S01.E08: These Are His Revolutions

[formerlyfreedom]

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[JasonCC]

I wonder about 2nd class too. How much do they interact with First? I found that jury situation a few episodes ago interesting because the First Class juror seemed legitimately excited to meet her counterparts from 2nd and 3rd. Post apocalypse I'd probably be willing to trade a few luxuries in exchange for new people to meet. It seems like the young people are already slumming it in Third right? 

Edited July 11, 2020 by JasonCC

[rmontro]

19 hours ago, blackwing said:

I agree.  I might have been more sympathetic to them if the show hadn't made them illegal stowaways who forced their way onto the train.  They could have called them Fourth Class.  People who bought a ticket for Fourth Class accomodations...

The problem is they want to present the Tailies as a sort of underprivileged class, they're even below working class.  Maybe they came from the working class in the real world, not sure.  But how expensive would even a Fourth Class ticket be if it's for a post-apocalyptic lifeboat?  Maybe they could have resolved this issue by having some sort of lottery for seats among the poorer class, but that flies in the face of the idea that Mr. Wilford saw this as a big retirement party train.

[Netfoot]

31 minutes ago, JasonCC said:

Post apocalypse I'd probably be willing to trade a few luxuries in exchange for new people to meet.

My position is that everyone on the train, no matter how they got there, should be treated as an extremely rare and valuable resource. These are (supposedly) the last remenants of mankind.

Some studies claim a MVP for humans to be between 3577 and 5129. Others claim much lower numbers, but either exclude certain risk factors, or require strict manipulation of societal norms. (Eugenics programmes, etc.) Your guess is as good as mine, but what is obvious is that the more people, the better. So, obviously, the people in the tail should be "normalized" (don't know what would be the ideal word) into train society. People who consume at a high rate must reduced consumption to allow for the unexpected consumption of the unexpected passengers. How to make that happen is a question I can't answer, but sticking a gun (or a ballista) in the faces of 1st class isn't the answer. The 1st classers aren't doing anything wrong, they are simply expecting what they paid for.

Now, are there sufficient resources on the train to support the unexpected influx of tailies? I doubt there are enough empty 3rd class berths to accommodate them. How many cars do they currently occupy? Enough to be converted into decent berths? Should the farms and fisheries cars be converted into housing for tailies, so they can comfortably starve with the rest of the train? These are questions that we the viewers can't answer because we don't have enough data.

But I still think some sort of accommodation should be made. Less Kobe beef for LJ and her cronies and more hamburger for Layton and his. Obviously. And the process should have started as early as possible.

[Dowel Jones]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

These are (supposedly) the last remenants of mankind.

Which puzzles me as to the selection process.  If Wilford was serious about preserving humankind, would the ability to pay enormous sums of money be the best parameter to allow people on the train?  A simple interview by a qualified psychologist, maybe, would have eliminated the Folgers right off the bat, and who knows how many others from all the classes.  And then you have to account for aging out and dying over the span of decades, hoping that the world will eventually reinvent itself.

[Netfoot]

That assumes that Wilford was serious about preserving humankind. We are now hearing that he was just out for one helluva hedonistic End-of-the-World party that lasted as long as it lasted, and then kaput!

Also, it assumes that he had the resources to fund his train without having to make promises to the Folgers and their ilk.

If it were me, I'd be looking for young, strong, genetically diverse, healthy, fertile people who were highly intelligent and productive in a wide range of skills. But young people are not generally that wealthy. So perhaps Wilford was forced to take the Folgers, etc. Or perhaps they are just who he preferred to invite to his rolling End-of-Days party.

[rmontro]

8 hours ago, Netfoot said:

My position is that everyone on the train, no matter how they got there, should be treated as an extremely rare and valuable resource. These are (supposedly) the last remenants of mankind.

The problem with that idea is that it makes sense.  We in the real world are not exactly rare, but we should appreciate each other for what we each uniquely have to offer.  But we're too busy resenting each other.  Hmm, sounds like Snowpiercer.

Edited July 12, 2020 by rmontro