All The King's Horses And All The King's Men

nineteen - 'the fat man on the bridge'

Luna took a deep breath, pushing herself to her feet once more as Theo was thrown down next to her.

She stood up, running toward Lucien.

He chuckled, lifting her up and throwing her back onto the bed.

"You can't win, kid."

Luna giggled, her whole body shaking with her laughter.

Her twin brother was thrown next to her once again, his giggles matching with Luna's.

Luna pushed herself up once again, running back over to Lucien and jumping on him, wrapping her arms and legs around him, attempting to pull him onto the bed.

Being four years old, though, she didn't have much muscle, therefore didn't exactly succeed in taking a twelve-year-old Lucien down, instead sort of just hung there for a second.

That was until a six-year-old Ezra Rodriguez waltzed in, a smug look on his chubby little face.

He attacked from behind, swinging on Lucien's neck and screaming out a war cry that one could only describe as disturbing — a sort of 'aaaooaaooaaaaaa'.

Luna couldn't breathe from how much she was laughing, and fell backwards onto the bed, hitting the mattress with a thump.

"Go on, Ezzy! Get him!" She cried, attempting to get up but once again falling backwards from how much she was laughing.

Theo was still practically in a giggle coma next to her, rendering him completely useless.

Lucien span round a few times, mock trying to fling Ezra off of him, but he had a hold of his little brother's arms — he wasn't that careless.

Their mother walked in at that moment, attracted to the room from the amount of noise.

She stood in the doorway, a contented smile on her face as she watched four of her eight children play in her bedroom.

Everything was perfect, in a bittersweet sense, as she wasn't even thinking about her other child on the other side of the country, sitting in a doorway, fighting for his life.

FLASHBACK OVER.

D R A K E A R M A N I — R O D R I G U E Z

The British moral philosopher Phillipa Foot brought forward a moral dilemma in 1967, metaphorically stating that a tram is running down a track and is out control. If it continues on its course unchecked and undiverted, it will run over five people who have been tied to the tracks. You have the chance to divert it onto another track simply by pulling a lever. If you do this, though, the tram will kill a man who happens to be standing on this other track.

For many utilitarians, the problem is a no-brainer. Our duty is to promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Five lives saved is better than one life saved. Therefore, the right thing to do is to pull the lever.

Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism. It judges all actions by their consequences. But there are many people who believe that we have to consider different approaches to the situation at hand as well. In the case of the stated dilemma, many are troubled by the fact that if they pull the lever they will be actively engaged in causing the death of an innocent person.

According to our normal moral instincts though, this is seen as wrong, and we should pay some heed to our normal moral instincts.