Deliberating Stratification
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Introduction of the Scenario
There is a small yacht that is carrying 12 passengers and the captain. The demographics of the individuals include a teenage girl, a police officer, a 65-year old man college president, a 55-year old female nurse, a pregnant woman, her husband, a Black Lives Matter activist, a gay man, a ballet dancer, a botanist, a professional athlete, and a famous playwright. Suddenly, the yacht begins to sink while still far from the share of an island that has not been inhibited. The captain discovers that the radio is not functional so he opts to use the lifeboat to ferry people to the distant island. However, the dilemma is that the lifeboat can only hold eight (8) people otherwise it will sink. Additionally, the lifeboat only has enough gas to make one trip to the island. Because the boat has a total number of 13 people (captain included), you agree that four people and the captain will remain behind for the sake of everybody’s survival while 8 proceed to go to the island. This text is an attempt to make a decision about which four individuals will remain behind and who will be rescued. It makes a case for each member left behind and each member who is rescued. This is a tough call to make seeing that the chances of being rescued are rather minimal.
Members to Take and Why
In this scenario, I would make the hard decision of saving the teenage girl, the 55-year old female nurse, the pregnant woman, her husband, a gay man, a Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist, the professional athlete, and the famous playwright while the rest of the individuals remain behind. Although the decision is a difficult one to make, I would endeavor to save the lives of the most vulnerable people and those that would be most helpful, given the situation at hand. This is not to say that some lives are important than others. To begin with, I would make the decision to have all women present board the lifeboat and proceed to the island. This is because I believe women and children are most vulnerable in times and suffer the most in times of crisis. As such, I would first rescue the teenage girl, the 55-year old girl, and the pregnant woman. The pregnant woman should be a priority because she is carrying another life and having her go to the uninhabited island protects the life of not one but two people. Moreover, I would proceed to rescue the husband of the pregnant child for two main reasons. I would like to keep them together since they are a family and leaving the man behind leaves the woman without a person to help her in case of an emergency. I would not deny a child a chance to grow up with his father. The man can also be of help in navigating the lifeboat. I would also make the decision to save the gay man seeing that he belongs to a minority group. I would also save the Black Lives Matter Activist by virtue of the work they do and the impact they are making in society. The professional athlete would board the boat on the premise that he is physically fit which makes him the most suitable person to navigate the lifeboat. With the assistance of the pregnant woman’s husband and the gay man, the athlete will ensure the boat gets to the island. I would also rescue the famous playwright on the premise that they are in the creative field which does not have many people in the profession.
Members to Leave Behind and Why
In addition to the captain, I would leave the police officer, the 65-year old male college president, the ballet dancer, and the botanist behind. My reason for leaving the police officer behind would that compared to the other men who I rescued, the police officer is used to crisis by the nature of his profession. He has gone through training to help him get through tough situations. As such, he is better placed to fight for his life even after the boat capsizes. I am assuming that the police go through swimming training. I would leave the 65-year-old man who is a president at a nearby college because he is more expendable than the women and the men who were rescued. It would be better to give a younger person a chance of survival. Additionally, I would settle on leaving the botanist behind because compared to the women, the gay man, the husband, and the activist that were rescued, the botanist is more expendable. Even if I rescue the botanist, he is less likely to make any impact particularly because of the work he is involved in. The Ballet dancer would also remain behind because unfortunately, their demographic is more expendable than the others. A ballet dancer is creative but given the situation, I would only save one creative at the expense of the others. This is why I had the famous playwright board the lifeboat.
Reflections on My Beliefs
My choices say a lot about my personal beliefs. I believe that in times of crisis and uncertainty, women and children are the ones that suffer most, and for this reason, they should always be prioritized. I also believe that from a sociological perspective women are more important than men because of the role of childbearing which they carry. What I mean is that women should be protected because, without them, society would not grow its population. While one man can make many women pregnant at once, a woman can only give birth to one child at once. This shows that as long as women are present, society will continue growing in size. Additionally, from the analysis, I feel that minority groups such as LBGTI individuals should be protected at all cost and that aged people are more expendable than the younger population. I also believe that a person’s career influenced my decisions largely, for instance, I rescued the athlete because he is physically fit meaning that he will help navigate the lifeboat bringing everyone to safety.
Reflections of Assumptions
As I was deciding on who to rescue and who to leave behind, I made various assumptions. I assumed that the professional athlete is a man although their gender is not mentioned. Additionally, I assumed that the Black Lives Matter Activist, the police officer, and the captain is a man. I also assumed that the Black Lives Matter Activist does not identify as an LGBTI individual. I also assumed that the police officer can swim.
Reflections about the Current Periods and Culture
My choices to the fact I am the current time of this occurrence is before the dawn of technology and the internet. The call I made to ensure I save as many lives as possible show that I am part of a new culture that recognizes the different needs of various demographics, For instance, if the situation happened in the current age where there are cell phones, I would have made calls on the mainland or send a text requesting for assistance. I also recognize that women, youth, and children are delicate beings who are disproportionately affected in times of crisis that is why I ensured that they there the first to board the lifeboat.
Conclusion
In the case of a scenario that involves choosing which lives to save and which ones to leave behind, it is rather hard to decide, there is no correct way to approach it. In this scenario, choosing the people to board and the ones to save is just a matter of prioritizing the needs of the most vulnerable. This does not mean that the lives of some people are more important than others. I made the hard decision of saving the teenage girl, the 55-year old female nurse, the pregnant woman, her husband, a gay man, a Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist, the professional athlete, and the famous playwright while the rest of the people remain behind.