I'm going to assume we all have some idea of how futures markets work; ie. buyers and sellers negoitiate for locked-in prices of goods not yet fully produced in hopes of getting a good deal, and these contracts are arranged, bought, or sold by companies involved in trading, like our favorite energy company, for instance.

So, what is the predicted value of your next life? If we could devise a way to label your next life with your current one so that a decent tracking system could develop for who becomes who, an entire futures market could be developed upon how good a karma we believe the next life of the person in question will be. Payback would be received when that person came into their own. Of course only stock in members of religions that believe in re-incarnation would be traded, although persons of any religion could own or trade shares.

I call 'dibs' on all shares of the Dalai Lama, which I'll sell when I turn 85 or so...
-- RayfordSteele, Apr 04 2002

How does one assign a value to a life? (Personally, I'm planning on coming back as a dung beetle, but without dung beetles, everybody would be up to their eyes in unrecycled shit... so am I a good buy?)
-- Jeremi, Apr 04 2002


Put me down for Kosher Swine (Psssst - it's a buyers market)
-- thumbwax, Apr 04 2002


<Rodney Trotter>I've got this 'orrible feeling that if there is such a thing as reincarnation, knowing my luck I'll come back as me.</Rodney Trotter>
-- calum, Apr 04 2002


That is a good question, Jeremi. I'm not exactly certain. Maybe just weigh the rarity of that person's expected future lifestyle against their potential for improvement.

Personally, I predict there will be an overabundance of dung beetles the next time around due to the glut of lawyers and telemarketers here now; therefore I wouldn't personally invest that much in a future prospective dung beetle. If you could convince me that you've found a new efficiency in dung utilization that gives you an advantage over the others, then I might consider.

The humor here was that actual value of the stock didn't matter much to futures traders, who make their quick buck and then leave before the shit hits the fan and everyone realizes that the commodity was essentially worthless.
-- RayfordSteele, Apr 05 2002



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