Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site cepu.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!sdcsvax!bmcg!cepu!scw
From: scw@cepu.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: How to Get Rich with a Time Machine
Message-ID: <246@cepu.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-May-84 10:43:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: cepu.246
Posted: Wed May  2 10:43:53 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 4-May-84 02:28:38 EDT
References: <1680@stolaf.UUCP>
Organization: VA Wadsworth Med. Center; LA CA
Lines: 39


	>1)  I would play off of the idea that, at certain points throughout
	>History, there have been situations in which a great many
	>people would gladly have paid a dear sum for what, to others,
	>may seem mundane and ordinary.[ ... ] literally
	>thousands of situations in which people would pay anything
	>for a glass of water?  (No, I haven't seen Ice Pirates yet.)

This would work fairly well.

	>2)  My second thought concerns mankind's tendency to make war.
	>At those times men [...] black marketeering without affecting
	>his own future.
	>As an example, take Patton near the end of the European conflict
	>in WWII.  His push northward into Germany was halted due to a
	>lack of fuel.  Since, in an historical sense, the Allies were
	>destined to win anyway, it may not have made a great deal of
	>difference who reached Berlin first.  Patton would have liked
	>to do it himself and I'm sure, if offered the fuel from somewhere,
	>he would have paid enough for it to make it worth one's while.

The problem here is twofold. (1) George Patton was not an extreamly
wealthy man. and (2) Do you have any idea how much fuel Patton's IIIrd
Army used? It took a whole bunch of trucks (1000's) running ~24 hours a
day to keep him supplied.  Also you'd be substantally changing local
(time wise) history.  If Patton had reached Berlin first a whole lot of
things would be different. (1) Berlin would not have been flatend
nearly as throughly as it was (the Soviets delibertly caused as much
extra damage as they could).  This would have far reaching effects in
the attitude of the DDR.  (2) Dresden probably would not have been
bombed.  (3) The Warsaw Getto uprising probably would have been
succsfull (the Soviets would not have sat on their asses across the
river, and the German Army would have had more of its forces on the
western front [80% of the German Army was on the Eastern front]).

-- 
Stephen C. Woods (VA Wadsworth Med Ctr./UCLA Dept. of Neurology)
uucp:	{ {ihnp4, uiucdcs}!bradley, hao, trwrb, sdcsvax!bmcg}!cepu!scw
ARPA: cepu!scw@ucla-locus       location: N 34 06'37" W 118 25'43"