Despite the overwhelming concurrence with the canon regarding the absolute sanctity of human life, in fact society saw that human life was in fact a very inexpensive, plentiful and easily-disposable asset. Of all things, human life was the easiest to replace. A machine could be difficult, costly: but the man who drove or worked or manipulated it could be replaced at very short notice by any one of millions of other men, all equally capable after a little training, all equally replaceable.
Women were even cheaper.
Human life is cheap, dirt cheap, according to this society, judged by the way it acts, the only true test, saw Christie, despite its pious mouthings. What it does in practice is not what it says it does. It does not care for human life: it shortens that life by the nature of the work it demands, it poisons that life in pursuit of mere profit, it organises wars from which it is certain mass killings will result... but you know the ways in which we are all diminished: I should not need to rehearse them further.
B.S. Johnson, Christie Malry's Own Double Entry
