#i will use any excuse to gush about the sam raimi spiderman films not sorry

[lully-jo]

Let's Reframe the Trolley Problem

At least, as it pertains to things like a Presidential election.

Typically, the trolley problem is presented as a conundrum hoisted upon one individual where they have to decide if one person dying is more ethical/moral than say 5 people dying. Some folks change up the "difficulty" of the decision by saying the one person has organs that could save the five others, or the five others are violent criminals, etc. What I want to discuss, however, is the way folks bring up the trolley problem during an election year. Sometimes it's also called choosing between "the lesser of two evils."

My issue with talking about a presidential election as a trolley problem is the misunderstanding that we are only pulling a lever and choosing to let folks die. Let's begin by remembering that a presidential election is not an issue for one person to solve, but a whole nation. You aren't alone at those tracks deciding to pull that lever--there are THOUSANDS if not MILLIONS of people standing there with you trying to figure out how to solve this problem.

Also keep in mind that the trolley problem is AN EMERGENCY, not something you can meticulously plan for. If you don't act, the train is going to run over and kill someone no matter what. You have to act--you have to at least try.

So, considering both these things, where do we go from here? Well, it's an emergency, so you have to make decisions that feel, perhaps, absurd in the moment. This might mean making the decision to put the trolley on the tracks going for less people. Why? Because it's easier to cut the ropes off of one person than five, and so you might be able to get them out of harms way. Consider there's also thousands of other people who can start cutting the ropes off the other five people and then when those five people are free they can help you save the other person in time.

And even after all that, while folks are dealing with the emergency, there are still plenty of us who can start RUNNING LIKE HELL to the station to let them know not to send another train because good god there are PEOPLE ON THESE TRACKS.

We can sit here and say it's the railyard that's the issue, that whoever owns it is the problem. It doesn't change the fact we are watching an emergency about to happen right in front of our faces. But there are millions of us who can take action--and each of us has a place to contribute. Some of us are pulling people off the tracks and others are going straight to the railyard in the meantime. BOTH ARE IMPORTANT.

You know what else is a great visualization of the trolley problem that gets straight to the point that without community you save no one?

Sam Raimi's Spiderman.

Green Goblin literally forces Spiderman to choose between saving Mary Jane or a gondola full of small children. He doesn't have time to do anything other than act. And he goes for Mary Jane, the singular person. Most folks would argue that it's because he loved her, and while that may be part of the choice, let us remember that this is Peter Parker we're talkin about. He's top of his class--boy genius! He knew that it's easier to grab a gondola full of children with the weight of one person on the other arm than trying to grab one person while carrying the weight of an entire gondola.

So once he grabs Mary Jane, he grabs the kids. And it's a HEAVY burden. He is quickly losing grip and Goblin is not making this easy for him by any means. Luckily, there's a boat headed his way and as long as he can hold on for just a while longer, they'll be able to bring their boat right up under the gondola so he can safely release them.

And even once Spiderman gets this gondola (and Mary Jane) safely onto this boat, Goblin now starts attacking him! But guess who comes to his rescue once again?

HIS COMMUNITY.

This scene is so perfect. It shows how important it is that we all do what we can. That hard choices can be less hard if we have each others' back. That there is no superhero that can do it all alone. Even Spiderman needs help. Even Spiderman needs saving.

Stop convincing yourself that the weight of the world is on your shoulders alone or that there's only way way to contribute positively. Your vote is not necessarily a reflection of your values but of what you are capable of doing in the moment with the tools you have. Make the best decision you can and remember that there are so many of us and we can save people in harms way AND go deal with the root of the problem. We have enough hands on deck. We just have to stop fighting about what to do and get to work!!