Bravo. In one sentence, you captured my opinion on this topic.
I’m happy for most of you in this thread that you live right now when and where you do. You can be smug and self-righteous comfortably while basically ignoring the realities of what is happening right now in the other parts of the world. Things that happened every place through most of history. But you are lucky enough to have been born when and where you were, so you aren’t…lunchmeat.
Shagnasty has you pegged.
Perhaps much of what’s happening elsewhere in the world and has happened throughout history is people inflicting disproportionate harm upon innocent strangers in furtherance of their own selfish desires?
I mean, I don’t understand how the people saying “No, I would never commit genocide just for the sake of my child” are expressing naive ignorance of the realities of the world and its horrors.
Just because little Jimmy down the street commits genocide doesn’t mean you have to, young man!
Has he now? Let’s see.
Looks to me like he has you pegged, Scumpup, not me. I have always been opposed to genocide as a general rule, ever since I found out what the word meant. Shagnasty and Scumpup, you seem to be brothers in blood, and you both live in the delusion that the whole world shares in your bloodthirsty worldview.
Well, I never really interpreted “It Takes A Village” in that way…
You stupid fucker
“But ALL the kids commit genocide ! They’ll make fun of me !” :mad:
Besides the obvious moral problems with killing all Germans to stop the Nazi mass murders, there’s the tiny problem that many of the people they killed WERE German. Jews, the disabled, gays, and the rest weren’t spared because they were German. It’s like solving New York’s crime problem by nuking it; it’ll work, but what’s the point ?
And I wonder how the “genocide to protect me and mine” types feel about it applied in the other direction ? Are you saying that the Islamic fanatics who call for the annihilation of Israel are in the right ? If someone in Iraq was handed a button that would kill all Americans and British, should he push the button ?
<3
I nominate you for the Head of Hypothetical Situation Management.
I think the answer to these questions simply comes down to whether you believe in a fundamental morality or not. I do. If I were forced to choose between the death of all the people in Australia and the death of the one person I love most in the world, I would choose for Australia to live because the other choice is more wrong.
Some people don’t believe in right and wrong. This doesn’t necessarily make them sociopaths, but it is very important that we never allow these people to acquire great amounts of power.
If we all off other people to protect our own and they in turn do likewise, wouldn’t that eventually mean there’d be no one? And I’d just like to say that I can’t fathom being the offspring of anyone who’d take the life of another to save me. The guilt and fear (of them and the possibility that I’d turn out just the same) would eat me alive.
I would also add that if my mother had to choose between killing me and killing everyone in Australia, I would prefer that she kill me.
Many Germans resisted or fled.
The Nazi’s had many collaborators, French, American, Catholics, and probably Jews.
Alessan can go fuck himself.
Thanks for that. I’ve just opened this thread in IMHO Share your positive/negative memories of parents going all “Mamma Bear/Pappa Bear” to protect you. I’d like to hear more experiences to the pitted attitude from the (adult) kids side.
So to all Dopers in this thread; if your dad did fight for you and that made you, as a kid, feel proud and safe, please post to that thread.
Or, if dad did get into a fight on your behalf and all you felt was fear and embarrasment, I’d like to hear that too.
Ahem… please carry on.
Do we really need a point before we can nuke New York?
Rats.
Of course, Hitler would have been spared, seeing as how he was Austrian. If you kill all the workers in a hive, the queen will just crank out a replacement army.
I feel sort of dirty for contributing to this stupid hypothetical.
love
yams!!
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many Dopers permanently self-destruct their credibility in a single thread. I think the last time was the “Golden Retriever aniligus” thread of very long ago. Ah, memories.
…and I know I mis-spelled “anilingus.” But then, my typing credibility was destroyed very, very long ago…
Are any of the millions you would kill threatening you?
You have said you would kill my family in order to save your child. That’s a threat. I have no idea when this situation might be made manifest.
I’m just doing the same thing to save mine, preemptively, only I’m killing one instead of millions. Who’s to say that tomorrow you won’t need to push the red button? Better safe than sorry, if millions of people have such little value.
You’re no better than a rabid dog.
I’ve just got to ask-If you would kill an untold number of innocents to protect your own, would you be willing to do something less drastic, like steal, to better the life of your child?