The Grateful Dead.

The Grateful Dead .

Andre Willers

3 Feb 2014

Synopsis:

Taking it with you . Rich and officially dead . No taxes and off the grid .

 

Discussion :

1.No , not the band http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grateful_Dead

The definition there was "the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial."

 

2.Rather more Earthy . Like   Schrodinger’s cat (  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger's_cat)

The greatest benefit is to be half-dead , half alive .

 

3.To be declared dead in one country , but have another passport .

 

4. Being officially dead means you are invisible to officialdom .

Accidentally dead persons find great difficulty in resuscitating themselves because of all the anti-fraud protocols built into the computer systems .

 

5.Taxes : nil

 

6.Travel : not a big problem if you have a second passport .

 

7.Medical : cash

 

8.Social benefits : nil.

Protection : policing will have to be private .

Given the size of the market (see para 9 below) , there would exist a very private , exclusive policing force .Part of the Charon Service . 

 

9. How many users of the Charon Service ?

The advantages to a loner of moderate affluence (+- $5million) means that many have availed themselves of this option .

The range $5-$10 million seems most likely .

There are probably organizations that facilitate the process .

Even “Lonely hearts for the grateful dead” .

Something the Ancient Egyptians haven’t thought of !

An escort service for The Grateful Dead .

Of course , Charon here would require more than two coins .

USA alone :

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2012/03/21/millionaire-population-grows-by-200000/

There are now  1,078,000 households  worth $5 million or more and about 107,000 people worth $25 million or more.

An estimate of numbers in USA , taking Asperger’s incidence as a guideline for loners:

http://www.autism-help.org/asperger-syndrome-incidence.htm

“ For example, a relatively small 2007 study of 5,484 eight-year-old children in Finland found 2.9 children per 1,000 met the ICD-10 criteria for an Aspergers syndrome diagnosis “

This gives 1078000 *2 *2.9/1000 = 62 500  individuals in the USA alone . Household is taken to mean at least two children .Asperger’s is genetic .

A market of some half-billion dollars .

The Charon Service very probably exists , but by invitation only .

 

10.An interesting aside :

Note the equivalence (from a normal viewpoint) of half-dead and lack of social contact .

 

“A stranger is just an enemy you don’t know”

 

Regards

Andre