Friday, August 17, 2007

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

This posits an interesting question. Would you take a million euro if
it meant that some random person you had never and would never meet in
China died? I would hope I would not. But would I buy a product that
cost 1 euro less if the money saved meant that the Chinese worker had
a 1 in a million extra chance of dying? I probably would or at least I probably do every time I go shopping.
This is an economic paradox. People make the same mistake about betting all the
time. But betting with peoples lives is wrong is it not?

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