martyrdom" and "holy war" as worthy uses of one's life. These perversions have become increasingly secularized over the centuries, and manifest themselves in fascistic notions of patriotism. People have tried to justify such dogma as relating to the "super ego", but again, this is another perversion, this time of psychology. When a person selflessly sacrifices him or herself for the life of another, that is altruism if the person making the sacrifice has a sense of their own value as a living human being in his or her own right before making such sacrifice for another. But when a person has been taught directly or by implication through various modes of propaganda that their only real value is their ability to give their life for some cause, that is a form of pernicious social diminishment. Yes, young men and young women may not yet have lived long enough to understand their own self-worth, but that is the point. They deserve that time, and they deserve a decent system of higher/technical education and/or workplace mentorship to acquire that sense of self-worth. We also need responsible religious leaders who ethically distinguish the moral implications of Christ's soteriological sacrifice as a spiritual Savior from the kinds of moral sacrifice we mere mortals might make when it is absolutely necessary. We need to think of ways in which people can make a positive difference through the gifts of their living being. Defending one's country against invaders is a necessary evil of this world, and we are fortunate to have people who are dedicated to the safety of our nations against people who would do us harm. However, there are other ways one can express one's need to be patriotic that do not offer up one's life as collateral, such as (for America at least) the Peace Corps or Americorps. Promotion of military enlistment for young people at loose ends after high school is often pushed as something more constructive than for such individuals to try to get a job or acquire more education to improve their employment prospects. The military is a good option to consider (among many) if they can learn a decent skill in the armed services and are not merely bound for a psychological and physical meat-grinder that will scar them for life inside and out. There is a bit of a fait accompli going on here. There are very few good jobs out there for people of limited education or for whom college is not a good mental fit, and this was true years before the Great Recession began. If one asks why there isn't a draft, this could be one good practical reason why -- there is no need! With no decent jobs, what choice is there but to join the military? Recruitment has very little competition -- most of the union factories are gone. The surge to destroy collective bargaining rights, the legal barricades and blacklisting set up against whistle blowers for workplace abuses and bad working conditions also send a clear signal to young people that as citizen workers, they are not valued by society. However, the cable/satellite channels are buzzing with commercials and documentaries that ballyhoo the central (and superior) respectability of a military identity. We do indeed need military career people, both officers and non-commissioned soldiers, but a democratic society also needs a gainfully employed civilian population to maintain a healthy balance.