No. Genocide is never necessary, and those who justify it are sociopaths, by definition.
We’ll save Australia
Don’t wanna hurt no kangaroos
We’ll build an All American amusement park there
They’ve got surfing, too
That’s because we’re talking about a scale of millions to one, here. The obligation I have towards my child is many time larger than I have towards my fellow human beings, but it’s not millions of times larger.
So how many complete strangers are worth the life of your child? Please be precise; I am assuming you are working from some kind of algorithm here.
Actually, there is. Killing other people to save your kid is wrong. Happy to have been able to clear that up for you.
Oh, I don’t know about never. If, circa 1942, you could have pressed a button and killed every German on the planet, would you have done so? I would.
You know it occurs to me that Hitler pushed a similar button…
Ohhh… I went there!
No.
Hitler himself? Absolutely. The entire upper echelon of the Nazi Party? You betcha. But every single German on the entire Earth? You’d have to be batshit insane to even consider that as a positive course of action.
Then you’d let all those millions of Russians, Poles, Gypsies, gays and Jews die? That’s nice.
No. But, when you speak of us, as a society, not allowing things like this to happen, you are referring to our system of laws. Laws that we, as a group, have agreed to abide by in order to avoid the chaos you refer to. We give up certain things in order for this system to work; one of these is the natural right to exact revenge for wrongs done to you or your loved ones. Life isn’t fair, no. One of the purposes of law is to try to make things a little less unfair, on balance.
If someone kills your child, the correct response is to let the law handle it. Killing them yourself won’t bring your child back and will likely wind up with you in prison.
Nope, life truly ain’t fair.
You’d kill all of those German ex-pats, resident aliens, immigrants, scientists (Albert Einstein was Jewish, but he was also German)? How is committing genocide to stop genocide different from committing genocide?
Nice? No. Fair? I dunno. But I know one thing: most of those Germans you’d happily slaughter are just as innocent as the victims of the Nazis; it ain’t my call to make.
As it happens, I’m having a birthday party for my daughter today and I’m pressed for time, so I’l be brief.
MsWhatsit, you’re a shrill, self-righteous little twat and it’s only the fact that you and your opinions don’t matter that keeps you from being annoying. I told you to take this here because you seem ignorant of the rules of this board.
All of you live in countries with militaries that stand ready to kill other people so that you and yours can live. I am simply ready to do it personally. I don’t need to hide behind having others do it for me or try to make seem like what it’s not by killing others from afar. I’m willing to get my hands dirty. You, apparently, are not. That only makes you more fastidious than me, not morally better.
No matter how many times you stamp your little feet and insist on some kind of fucked up math that should make the lives of strangers worth more to me than the life of my child, I’m never going to agree.
would I forgive someone else for killing my child under the same circumstances? No. But you know what? I don’t place a lot of value on forgiving outsiders for things done to me and mine. They might have had reasons that would have made me do the same thing, but so what?
The world isn’t all black and white like that. Well, maybe your world is, but mine isn’t.
Example - Someone all hopped up on goofballs breaks into my house, makes enough noise I awake, and I come into one of my kids room to find the guy about to stab my child in the heart.
If it’s wrong to shoot the guy, then I’m not concerned about right and wrong. I don’t care if he had a difficult childhood or if his girlfriend is sleeping with his mother.
Killing that person to save my child is not only right in my opinion but also in the eyes of the law.
Like Scumpup, I am also one of the people who’s response can considered to be hyperbole or possible trolling. I assure you 100% that it is not. I completely mean it and I don’t think I am such a moral person that I wouldn’t be a Hitler or Saddam Hussein figure given the right circumstances. I am just not charismatic enough and the circumstances aren’t right.
The question translates into my mind as:
- Would you prefer to be raped in the ass, beat into the coals, and attend your child’s funeral.
or
- Have a nice day with your child.
Other people keep saying over and over that this opinion is hyperbole and I can assure you that it seems to be obvious to many of us.
I have never been opposed to genocide as a general rule and none of the rest of you have either. It sounds icky and painful which is true but any truly caring person would be in Rwanda, Somalia, or countless other places around the world where genocide is happening today to sacrifice themselves for an impoverished family of five. It is all bullshit and you don’t hold the same morality you choose to think you do. That is the true hyperbole and you need to come to grips with that in your mind once and for all so that you can become a mature person.
I am an existentialist and my beliefs make it obvious that you would nuke, personally murder, torture, or do whatever else to save your small children. That isn’t hyperbole. It is a core and obvious belief that requires no higher thought.
I must confess…that was part of my motive in starting that thread. I was curious to see how far the “I would do anything for my child without a second thought” crowd would go.
I did not expect wiping out nations and strangling schoolchildren. That’s the kinda shit Doctor Doom does and justifies.
This is totally exciting to me. I don’t think I’ve ever been Pitted before! Granted this is only kind of a lame semi-Pitting because it’s in a thread I started myself, but still, it should count for something, yes?
Okay. Then you’re fucked up. That’s all I was saying earlier, and it is what I continue to say here. You can imagine me screeching that in a shrill tone of voice, if that’s what frosts your cookies. (Speaking of which, happy birthday to your daughter!)
You are of course correct. What I should have said is that killing random stranger(s) to save the life of your child is wrong.
Ok, I can understand that. I’d still do it, but I understand how someone could have a problem with it.
I don’t like strangers. They’re weird.
“How is it different?”
How is it the same?
How is even remotely similar?
I honestly have no comprehension of what you’re trying to say here.
I’d like to introduce myself, I’m lobohan. Please don’t kill me if you child is in trouble. 
I see those types of comments as the same sort of immature posturing that one sees from toddlers "I hate you infinity times 3’
In what fucked up imagination is the depth of your love for your child measured by the number of innocent lives you’ll sacrifice?
It allows folks to pretend they’re better than others.
It does, however, make a handy way of deciding who to spend time and energy on. Games like that thread are absolutley fucking pointless. which would be why I didn’t bother posting to it.