Yeah, no one looking to be taken seriously would argue that you shouldn’t have taken Hitler out if you had the opportunity.
I’d take the opportunity and I’d sleep soundly that night.
I’m ok with that. I can live with it. I won’t try to twist the justification like the people in power. I will be committing sin and I will be a hypocrite if it means getting rid of the filth causing millions to suffer.
Truuuuue
Mr Frog on a good day
Luigi! <3
Oncologist:
Removes tumor
What have I become?
“If I am killing these cells, who can say that I am better than cancer”
There’s a counterexample in the Overwatch backstory. Overwatch goes to arrest this guy after he had a bomb planted that killed a bunch of their staff. The guy brags about how with his connections he’ll be released within days. One of the Overwatch agents says, “He’s right”, and shoots the guy. So that guy’s not going to be planting more bombs. But that leads to Overwatch getting disbanded. They aren’t around to respond immediately when the bad guys start acting up again. When Overwatch does get back into operation, that bad guy’s daughter escalates the violence against Overwatch in her quest for revenge.
Oh! Another counterexample is in the TNG episode, The Most Toys. The bad guy is doing the thing, gloating to Data how Data is too moral to kill him. Data does some calculations, says “I cannot allow this to continue”, and tries to shoot the guy. But he’s stopped at the last moment. So kind of a narrative copout.
I wouldn’t call those “counterexamples” as I understand counterexamples (namely an example that counters a statement or belief). That would mean the examples would have to show that killing the villain did make the protagonist just as bad.
Like, in your Overwatch example, they didn’t become morally bad from killing the bomber. They were disbanded; the worsening situation was as a result of other bad people choosing to disband them. It’d be weird to lay it at their feet for killing a villian with political(?) connections.
This is exactly how I feel every time I suggest the correct way to deal with conservative fascism is with violence. Some commenter will always come along with, “that makes you just as bad as them” and “you’re part of the problem”.
Part of the problem? Bitch, resisting force with force isn’t the fucking problem. It’s the solution.
It’s eliminating the problem. But there’s a little more to the solution, generally speaking.
It’s a sad part of the solution. Kicking them out of power and making impossible for them to ever have their way ever again (in absolutely any context- up to removing their ability to participate in any legal process, up to having any legal rights at all) is really more important, but unfortunately eliminating them is the easiest way to do that.
There are certain figures I would be uncompromisingly happy to see suffer for their actions- up to and including assassination. And others I think only need to be politically neutered.
The real complication (in a lot of the smaller cases) starts issues with false positives and such. If we could get perfect identification and prosecution to happen, then my tolerance for extreme measures goes waaaaay, way up.
Morality foundation: You’ve become a murderer just like him, no matter the intentios.
Morality reality: If you believe these people he murdered should not be dead, and that all his killings are unjust, removing him at worst replaces one mass murderer with just murderer. Even more, with a vigilante. Now, this of course is not really good, but the net outcome is good.
I think an outlook on the future is also necessary. A mass murderer that is not repenting will likely murder again. A vigilante without just cause will likely not. You are saving all the future lives.
The problem with “just cause” is that it’s flexible af. What stop vigilante from moving the goalpost into infinity and beyound? When does “just” degrade from some grand perception based on societal needs into subjective, personal reasons?
Best case scenario, surrender yourself to community after the deed. Thus, the new murderer got instantly taken down without creating another. But that requires sacrifice/martyrdom.
Yep, life and morals are ambiguous sometimes
If you cut out a tumour, you’re also killing live tissue so aren’t you also cancerous hmm?
This is an apt analogy. Conservatism IS cancer. It spreads and brings with it only sickness and death. There is no way to change cancer. Letting it live will kill the patient. The only cure causes pain and suffering for the survivor. Treatment is painful, messy and dangerous, but is absolutely required for survival.
No one wants to talk about the cure for conservatism. Even the topic is uncomfortable.
Ok how do you cure it then? Specifically
“You’re right, killing you would mean I’m just as much of a monster as you! Too bad I didn’t realize that before indiscriminately slaughtering dozens of your disposable henchmen on my way here.”
I HATED this when watching Arrow.
Like dude, you narrowed that dude in the hallway. Your two main sidekicks BOTH use regular guns.
Just fucking kill Raz Al Gul/Damien Dahrk, That Gang dude/EtcEtc
You spent the first two seasons murdering rich people, intentionally, killing this dude trying to BLOW UP A CITY is not a moral gray area. All your friends are like, “Bro, just kill him.” And you are all “We must be better, we must be heroes.”
The most infuriating trope in fiction
I like to turn it around in some games where you let the bad guy off then kill them anyway
“Hello! but I’m going to be worse than you”
Pours gasoline, lights him on fire, then starts throwing wooden sticks hard enough to impale him
Especially when you couple it with the fact that if you leave him alive he is very likely to cause more harm even if hebgoes to prison or such
This is the way. Many of today’s problems are partly caused by people having been taught they have to take the high road and show they are better than the meanies. If you turn the other cheek, you’ll end up with two black eyes. Crush those evil bastards.
I love it when situations are simplified instead of complicatified
