“When we forget the cost of something, we stop valuing it. And when we stop valuing it, we stop protecting it.”–Molly Engelhardt, https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/age-forgotten-infrastructure

“The man who does not value himself cannot value anything or anyone.” — Ayn Rand

Can it be said that the President of the United States and his Minister of War, i.e, Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, respectively, have forgotten the cost of human life and, as a consequence, do not value it? For certain, it is sure that they do not value the lives of Caribbean fishermen and have been prone to simply blowing them out of the water because they have decided that those men have no value. With respect to Ayn Rand’s statement, what does this say about both Trump and Hegseth?

Christianity, the teaching and application of the teachings of Jesus Christ, proclaims something different. All human beings have value in the eyes of God, regardless as to who they are or their position in society. It does not matter how much (or how little) wealth they possess. Whether they are the cream of the crop, the top echelon, the elite, or the dregs at the bottom of the filter, the homeless, the addicts, the prostitutes. All have value for only one reason: they have been created in His image, after His likeness. All are equal simply because they are, because each contains the spark of what was implanted in Adam and Eve at the very beginning, i.e., that Man (individual and collective) has been created in the Image of God Himself, and that this cannot be, cannot be, dismissed casually and without effect.

But, isn’t this exactly what Trump and Hegseth are saying and doing when they blow fishermen’s boats out of the water with Hellfire missiles from afar? They are nothing. Their lives mean nothing. They do not deserve any consideration because we have determined that they are a threat to our way of life. Isn’t it ironic that both Trump and Hegseth consider a single boat plying its way across the water is an existential threat to the American way of life, which has at its base, the absolute right of every human being to make decisions which might, or might not, actually benefit him? The right to decide for himself what is best for himself?

No, by Government! Certainly not! You do not understand and because of that misunderstanding, we will decide what is best for you. Of course, the fact that it will affect our own bank account positively and will make us wealthy beyond belief has absolutely nothing to do with it. We are concerned only with your welfare and you ought to trust us completely, no matter how it seems.

What’s the matter with you, you peasant?

Yeah, well, I cannot (and will not ever) blend in with the “cream of the crop” at the top of the social spectrum. In fact, I live within the lowest spectrum of the income scale, that is, the bottom 90% of the wage earners, the peons, so to speak. I will never be rich by worldly standards, will never attain to the status of those who assume that they are something, yet, despite the lack of wealth and influence that I might have, from God’s perspective, I have immense value, more value than that of the entire universe because He gave everything to show that my life is important. I am, because He has declared that I am, and that is all that is necessary. I have value because He had decreed it and there is nothing that the State of Man can bring against me which will contravene that truth.

Show me the truth!

Either we believe in the message that human life is subservient to power or we believe that each person, regardless of his stature or caste, has value and that value ought to be defended, no matter how small or insignificant it is.

If we forget that human life, no matter how small, has value and is only fit to be used to further our own goals (wealth, power, etc.), then we run afoul of the concept that all, that is, ALL, men have been created in the the Image of God. In doing so, aren’t we actually setting ourselves up against the One Who has determined the way it is?

A word to the wise is sufficient.