Under the current administration not only will we not be going to Mars, but even If we did and a astronaut was left behind. No way no how would current political parties in Congress, ( much less our current president) spend the money it would take to save said astronaut.
My real wonder would be if the majority of Americans would okay the amount of money it would cost to save that one man? I know Maga wouldn’t. But the rest? Just made we wondered. Now with Project Hail Mary coming to theaters and the excellent novel. Its the same question.
In that scenario, I agree the pragmatic choice is to save the majority.
But many situations tend to be complex and aren’t as clear as a trolley problem, so I want to avoid falling into the trap of seeing a false dilemma when there’s possibly more than two options.