Tl/Dr dwarves and elves have a complicated history. They do not all hate each other and they do not all love each other.
The elves and dwarves of Tolkiens legendarum have animosity towards one another. But saying "the elves would genocide the dwarves" no, the Elves as a whole would not wish to exterminate the dwarves as a race. There were some among the Noldor (a part of the population of High Elves that left Valinor to reclaim the Silmarils from Morgoth) that believed the dwarves had cheated them. The Dwarves tell it another way, Tolkien is unclear on the truth of the matter. However those dwarves were not the clan of Longbeards. The Longbeards do not come into the tales of the first age. Their halls were east and south of Belariand. In Khazad-Dum.
All that to say the animosity between the elves of Lothlorian and the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum can probably be traced to the fact that most of the Elves present are dark elves/green elves. Who also has their own unrecorded spats with dwarves of different clans. (Also the fact that the dwarves unearthed a balrog probably doesn't help matters)
So yes there is animosity between the two races. But there is also friendship. The elves of Holand and the dwarves of Khazad-Dum were united in friendship. A fact somewhat touched on, in the recent show the Rings of Power. (Although poorly done in my opinion)
No, not really. It was his first book that was supremely popular, but it was written for his children. His main body of work (which was later published in part in the Silmarallion) was started in WWI and was never really completed. The Hobbit and then to a far greater extant LotR were pulled into the preceding work.
But to answer your question, of course they are not intrinsically more valuable than any other human. Their lives are worth exactly the same as any others. They're the same as those fighting in Ukraine. They're the same as the migrants that died on that ship trying to get to a better life.
This question is flawed. We should be looking at how best to raise the standard of living across the world.
This post is as bad as the stuff on exploding heads. I have an idea, let's not plan on murdering people based on their gender, class, race, or any other circumstance.
Tl/Dr dwarves and elves have a complicated history. They do not all hate each other and they do not all love each other.
The elves and dwarves of Tolkiens legendarum have animosity towards one another. But saying "the elves would genocide the dwarves" no, the Elves as a whole would not wish to exterminate the dwarves as a race. There were some among the Noldor (a part of the population of High Elves that left Valinor to reclaim the Silmarils from Morgoth) that believed the dwarves had cheated them. The Dwarves tell it another way, Tolkien is unclear on the truth of the matter. However those dwarves were not the clan of Longbeards. The Longbeards do not come into the tales of the first age. Their halls were east and south of Belariand. In Khazad-Dum.
All that to say the animosity between the elves of Lothlorian and the Dwarves of Khazad-Dum can probably be traced to the fact that most of the Elves present are dark elves/green elves. Who also has their own unrecorded spats with dwarves of different clans. (Also the fact that the dwarves unearthed a balrog probably doesn't help matters)
So yes there is animosity between the two races. But there is also friendship. The elves of Holand and the dwarves of Khazad-Dum were united in friendship. A fact somewhat touched on, in the recent show the Rings of Power. (Although poorly done in my opinion)
Edit a word and some other added context