# And you sir are worse than Hitler! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 2, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183 "2015-12-02T03:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/1 "2015-12-02T03:28:40Z")
A spin-off of [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=776530) thread wherein the moral character of Christopher Columbus is discussed, I put Adolf Hitler as the ‘most evil’ comparison in the poll as the individual I thought had the most reprehensible personal morality, but it was asked why I didn’t put a ‘worse than Hitler’ option. So, do you think there are any individuals (not whole movements or regimes) who are more evil, are more of a moral cesspit, than the Austrian corporal? I’ve made the poll multiple choice, so if there are more than one on the list of potential Hitler-beaters that you think are worse you can pick both. I’ve put most of history’s most notorious arseholes on there largely based on their death toll, no doubt I’ve forgotten some though so you’ll have to tell us in the post. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/2 "2015-12-02T03:33:37Z")
Pol Pot, arguably. More omnicidal than Hitler at least. And the other Khmer Rouge guys, but he was the most well known and in-charge. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/3 "2015-12-02T03:35:11Z")
Not in the Pit, so I can’t answer. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/4 "2015-12-02T03:43:03Z")
So if I’m understanding it right, we’re supposed to un-godwinize the thread? ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/5 "2015-12-02T04:00:22Z")
It’s an interesting question because it also comes down to the ability to do harm. If for example Hitler’s inevitable failure at the Beer-Hall Putsch had been catastrophic for him as it should’ve been and he never progressed from being the leader of a violent fringe party would he have been any of the less evil? How does the capacity to do harm enter into it? I know of individuals who are truly evil and have done some truly evil things, but (luckily) never had the opportunity or the qualities to do these things on a larger scale. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/6 "2015-12-02T04:01:08Z")
Remember Jimmy Carr’s point: “Thing about Hitler is he’s judged very harshly by history, but he DID kill Hitler.” ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/7 "2015-12-02T04:23:41Z")
Very cute, including Jimmy Carter as a choice whilst ignoring Dick Cheney. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/8 "2015-12-02T04:24:16Z")
Jimmy Carter? Did I miss a memo? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/9 "2015-12-02T04:30:20Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Very cute, including Jimmy Carter as a choice whilst ignoring Dick Cheney. :mad: > [@ddsun](#): > > Jimmy Carter? Did I miss a memo? Sorry guys. Like the [title](https://youtu.be/f2UzbFYi2Go?t=57) it’s a reference to a [Simpsons gag](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sKMnhQWp6w). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/10 "2015-12-02T05:02:18Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Very cute, including Jimmy Carter as a choice whilst ignoring Dick Cheney. :mad: And W. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/11 "2015-12-02T11:24:27Z")
It’s Hitler by definition. ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/12 "2015-12-02T12:30:16Z")
I not see GW Bush on the list. A disappointment to many here, I am sure ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/13 "2015-12-02T12:42:19Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Sorry guys. Like the [title](https://youtu.be/f2UzbFYi2Go?t=57) it’s a reference to a [Simpsons gag](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sKMnhQWp6w). Even without the context I understood it to be a little joke thrown in there at the end. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/14 "2015-12-02T14:29:33Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Remember Jimmy Carr’s point: “Thing about Hitler is he’s judged very harshly by history, but he DID kill Hitler.” This was especially funny when misread as "Remember Jimmy Carter’s point:… " ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/15 "2015-12-02T14:32:29Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Sorry guys. Like the [title](https://youtu.be/f2UzbFYi2Go?t=57) it’s a reference to a [Simpsons gag](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sKMnhQWp6w). When I saw the title of the thread, I said to myself, “Jimmy Carter, history’s greatest monster.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/16 "2015-12-02T14:35:12Z")
I’d favor Genghis Khan and/or Attila the Hun. Compared to the population of their known world at the time they did more damage than any 20th century pipsqueak. But … As \*\*Asympotically Fat \*\*said back in post #5, “Who is most evil?” is a question of character. “Who did the most harm?” which is how I and several others are taking it, is a different question. But certainly an easier one to catalog. The OP himself says his roster was a laundry list of the super-stars of greatest harm, not the super-stars of evil character. Issuing the orders to invade a country or persecute an ethnic or religious group is a different and more nebulous kind of evil from the bad guy in _Saw_. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/17 "2015-12-02T14:40:32Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > I know of individuals who are truly evil and have done some truly evil things, but (luckily) never had the opportunity or the qualities to do these things on a larger scale. Actions do count. The people you know are slackers. In their heads they may be eviler, but really, starting a world war should really count for something. I’d put Mao up there number 3 behind Stalin, but like Pol Pot and many others, their evil was mainly confined to their own country or region. If Cheney was on the list, maybe…no, Hitler is still worse. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/18 "2015-12-02T17:23:38Z")
Vlad Tepes. Without him, I never would have had to sit through those God-awful Twilight movies. But seriously, folks…to answer this question, I have to decide whether sending numerous people off to die at the hands of others is more evil than torturing and killing fewer people, but doing it personally. In terms of sheer volume and representation of members from all walks of life, I’d have to choose Stalin, and in terms of cruelty inflicted personally, I really do have to choose Vlad. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/19 "2015-12-02T17:50:31Z")
What, no hate for Vlad the Impaler? I voted for Amin based on cannibalism stories I heard about him. No real idea if the stories are true or not. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183/20 "2015-12-02T17:58:15Z")
I chose Pol Pot, Stalin, and Leopold II. I think the connecting truth about them is that what they did was not for political or military goals, but simply because _they could_ and that those deaths did not lead to some greater good, it only led to more death. I also picked Timur the Lame (Tamerlane), simply for the absolute wreckage he made of civilizations that he contacted. At least the Mongols tried to keep the best of their conquests; Tamerlane was more a destructive tornado to Chinese, Indian, and Muslim civilization (and heaven wouldn’t have helped Europe if it had been close enough for his hordes to invade. IMHO as always. YMMV. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-you-sir-are-worse-than-hitler/739183.md?page=2)