That’s one side historical side of the coin. The other side is Dresden.
Something that I think a conscientious objector shouldn’t do . I can’t see much of a difference between making the bombs, bringing them to the frontline and dropping them.
(I’m a conscientious objector, by the way, but not because I’m a pacifist, rather because I’ve zero confidence in my government consistently using the militaries to further a goal I would approve of. And conscientious objectors over here, would be given tasks like decontamination, orientation of refugees, relief, etc…that wouldn’t have them involved in the military effort itself)
What about giving the government money to pay for making the bombs, bringing them to the frontline, and dropping them? What about working for a company that supplies the bomb factory with their HR software? Their industrial control systems? Their chemicals? Where do you draw the line?
I suspected someone would ask this question.
Very roughly, I don’t believe in absolutes. I draw the line arbitrarily, and depending on the circumstances. If things become ugly enough, stopping paying taxes might be warranted. If they become even uglier, the proper thing to do could be shooting at your own troops.
It’s just that generally speaking, I feel that being directly and personnally involved in the the war process (bombs have essentially no other use than being dropped on people while the it becomes a grey area when you’re producing chemicals that might be used to make bombs) isn’t very different, morally speaking, than dropping them. Me feeling is reinforced also by something that happened to a close relative, directly related to this issue, and that I’d rather not share at the moment.
Actually I already had to wonder about the “working for a company that supplies the bomb factory” issue in the past because I personnally wouldn’t accept to work for the armament industry currently (I could feel diferently in time of war, depending on the war) and I once considered joining a company that has two main branches, one very directly involved in research and production of armament related stuff and another producing entertainment related stuff (both activities have a major common element) I was interested in. At the moment I still didn’t have to decide.
My pants just fell down.
Congratulations.
Can I get your comments on my post which answered your question in post #9?