Sociological perspectives on Surviving on a Boat

As this week went by, we put our morals to the test when we had to chose who would live and who would die on a lifeboat that held too many. Their would be no simple way to chose whose life is of more value. Things like money, family, health, prior experence, etc where all told of the 16 that where on the boat. But what moral do u have that says because this man has no leg that he is of less worth then this nobel pize winner? Who says that just because the old are old that they should be removed? In cultures, Russia, Germany, Poland, most eastern hemisphere countries would proudly say to keep the elderly because of the respect that they have for the elderly. Though they may be old, I myself being eastern European, would understand that the old will always be of more worth and will always have a higher status then those who are younger. Only they have the history books in their head, only they can pass down the secrets of their families, and only they can teach us of mistakes that they have made so we can get through them. As the other passengers would also have to be removed the chooses became more dependent on who was in charge. Conflict theory says that no matter who the leader is, he/she will have people who do not agree. If this was all based on survival then this would much easier because those who are sickly, elderly or have past health problems would be the first to go. Now understand that because someone is sickly, elderly or have health issues that they would openly allow themselves to go with a fight. One of the people that where on the lifeboat was the self-made millionare. Now he would most likey would have tryed to bribe the others to allow him to stay, because he was over weight he would be out if survival was the only goal. Their are people who would take 200k to allow one person to live and another to die but, no one will know if someone did take a bribe if offered. Another passenger was the pregnant woman, now if you where still looking at survival then she would be gone. A pregnant women needs to eat well, eat alot, use the restroom alot. Its alot to do for one person when no one any food or strength to spare to this women. Soon the baby would parish. If u had morals you would most likey say that we can get through this and that she will have a healthy baby boy or girl. All these people had reasons to live. But weather you believe survival is your only goal will make some reasons stand out then others. Today in our society we have people that will chose a younger man instead of an older one just so the company won't need to pay for a higher salary. Today is about survival, if your wife is pregnant your salary won't be raised, the new health care bill even assures that the elderly may not be fully covered. Is that a country that you would like to live in? Where our only goal is to survive?