That Everest is overcrowded is true, that 11 people have died in the queue is proof of that. We saw that image last week which showed the matter:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Hundreds of climbers hoping to make it to the summit of the world’s tallest mountain were forced to queue for hours in freezing temperatures at high altitude this week as congestion built up on Mount Everest. The delays have been linked to the deaths of at least three people on the mountain, according to local media. An American man and an Indian man and a woman all died as they descended, various sources said.[/perfectpullquote]We’ve more on this now:
Watch the latest video at foxnews.com
Of course, we were told by the Senior Lecturer that this was all an excess of neoliberalism:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] This is staggering. And it’s deeply selfish. Call it neoliberal consumption gone mad, if you wish. And it’s about as antithetical to the Green New Deal as it gets. We need to live in a very different world now. And this picture makes clear why. We have literally pushed the world to its limits. And it can take no more. [/perfectpullquote]That being ludicrous of course, it’s a lack of neoliberalism, an insufficiency of it:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Now, it might seem a logical leap to go from queues on Everest to the NHS, but economic principles transcend all sorts of areas of human activity. In this case, if a resource suffers from excess demand, we must ration access to it. Rationing by price is the best way to do this, the most efficient and the most logical.[/perfectpullquote] [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It is also the best way to keep people alive. That’s as true of people keeling over in an NHS queue as it is of those strolling through the Death Zone at 8,000 metres above sea level. The logical solution to the one is the same in essence as that to the other. Charge people and, if necessary, charge them some more.[/perfectpullquote]Everest 1953: The Epic Story of the First Ascent
Charging works where the provision is fungible, these potatoes are too expensive, I’ll try those potatoes, or even try rice. But how fungible is climbing Everest? Is it a “swimming pools compete with motobikes, not with swimming pools” thing, or is it “breathable air competes with breathable air” thing?
I suspect the Everest experience is rather more fungible than you might think. Just climb the highest mountain in Europe and then try breathing about half as often as you would normally. While carrying a tent on your back and walking up a slope. Send a cheque to the Nepali government for half the amount you’ve saved for the added bonus feeling of being fleeced.
since nobody has to climb Everst, it is obviously totally fungible. Make the cost £1 billion and 2-3 people a year will do it.