if america were the titanic and we had TWICE as many lifevests as passengers,

[unblock]

the captain would give them all to the two richest passengers and let the free market decide.

the captain would make a big show of buying the first one, which he would immediately donate to a young orphan with a terminal illness. the second he would buy, quietly, for himself.

lacking funds for two exorbitant purchases, the selling passenger would make him a loan, to be repaid when safe on land, after the captain has had a chance to rake in big bucks from the inevitable book/speaking tour and movie rights, also arranged by the selling passenger. of course, such a deal is not available to anyone else, nor is it ever publicly acknowledged.

the rest of the passengers are on their own, but since there's competition between two sellers, no one feels they have any basis on which to complain.

in the end, the same number of people die as in the original titanic scenario with too few lifevests.

this time, analysts insist that those who perished inexplicably chose the same moment to commit suicide.

[Crazy Dave]

1. Excellent! REC++++

[johnnypneumatic]

2. Hypothermia? Not our fault!

the rich people would fill up the lifeboats and say:
"Hey, all the women and children had life vests. It's not our fault the water was cold, they were just too fat and lazy to keep swimming fast enough to keep warm."

[unblock]

3. right! they could have worked harder to earn enough to pay for a lifevest!

i mean, the fact that SOME other people DID is proof that those who didn't were just lazy or suicidal or both.

they must have enjoyed their poverty and carried a deathwish.

[Crazy Dave]

4. Another K&R

:kick:

[truedelphi]

5. Excellent. Sorry I only saw this now. Unblock,

I haven't seen your posts in a long time - same brain throbbing ideas as always.