Story Problem

In the town of Community each person needs 100 gallons of water per day, to live comfortably. Population: 100. Available water per day: 10,000 gals. X owns 5,000 gals/day and keeps them for himself. He also owns 500 gals/day in Switzerland, and 200 in the Cayman Islands. One proposed explanation is that X is a sociopath. Another is that he is addicted to water and can’t get enough. How many people live comfortably each day? What is to be done?

Is the following conservation effort the correct answer?

Robert Borosage, The Conservative Congress Votes Dynasty Over Democracy

Next week as Congress returns, House Republicans will address what they consider one of the nation’s most pressing problems: relieving the tax burden on the wealthiest 0.2 percent – 2 of 1,000, the multimillionaires – by eliminating the estate tax. … The same Republican Congress that will vote this tax break for multimillionaire dynasties just passed a budget that calls for slashing $5 trillion over 10 years in investments in education, Pell grants, environmental protection, Medicaid and Medicare, food stamps and other programs for the most vulnerable. They think it more important to lard the estates of the few than to invest in areas vital to our future.