Is it right for cruise companies to sell lifeboat seats?
These were the first words that came out of my professor’s mouth during my last Economics class. Forget the outdated, sex-based notion of “women and children first”— this is 2018. Give out the first lifeboat seats to the highest bidder— that’s how capitalism works!
The class responded with outrage: It’s immoral! That’s disgusting! How can you put a price on a human life?
It’s true, its immoral— but why are we outraged at the notion of selling lifeboat seats and not at the institutions of grocery stores and electric companies? Why wouldn’t we pay to protect against an unlikely risk when we pay to eliminate the ever-present evil of hunger every day? Why is paying for apples at Shoprite met with placidity, while the notion of using the fear of a different risk for profit is abhorrent?
That’s the way it is. Since the societal departure from hunter-gatherer populations to trade-based civilizations, food has been a commodity. Sugarcane was harvested for export to the Americas, while spices made their global debut on the Silk Road. We haven’t known a life where food was free; why change the status quo?
The same philosophy guides the debate concerning lifeboat seats. It boils down to tradition, an integral decision-making factor concerning the allocation of resources by any actor. Thus, the main takeaway of the discussion is one we already know, but find difficulty in confronting: human nature is resistant to change. While I in no way support the sale of lifeboat seats, the notion is food for thought… Would our reactions be different if seats had been sold on the first-ever cruise liner?