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Samoa Air Rolling Out "Pay As You Weigh" Fares
cylonlover writes "Thrifty Samoans looking to take a trip may want to shed a few pounds before booking a flight with Samoan Air after the airline announced the implementation of a 'pay as you weigh' system. Unlike some other airlines that have courted controversy by forcing some obese passengers to purchase two seats, Samoa's national carrier will charge passengers based on their weight."
They have a demo fare calculator for the curious.
Because that's not the real reason. The real reason is that we Americans don't think problems should be solved. We think if there is a problem then people deserve to have that problem because they are sinful. Too much pollution? Jesus wants you to cough because you are a sinner, so the government shouldn't do anything about it. Children are dying from tainted milk? Too bad, they were born with original sin and deserve whatever milk God decides to bestow upon them, so pasteurization is an abomination. Can't get from point A to point B? Too bad, only a sinner would want to travel farther than Jesus walked during his 40 days in the desert, so the nanny state must never build train tracks. MURIKA!
I live in Wisconsin. My governor turned down federal money build a modern train system because he thought federal money must be some kind of trick from President Blackenstein. I'm pretty sure the reasoning was "Jesus drove a car, therefore citizens of Wisconsin must never ride in trains. Amen."