The David Pakman Show on “The Trolley Problem”

The name of this blog, Death By Trolley, is a reference to the philosophical thought experiment, The Trolley Problem, which was a subject of discussion recently on The David Pakman Show. I discovered David Pakman in his appearances on The Top Vlog, a progressive political video-blogging project launched by The Young Turks. I’ve found him to be a well-spoken, intelligent commentator.

Evolving look of the website

Greetings,

I’m continually working to improve the look of the website. I hope you like the changes. I personally love the background wallpaper. I tip my hat to the Flickr photographer who took it, along with a lot of other great shots of real and toy subways, trolleys and buses in Boston.

Side note: I’d like to make the header text more high definition. If anyone knows any good programs, let me know. I’m also very open to suggestions – and help! – to make the site look even better.

Stay reasonable

Www.DeathByTrolley.Com – Bookmark it :)

Thanks to a very good friend of mine this site can now be reached via www.deathbytrolley.com!!! Go ahead. Try it.

Much gratitude goes to Rob C for this.

UPDATE (26/10/2010): For some reason the .Com site isn’t directing to DBT… I’m looking into it.

UPDATE (30/10/2010): www.deathbytrolley.com is back up. Thanks, Rob!

The Jungle: Permanent Open Thread

This is a permanent open thread for ongoing discussion on whatever post-ers wish to discuss at any time, from interesting things you’ve seen in the news or contentious issues to random inanity.

Death By Trolley? The Story Behind the Name

Yes, the name. It’s as morbid as it is peculiar. Death By Trolley is a reference to the Trolley Problem, a thought experiment in ethics. The original formulation of the exercise is as follows:

A trolley is running out of control down a track. In its path are five people who have been tied to the track by a mad philosopher. Fortunately, you could flip a switch, which will lead the trolley down a different track to safety. Unfortunately, there is a single person tied to that track. Should you flip the switch or do nothing?

The innaugural post:What’s this all about?

Greetings readers,

Welcome to Death By Trolley (explanation of name to come), a blog that will focus on the political economies of healthcare, the mass media, law and policy, government and other areas of interest – usually of a political nature – primarily in Canada and the US. Central objectives of this blog will include 1) figure out how things work at the political and economic levels; 2) endeavoring to understand and accurately depict different perspectives on issues; and 3) to promote awareness, interest and involvement in the issues discussed.

A bit about me. My name is Ron Brown. I’m a 28 year old Masters of Occupational Therapy student at the University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario, Canada). I am a relatively outspoken bookish secular progressive with more than an enough opinions for one person, so I thought I’d share them

I am in the process of finding other people to also contribute to the goals of this site. As they join, I’ll ask that they write their own posts about themselves and what’s important to them.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you’ll take a look around the site, come back and watch it develop, take part in the conservations, and contact me if you have ideas, criticisms, questions, would like to participate in the site, etc.

Stay reasonable.

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