Knowing who we are

Abstract

Abstract Pricing lives gives us a better picture of who we are and stands as a challenge for liberal democracies. As this value attribution is contingent, there is room for manoeuvre. The concluding chapter emphasizes five main points and raises one question that remains open for discussion. First, we need to rethink and revalue the role of the philanthropic state. It is also extremely important to limit the role of patriarchalism and ensure that paying with lives (to serve state interests) should be as scarce as possible. Second, the state, the community and the market have complimentary roles, each of them has to contribute as much as it can to the valuing of human lives. Third, we need to reduce the non-commensurability gap. Fourth, our political cultures are relatively flexible and we need to orient them in the direction of a more humane and renewed philanthropism. Fifth, we need to revalue the lives of those who make sacrifices to save the lives of others, as a means to contribute to the revaluing of life itself. The chapter ends with a question and proposal. Some individuals might be stateless, have no community to support them, and have no access to the market. For those who have no safety net, at the global level, liberal democratic states have to think about the possibility of a ‘world insurance’ that would value the lives of the individuals that are cut from any material support and whose lives, otherwise, dramatically, would be valueless.