Life is full of options. Generally speaking, options have value. Thus, the amazing fits of charity by those predicting that the world is going to end in the near future would seem to violate economic reasoning. After all, if the world truly ends when predicted, what use to anyone are the goods given away? If the world happens not to end then life can continue as before with little loss in material well-being (although the mental state of the individual who is let down that the earth didn't dematerialized is beyond the economist's purview).

However, showing up to the end-of-the-world rally with all your possessions in tow, or not being able to credibly signal that the possessions are no longer yours, doesn't send a strong signal of solidarity with the rest of the moonbats faithful. This then leads to a bizarre question - if the price of joining in with the moonbats faithful is all your worldly goods what kind of person joins such a group? I would generally suspect that the relative poor (or those with relatively few possessions in the first place) would find such a price none too high for a night or two of excitement and frenzy. This would imply that moonbat end-of-the-world-celebrating is an inferior good.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

Giving it all away seems like a silly way to go about preparing for the end of the world. However, if the primary reason for doing so is to be accepted by the group then it might actually be consistent with economic reasoning. It would seem much better than drinking the (poisoned) kool-aid, which definitely removes all future options.

The Sept. 23, 1909 NYT reports on such an event:

END OF THE WORLD SET FOR TO-MORROW

Crust of the Earth to Peel Off, Followers of Queer Religion Say.

WICKED ONES TO PERISH

Believers Dispose of All Their Possessions and Gather at Massachusetts Town to Await the Millennium.

WEST DUXBURY, Mass - Firm in their conviction that the world will come to an end at 10 A.M. next Friday, about 300 members of the denomination known as the Latter Reign of the Apostolic Church are spending the few remaining hours in prayer, song, and exhortation...

Worldly tasks have been laid aside and jobs have been thrown up that the faithful may prepare themselves for the millennium. Many have disposed of all their possessions. Believers are here from all over New England, especially large delegations having come from Springfield, Mass., and Providence and Pawtucket, R.I.

Wonder what the faithful did on Saturday?