There are big trade-offs to be made between using water and having a more efficient (less polluting) plant.
Sure, until you start considering technologies like NGCC, NGCT, PV, and wind. Might be related to why, in the U.S., that is where the major investment in power is going. . .
assuming some level of rational financial decisions
Assuming income is the same in both situations, if I am not earning higher than 3% on my investments, then why am I not paying off my mortgage with my surplus monthly net cashflow (which is higher in the second scenario)? If I am earning higher than 3% on my investments then I am earning a spread and making easy money, like a bank (I am earning a higher interest rate than I am being charged).
Twice the mortgage period length gives me twice as long an opportunity to take advantage of advantageous investments when they are above 3% (earn a spread), so, all else equal, I am better off financially.
. . . or how some people will try anything including poking a sleeping bear with a stick just to get 15 min of fame . .
Yes. . . you do remember that thing they call the "Internet." Technology is just making the real world more like that. . . You can wish people were different all you want, but, for better or worse, it is what it is. You cannot change human nature. . . best to accept and move on.
NK already kills people all the time for just being human. I think that is a problem with the NK regime, not human nature.
People are going to retire at 65, and then collect benefits for the next 55 years.
If aging can be postponed, then so can retirement. Also, perhaps work will become more pleasant without the pressure of having to rush and save up for retirement.
The hardest part of climbing the ladder of success is getting through the crowd at the bottom.