The world as you know it is gone. Resources are scarce. You and your small group of survivors are staring at one last can of beans, and the silence is deafening.
Who gets it?
The strongest fighter? The person who found it? The weakest member of the group? The one who will contribute the most in the long run?
This is the moment where morality, survival, and human nature collide. Welcome to Trolley Problem: End-of-the-World Edition.
The Trolley Problem, But Make It the end of the world
In the classic Trolley Problem, a trolley car is barreling down the tracks toward a split. On one side of the tracks, five people are tied up. On the other track, one person is tied up. If the train car continues with no intervention, five people die. If you intervene and switch which track the trolley will go on, only one person dies.
The choice is yours:
Do nothing and let five people die.
Pull the lever and kill one person to save the five.
It’s an interesting ethical puzzle—until the apocalypse makes it real. Because in a post-collapse world, there is no “correct” answer. The rules of morality shift when survival is on the line.
And here’s the kicker: the choices we think we’d make in a crisis are often very different from the ones we actually would make.
Right now, sitting in our comfortable, mostly-functional society, we value fairness, kindness, and long-term thinking. We donate to charity. We hold doors open for strangers. We believe in laws and justice.
But when the world breaks? Priorities change.
The question isn’t just who deserves the last can of beans? The question is: how much of your humanity are you willing to trade to survive?
Different Survival Philosophies: What Kind of Leader Would You Be?
Let’s say you’re in charge of this little survival group. How do you decide who gets the last can of beans?
1. The Utilitarian Approach: Greatest good for the greatest number
You give the beans to whoever will keep the most people alive for the longest time. Maybe that’s the healthiest, strongest person. Maybe it’s the person with the most valuable skills (doctor, farmer, builder). Maybe that’s the person with the most knowledge.
Pros: Maximizes survival chances for the group.
Cons: If you’re sick or weak, your odds aren’t looking great.
2. The Altruist Approach: The most vulnerable eat first
The sick, the injured, the elderly, the children—they eat first, no matter what. The strongest can survive the most easily, so we should provide additional assistance to those who need more to maintain the bare minimum.
Pros: Keeps your conscience clear.
Cons: If resources run out, the people most capable of rebuilding society might not survive.
3. The Capitalist Approach: What can you offer in exchange
Nothing is free. You want the beans? Trade for them. Got extra supplies? Useful skills? A favor to offer? It’s a deal.
Pros: Encourages contribution and productivity.
Cons: Ruthless. If you have nothing to trade, you don’t eat.
4. The Strength-Based Approach: Might makes right
The strongest takes the beans, no questions asked. Either through force or by proving they contribute the most.
Pros: Nobody has to waste time debating.
Cons: Hope you’re the strong one.
5. The Democratic Approach: We all vote on it
Everyone in the group votes on who gets the beans. Maybe it’s fair. Maybe it turns into a popularity contest. Maybe it ends in a fistfight.
Pros: Feels more fair than the other options and everyone gets a say.
Cons: A democracy only works if people follow the results. And desperate people don’t always care about votes. And sometimes the most popular will win rather than the person most likely to help the group survive.
So… Who Gets the Last Can of Beans?
Maybe the real answer isn’t about who gets the beans. Maybe it’s about what kind of world you’re trying to build.
The apocalypse isn’t just about surviving—it’s about deciding what survival even means. If you save the strongest, do you risk creating a society where only power matters? If you prioritize the weakest, do you doom the group long-term? If you make every choice transactional, does trust even exist anymore?
This is how civilizations rise and fall—not with a grand battle or a final, dramatic moment, but with small, difficult choices like this. The way you distribute resources today determines the kind of society you live in tomorrow.
So, do you hand over the beans? Share them? Hoard them? Trade them?
Whatever you decide, just remember: the hardest choices don’t just shape who survives. They shape the future of the human race.
