In that scenario, I agree the pragmatic choice is to save the majority.
But many situations tend to be complex and aren't as clear as a trolley problem, so I want to avoid falling into the trap of seeing a false dilemma when there's possibly more than two options.
Those are already arguments for why NASA and space programs shouldn't exist in the first place.
I remember watching something about the space race, and there was a clip of public opinion during the time of the first mission to the moon, where a man complained that the money should've been used to improve the lives of poor Americans instead.
Regardless, for the scenario in The Martian, if money is already being spent and going to continue being spent on space missions in the future, I think you can rationalize it as using money for another or next space mission. They would still gain knowledge from what they had to do to pull off that rescue, so it's not a complete waste of funds for a mission either.
On the morality point, I'd argue that we should spend the money to rescue any person if we have the money/means, and it can feasibly happen without excessive risk to other lives, otherwise we're assigning monetary value to human lives. That includes both people in imminent danger, requiring expensive emergency services, and people suffering slower, persistent risks like hunger that require sustained support.
European regulators "are looking at putting pressure on the European Union regarding deregulation. We think Europe has the prospect of doing better than they had in the past," Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone's CEO and cofounder, told The Financial Times.
I'm not European, but I don't exactly like the sound of that.
I genuinely wanted to understand more about that supposed contradiction, but frankly, that article was one of the worst, most tedious, painful articles I've ever tried to read. It was vague, repetitive, and reeks of AI-generated slop.
Mark Waters says sales at his Odessa, Texas, tools business, which he describes as a “Home Depot for the oilfields,” are down about 10 percent. He does not regret voting for Trump, saying he is willing to take a personal hit to support the president’s agenda. But he said it is ironic that over the decades he has made a lot more money when the party he despises is in power. “The oil business has thrived under Democratic leadership despite them being true haters of all things fossil,” Waters said. “For whatever reason, I made millions of dollars under Clinton. Then I made even more under Obama and Biden. I have never had a solid explanation.” His business outlook for the coming months under Trump? “Hopefully it won’t be catastrophic,” Waters said.
Almost some self-awareness there. Almost.
However, another key distinction listed in the Wikipedia article is that the "Geneva Conventions declare that mercenaries are not recognized as legitimate combatants and do not have to be granted the same legal protections as captured service personnel of the armed forces." So it's an even riskier business.
Been to Louisiana. Can confirm.
Sharpie enough to control hurricanes.