Existence At A Price

Watercolor Painting, 36" X 48"

Each Macaw that manages to survive being smuggled by the pet trade will have the misfortune to be deprived of it’s chosen mate, the foods it is used to eating, and will probably never fly again. 

A wild caught macaw brings the native $25, yet in North America and Europe it brings a price of $3000.  We put a high price tag on endangered things.  What price tag do we put on our own existence? Is it possible to calculate the true cost?