Hi Steve, I said that “First-come-first-served is a widely accepted method of resource allocation, although certainly not absolute.” You provide good examples where it fails to be a good method of resource allocation and why it should not be used as an absolute criterion. Nations seem to try frame debates in a way that “stops history” at an advantageous point and then argue that everything subsequent was unfair. This can be an abuse of the first-come principle. Almost every part of the planet has been conquered multiple times and you can’t rewind the clock to the beginning of time. We need to find some way to move forward, mindful of all the wrong that has been done in the past (and is being done in the present).
In making decisions I ask if I think it would make the world a better place. Hopefully I get it right some of the time. Thanks, -Christopher > On Jun 28, 2022, at 8:13 AM, Steve Brown <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dear Christopher, > > Thanks for creating the opportunity for me to share my thoughts more fully. I > am sorry I don’t have the opportunity to respond as thoroughly as your email > calls for. I’ll make just a couple more brief points. > 1) Thank you for presenting references that support my claim. I was hoping > folks would do their own homework on this. > 2) I would endorse any further attempts toward a locally data-driven approach > to the the issue. > 3) I will double down (with references! ) on my claim re: “first-come first > served” as an allocation principle that opens the door to inequity: > "First-come, first-served allows morally irrelevant qualities—such as wealth, > power, and connections—to decide who receives scarce interventions, and is > therefore practically flawed."https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19186274/ > <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19186274/>. We saw during the early pandemic > how first-come first served created inequities in vaccine distribution > (https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-i-got-my-covid-19-vaccine-tales-of-getting-the-shot-11618240904 > > <https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-i-got-my-covid-19-vaccine-tales-of-getting-the-shot-11618240904>). > I’d be happy to discuss over beer/wine/coffee/tea how this may or may not > apply to public goods such as the Lincoln trail system, as well as our > national educational, economic and financial systems. > 4) You or any others are welcome to the last word on this. > > Best wishes, > > Steve
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