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While this debate is about a hypothetical, let's not lose sight of the fact that we make roughly equivalent ethical choices all the time. When we purchase a car, for example, and choose the "bells and whistles" and other glamour features not necessary to get us from point to point in relative safety, we are in effect choosing between buying those extras versus saving lives. The ethical choice, in my opinion, would be to give the differential amount to Doctors Without Borders, or whatever life saving group one chooses, than to spend the money on the unnecessary upgrades to the cars. I hope everyone is looking at their every day purchases and weighs the alternative uses of those funds. I suspect it's easier for us to get exercised about hypotheticals than confront the ethical consequences of our own decisions.
