Say you’ve built your armies of robot minions, or pulled a thorn out of the Monkey’s Paw and it gave you a non-cursed wish. Whatever the cause, you’re now the Lord and Master of the Earth. Your word is law, your power unthinkable, so let it be written, so let it be done.
Okay, now let’s get to the grim part…how many people, just as a ballpark estimate, would you think you’d have killed? Not counting deaths from your own incompetence (mass famines from bad agricultural policies; unfortunate casualties from giving away free LSD with every purchase of a chainsaw or SUV, stuff like that). I’m talking how many people would you deliberately order be made dead.
Again, in accordance with board rules, I don’t want to know specifically who, for whatever leeway that buys me. I’ll admit I don’t know what the policy is on a more general approach, like “I’d nuke Timbuktu, just so I could finally find out where it is.”
Just the ones who deserved it - people who park in two spaces, people who talk on cellphones while driving, people who don’t realize they’re blocking aisles while shopping - you know, asking for it.
Book: “If you take sexual advantage of her, you’re going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater.”
Not all at once, don’t want to have a catastrophe or anything. But I think the world has way too many other men. In a few years, women will find me uber attractive, just because I am one of the few men left.
I find even necessary deaths an unpleasant aspect of life and, as such, wouldn’t care to participate in one.
However I’d send out an Emperor’s poll and it would ask a single question:
“Is violence ever the solution?”
Everyone who answered “yes” would receive a one-way ticket to a private island where they would be provided, by taxpayer’s wise benevolence, sufficient resources to develop their own special, violent society.
Having done that I’d dust off my hands and shrug. Whatever happens now is no longer my responsibility. Heh.
If it was just emperor, the answer would be no one.
However, you said God-emperor.
It that case it will be thousands, because I’m god, I’m all knowing and all powerful, so I will use Gorts.
The reason why I think thousands will die? It will be because the Gorts will know with 100% accuracy who is ordering ethnic cleansing or massacres or political assassinations. And they will destroy whoever is doing or ordering that. (Not pre-crime, they will only target the ones that already gave the orders)
I would figure though that very quickly warlords and terrorists would get the hint.
I answered no one, because of this sentence. I have no plans to order anyone killed, however, I would make new laws that have the death penalty, like anyone who violently* rapes someone, or any type of rape of children, would be put to death (method to be determined by the victim, or their parents in the case of children… And yes, natural causes would be acceptable if they want)… But since I don’t believe in ex post facto laws, I’m not actually “ordering” a death.
Though, there might be accidental deaths from my other initiatives…
*I specified violently because I believe it shows a total disregard for another human, other types of rape would be sentenced based on the circumstances of the crime.
I like Tethered Kite’s approach best I think, maybe combined with Hirka T’Bawa’s new laws.
I wouldn’t want to deliberately kill anyone in particular, but I can think of more than a few I’d like to send to an island to live amongst themselves, and then if they killed each other…well…so be it. My question(s) and answer(s) for determining island placement would be different though. I am not sure what it (or they) would be exactly; I’d think that “is violence ever the solution?” would be at least part of it, but I’d probably extend it to include a lot more transgressions.
Anyone not sent to The Island of No Return™ would then be subject to my much broader death penalty laws (and I’ll steal the idea of the death penalty and implementation being chosen by the victims or their family so that my hands were technically clean). If that meant that Cat Whisperer gets to choose whether the guy who parked in two spots leaving none for her, lives or dies then that would be his problem, not mine.
I voted “no-one, ever” - I mean, if I’m God-Emperor, I assume I won’t need to kill anyone to protect my own power, which is the usual reason for thinning the herd. Everyone else can be dealt with through non-lethal means by my fanatic [del]Fedaykin[/del]Dibblerim. Prison, rehabilitation, soma, Emperor Hugs®, whatever works.
It’s funny, though, in another “what if” thread, I had no aversion in going back in time and making sure the human race never evolves. Interesting contrast in how I view people vs Mankind, there, I think.
ETA: looking at the polls, there’s no middle ground with you people, is there?
Well, whoever spilled the beans to you about my robot minions, for a start.:mad:
I prefer not to think about it as deliberately killing - more like “collateral damage” and “killed resisting arrest” or “devoured by my canivorous butterflies”.
I’d likely limit this power to people who have personally pissed me off rather than targeting general groups (since those groups would be better dealt with through my other god-emporer powers), and I just don’t think more than hundreds could personally piss me off on that level.
