fishin' wrote:"Solatium" is a word - not an acronym and it existsed long before the Vietnnam war. It comes from the Latin word "solatium", a variant of solacium (to comfort), from solari (to console).
Quote:That was the price for a human life according to the American government. Of course they had no obligation whatsoever to provide payment, and in this way they are generous. However, putting a price on human life and loss seems ridiculous and inconceivable to me.
The concept has NOTHING to do with putting a price on a human life. It is paid because it is recognized that the loss of that life impacts the remaining family's ability to earn a living and survive - especially in the short term.
Insurance companies make solatium payments fairly often. If you are insured and you die in an accident the insurance company issues a check (usually with 48 hours) for a portion of the full death benefit to allow the family to have some money to survive on until they get things sorted out and all the death certificates and other paperwork that are required get processed and then the remaining balance is paid.
Thank you for inferring that I said Solatium was an acronym, when I did the exact opposite, as you can read from my first line:
"Solatium (pronounced SO-LAY-SHEE-UM) is a word that was used in a world of acronyms in Vietnam."
Solatium is a word. What is obtuse about those words? I stated it clearly. I do also know it comes from Latin, I researched it.
By saying that a loss of a family member will hinder the remaining family members' ability to earn a living, is it not putting a price, or at least a worth, on human life?
The government in effect was saying: "we're sorry about your loss, here is the amount we believe your family member was worth, we hope you can use it to continue the life your family was accustomed to."
By putting solatium of war and the solatium of insurance in an analogous formula, are you saying that citizens in a country exposed to a time of war are in some way insured by the American government?
By the way, Vietnam is spelled with one N only.
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