Erik said: > Are these numbers made up? I know the basic situation has occurred > multiple times, but the actual numbers? Have large numbers of people, > aware of a 10% chance of death, actually tried to leave? Did they risk > their children's lives as well?
I'll have to think about the rest of your message for while before I right a proper reply, but I'll reply to this little bit here. Yes, I made up those numbers for the sake of the thought experiment, but they aren't all that far from the situation with the Berlin Wall. I couldn't find exact figures for the number crossing the Wall, but the upper limit was 30,000 people who got from East Germany to West Germany by some route. 2838 people were arrested trying to cross the Wal, of whom 1500 were imprisoned, and there were 65 confirmed cases of people being killed. I'm pretty sure that being imprisoned in East Germany isn't quite the same as dying, but in any case at least around 10% and possibly a considerably higher fraction of people crossing the Wall were caught and subjected to unpleasant consequences. Rich _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
