Of course there’s no practical difference, but there is a large emotional difference. Its general accepted in human society that killing a child is a worse act than killing an adult and that would hold true when even in an objective sense its the right thing to do.
And I really don’t get why you don’t get it.
Well, emotionally, of course, there is a big difference, yes. But if the child is carrying a deadly disease that could wipe out entire populations, and if shooting is the *only *course of action available, and if a guard has been specifically instructed to shoot in such a situation, then what has to be done has to be done.
Also, we have to look at it this way: If that child got thousands of people sickened and killed from disease as a result of a guard’s failure to shoot, then that guard would feel even worse emotionally. And on the topic of children, that child could spread Ebola to many other children. The death of many children would be even more tragic than the death of one.
Agreed, but I and I imagine most other people would hesitate when a child was involved when they wouldn’t if it was an adult.
Should I escape? Of course not - it’s putting 7 billion lives at risk for the sake of one. Would I? Probably. Self-preservation is the strongest human instinct. Now, that’s only if there’s some sort of gap in the guard; if I’m risking getting shot, I’d just hunker down in my basement for a month or two and not talk to anyone.
If I was the soldier, I’d shoot to wound. If that’s impossible, I’d kill the escapee. And yes, it probably would be harder if it was a child, because they might not be aware of what they’re doing - while an adult would be making a calculated risk and decide it’s worth potentially being shot to try to get freedom, a child could just be confused and scared.
As a civilian inside, I have all kinds of ideas.
As the soldier, and I truly believed what the brass was saying, the first thing I would do is make up my mind what I am going to do in every possible scenario and then do that. I will not wait until the circumstance is right there before I ever try to make the decision.
A derail; but, Mr. K., is Frederick. Massachusetts (a city unknown to my atlas) a fictional place invented by you for the purpose of this thread? (I’m not American – had to go to Google for the list of state abbreviations.) Originally reckoning “Frederick, Maryland”, I’d been thinking up a Babara Frietchie-related response…
Civilian: do something else. Find a place to hole up within the zone, and have no contact with others. If I’m already infected, it’s too late anyway. If I’m not, there aren’t too many diseases that can be caught with zero contact with others. Even airborne illnesses aren’t an issue if you’re shut away from everyone else (barring someone coughing into an air vent in another room in the same house).
Soldier: well, I’ve never held or fired a gun and in general I don’t see myself killing anyone, but hells yes in this situation I’d shoot. 1) it was an order, 2) the order was given for a good reason, and 3) it might be my relatives who’d die if the sucker got out and spread the infection.
I agree with you on this point. And I would be like you - I’d still shoot anyone that made it necessary.
However, I do see a difference between an adult an child in this instance. I expect an adult to understand the importance of a quarantine, and to willingly comply for the good of humanity. If an adult is willing to break quarantine, I feel like I’m shooting someone who “deserves” it. A child isn’t capable of that kind of reasoning yet. They mostly do what they’re told, or react emotionally to a situation without thinking. Thus, I’d be shooting someone that I feel is innocent and simply caught in a terrible situation. I have to shoot them to prevent the situation from getting worse, but they certainly don’t deserve it.
If the conditions are such that I could keep to myself or at least just with a couple of people (family) until it’s over, I would stay and hope not to be infected. However, when you said that the conditions were hellish, I pictured overcrowding and a very high likelihood that if I wasn’t infected already I soon would be along with almost everyone else. In those conditions, if I was on my own (without children with me), then I would make the escape & do nothing but find a way to get water & hopefully a little food for 21 days until I could rejoin civilization. If I’m there with children or other loved ones I’m responsible for, I think I would stay just so they don’t die alone.
If I’m the soldier, I would shoot to wound. But I think if the order was really to shoot to kill, then it is more likely that there would be multiple shooters under obligation at once.