The Joker Experiment from the Dark Knight happens except instead of having a boat filled with civilians and a boat filled with criminals, you have a boat filled with hardcore Democrats and a boat filled hardcore Republicans.
In the waters, you have two ferries moving around. Inside one ferry you have 100 avowed Democrats. In the other boat you have 100 hardcore Republicans.
Suddenly, both boats are hacked and stop moving and loses contact other the outside world. Both boats find that their engine rooms have been rigged to kingdom come with barrels of explosives. Both boats find a present box containing an active remote detonator. A saw-like announcement is then made stating:
1. The two boats have been rigged with explosives
2. If anyone attempts to leave a boat, he will use a master control and detonate that boat
3. After 1 hour, both boats will be simultaneously detonated by the master control unless one boat is exploded first.
4. The remote control each boat has detonates the other boat. They have 1 hour to press the button before the other boat does. The boat that goes for the button first will live.
The passengers realize they are in big trouble because months ago in another US state this same “Joker” ran a similar gig with two other boats. In that situation one boat did press the button and blow up the other boat in 25 mins, the surviving passengers WERE allowed to leave.
What happens next? Will one boat press the button (especially seeing as they know the other boat is filled with their political opposites)? Or will both boats decide “Nope. We’re all going to die then so be it. We’re not going to murder the other boat’s passengers; at the end of the day we’re all Americans.”
Or will the experiment be “ruined” when one side tries to escape instead?
If one boat does go for the bomb first, what method (voting, lottery, will of the strongest etc) will they use to decide who presses the button?