The Economics of Cloning Armies or Super Families

Let's put the religious part of the debate for a moment, there will be time for that later. Currently there is much ethics debate from many different religious beliefs about cloning in both the scientific communities and the church. Enough in fact that the US Senate and Congress have already made a law against human cloning. This law effects US citizens and it is expected that future laws will be sanctioned and conditions enforced through trade agreements for all civilized and industrialized nations against cloning. Literally a world wide ban. However this does not mean that cloning will not exist in the future as we already see groups claiming the first human clone and others following suit. So for the sake of debate, and at the World Think Tank, all topics are to be discussed, worked out, all sides heard and all concepts evaluated. Below is such a cost study, which seems to indicate that cloning is not a profitable from a pure economic standpoint as one might think. Here are some real numbers thrown out to shed some light on the subject of the economic viability of human cloning.

I offer no solution to the problem only to study costs associated with the much debated subject of cloning. Now then put yourself in the driver's seat and let's begin.

If you wanted to have 20 clones of yourself, there will be a huge investment on your part. The cost to raise them until age 16 provided you ran the household like a business would be approximately $500 per month minimum until age 6, then $700 per month each until age 12, then $900 per month until age 16. This would include all the necessary things that you had while growing up; Cub Scouts, soccer shoes, little league, bicycle, after school activities so they arrive at age 16 with the proper social norms, strength of character and development necessary. This would not include schooling, which we assume would be paid by the state. However if you had 20 clones this is an overburden on society and there would surely be a law against that sometime in the future. In other words if the cloning was allowed and you were responsible for the costs, you would be responsible to subsidize for the extra units you brought into society. If you home schooled, then you would need a tutor or several, perhaps a coach and some extra educational or vocational training and we are assuming the need to clone on a massive level was for a business purpose. So the ROI would be considered within the costs.

Now let's go over the costs above. 20 clones at $500.00 per month is $10,000 per month. Six years of this would be 72 months or $720,000.00, so then now you have 20 of "you" at age six and your job is hardly over indeed. Now then to take those kids to age twelve will cost you even more, another 72 months but at the rate of $700.00 per month or $14,000 per month, multiplied times 6 years is 1 million eighty thousand dollars. The last four years would be crucial to the development of strong, smart and worthy home grown leaders therefore you would spend about $900 per month per teen times 20 teens is $18,000 per month. Forty-eight additional months is going to cost you $864,000. So to get 20 clones to age 16 will cost you $2,592,000.00 in today's dollars, yet we all know about inflation and it's real costs. Now then to hire the help of in-house tutors, baby-sitters and instructors and of course mentors, coaches and teachers you are going to need a staff of no less than 3 people at an average of $35,000 per year for each for the first 6 years of cloning. 4 people for the next 10 years and better trained people with skills as well, for instance being able to teach physics, calculus, trigonometry, World history, sports skills also since these young people are you, you will want the best and perhaps up the ante or have special guests come in such as famous basket ball, football, baseball, golf, athletes or coaches for first class training in tactics, skill, finesse and sportsmanship and of course winning. How to win is what you are looking for.

This means about $55,000 times four staff members are needed. So let's add in $100,000 per year for specialists to give them a first class leg up on the world. Now we have staff costs of $210,000 for the first six years per each staff member times three, which is $630,000. The next ten years staff costs are $2,200,000.00 plus special seminars and sports camps of 1 million. So training these clones and nurturing them costs you $3,200,000 minimum without inflation plus the $2,592,000 for food shelter, clothing, bicycles, sports gear, Nikes, etc which is $5,792,000.00 which in today's money is considered a large cost. With proper tutoring at age sixteen they should be ready to accelerate to college level if you have done everything right. Four years of maximum study, five at most and they should be ready to run the family businesses. Each clone is costing you $289,600.00 even with the economies of scale of a huge group effort.

Let's talk about mortality rates shall we. Currently the odds of getting a clone to age sixteen are almost nil as the negative aspects of aging are greatly exaggerated and therefore presently it is unlikely that any would reach age sixteen. Birth mortality rate is about 1/16 or so now, so you might have 21 or 22 to make sure 20 survived birth. Currently the birth mortality rate of cloning is probably more like 20:1, which means to get 20 you have to try 400 times. But after you have twenty born you still have other issues with infant death syndrome, disease, etc, which means you may need a few more to make sure you get to 20. if they are like you they will most likely do things like ride motorcycles, jump bicycles off jumps and generally do things which are dangerous and we have all had close friends growing up who did not make it. If you add in 3 extra clones assuming that all these issues of cloning and deaths is figured out in the future then you add $289,600 times three or $868,800.

With all these high costs, it seems cloning may not be such a good idea after all and perhaps it might be better for you to simply get married or adopt and split the costs with your spouse or significant other.

What say you, tell us your thoughts on the value of cloning, your thoughts on the costs associated, ways to cut costs, mistaken notions of the costs projected here. Porjected date of reality of cloning in the future? 5, 10, 20, 30 years to viability of concept, longevity of clone, death and mortality rate estimates? Tell us of your desire to have a clone of yourself? How such ideas effect you, cost to the general welfare, state, taxation rate, costs to society, health care. Would we all be created equal if in fact we were copies of ourselves? Tell us your thoughts, it is a subject of interest and soon there will be clones in the world, whether we like it or not, since many have the desire. Do you care? What can we do, should we do, any thought

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs