If you could forfeit your life to prevent 9/11 from ever happening, would you do it?
- Thread starter McRocket
- Start date
Orion74205
Banned
No. What complete and utter rubbish and frankly a biased poll since every American who answers the poll will of course forfeit their life for "Their" country. Odds are, gun to their heads answer would change, Id be willing to bet theyd prefer to save their own skin. Debatably if the 9/11 attack never happened surely theyd have found another way to justify and invasion of a country that had no chance of defending itself. I'm not expecting to open a pandoras box of a political, ethical or moral debate here, its simply my opinion im expressing.
Short answer - No
Long answer - No, because I am no more responsible for the #3000 people in the WTC than I am for #3000 random people who might die at the same time from anywhere in the world.
If the question was 'would you forfeit your life to prevent the death of #3000 random people from all corners of the world?', then would anyone really care that much?
I know that sounds like a harsh thing to say, but thousands die all over the world everyday, indeed, #3000 people may have died in the time it has taken me to type this.
Call me selfish or a coward, but that's my thought on the matter..
Long answer - No, because I am no more responsible for the #3000 people in the WTC than I am for #3000 random people who might die at the same time from anywhere in the world.
If the question was 'would you forfeit your life to prevent the death of #3000 random people from all corners of the world?', then would anyone really care that much?
I know that sounds like a harsh thing to say, but thousands die all over the world everyday, indeed, #3000 people may have died in the time it has taken me to type this.
Call me selfish or a coward, but that's my thought on the matter..
tunsty said:
wow...interesting point of view tunsty...
however, for most of us, those 3000 are random people from anywhere in the world. i happened to know a couple of the victims but i'm sure the vast majority of the rest of the world didn't.
now...as to whether i'd be altruistic enough to give my life for 3000 strangers...hard to say on such a hypothetical given all the variables that exit but i'd like to think i would...
perhaps, tunsty, a better analogy would be that of a soldier fighting in a war...in that arena, oftentimes the lives of few are given in exchange for the lives of many...
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Orion74205
Banned
I think its unfair to ask anyone if they could give up their life for another, doesnt matter how many you save, stranger or brother. The fact is your asking someone to end their life so that another can continue, whose to say that person earns that sacrifice? What happens if they go on, become a drug addict and die. What if they are hit by a bus the following week. Whether it be an act of uncharacteristic heroism, or a soldier doing his duty and putting his own life on the line for a greater good. No one can decide who lives and who dies, I can respect the act, I'm even able to say that I wouldnt know what Id do in that situation.
member20672
Closed Account
Have to say no.
member2686
Banned
That was a brilliant post, tunsty. It's sad and odd how we ("people") have "hot buttons" about certain issues. Certain horrifics go on around the globe each day, virtually unrecognized, while others capture our attention. How many kids died today from curable, treatable diseases and infections in poor countries? How many people froze to death last night or died from heat and sun exposure? How many people starved to death last night or were killed by some random asshole with a gun or knife in some city or suburb?
Death and life abound...it's cyclically tragic and mesmerisingly beautiful. There's SO much unnecessary suffering in this world, but, like it or not, we all have our confort levels and we choose WHAT to do and HOW MUCH to help one another. We're not willing to forfeit our comfort zone completely, most of us, despite how sad we feel when we see these things/events. It's the human condition. We're not Messiahs, nor should we pretend to be.
Almost as many people have been discovered dead in the recent hurricane zones in the U.S.A. (at this point, so far) as were killed by the Islamist, Jihadist radicals on 9-11-01. Both events were tragedies. Both events caused huge losses of life. However, I'll be the first to admit that I'd rather help survivors via charity than step in front of a waterwall (as if I were God or something lol) or an airplane replete with imminent death and destructive power. Those things cannot be stopped. We can repair afterwards, but not stop them once the "ball is rolling."
I'm not Superman or the messiah. NO ONE is. It's an outdated concept, IMO.
Death and life abound...it's cyclically tragic and mesmerisingly beautiful. There's SO much unnecessary suffering in this world, but, like it or not, we all have our confort levels and we choose WHAT to do and HOW MUCH to help one another. We're not willing to forfeit our comfort zone completely, most of us, despite how sad we feel when we see these things/events. It's the human condition. We're not Messiahs, nor should we pretend to be.
Almost as many people have been discovered dead in the recent hurricane zones in the U.S.A. (at this point, so far) as were killed by the Islamist, Jihadist radicals on 9-11-01. Both events were tragedies. Both events caused huge losses of life. However, I'll be the first to admit that I'd rather help survivors via charity than step in front of a waterwall (as if I were God or something lol) or an airplane replete with imminent death and destructive power. Those things cannot be stopped. We can repair afterwards, but not stop them once the "ball is rolling."
I'm not Superman or the messiah. NO ONE is. It's an outdated concept, IMO.
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To all Freeones,
The answer was already given to us by the brave men and women on one of the plane that crushed in western Pennsylannia.
Several passengers used cellphones and realized the plane may be heading back to the White House or the Capitol, they risked their lives and the lives of 168 people on board and fought against the terrorists.
Eventually the plane crashed and all the passengers, crew members and the terrorists all died but saved the President of United States or the members of the Congress (whether they are Republicans or Democrats or Senators)
It made no difference on that day, a few people "forfeit" their lives to stop the terrorist act and saved the White House or the Capital.
The answer is absolutely YES !
Only a coward will say NO !
(I do not endorse personal attack on this Forum)
Whether you are a Canadian, American or a Brit, we have a responsibility to fight against the Islamic extremists and kill them all !
I am not a racist and I am not white but I know what is RIGHT and WRONG and I am willing to die for my country !
The answer was already given to us by the brave men and women on one of the plane that crushed in western Pennsylannia.
Several passengers used cellphones and realized the plane may be heading back to the White House or the Capitol, they risked their lives and the lives of 168 people on board and fought against the terrorists.
Eventually the plane crashed and all the passengers, crew members and the terrorists all died but saved the President of United States or the members of the Congress (whether they are Republicans or Democrats or Senators)
It made no difference on that day, a few people "forfeit" their lives to stop the terrorist act and saved the White House or the Capital.
The answer is absolutely YES !
Only a coward will say NO !
(I do not endorse personal attack on this Forum)
Whether you are a Canadian, American or a Brit, we have a responsibility to fight against the Islamic extremists and kill them all !
I am not a racist and I am not white but I know what is RIGHT and WRONG and I am willing to die for my country !
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lovejoy said:
Well, they may have been brave. But they (apparently) already knew they were going to die if they did nothing anyway. So they would have been kind of stupid if they haden't tried to take over the plane.
But good for them for the effort.
And let's get one thing straight right now pal. I ain't killing nobody just because somebody tells me to. Fuck that. I ain't no little trained minion.
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this type of hypothetical questions are silly and have little to do with reality...
never in history of time was there such situation where a person knew if they die thousands would be saved... such things happen only in time travelling movies...
only person whose death could prevent a thousand deaths is the one who would be responisible for those deaths... like hitler and whatnot.
Now if you asked me would i risk my life to save a thousand people... i.e. would i run into a burning building to save someone... or save a thousand...
i would like to think i would... if i believed i that there's a reasonable chance of me surviving...
never in history of time was there such situation where a person knew if they die thousands would be saved... such things happen only in time travelling movies...
only person whose death could prevent a thousand deaths is the one who would be responisible for those deaths... like hitler and whatnot.
Now if you asked me would i risk my life to save a thousand people... i.e. would i run into a burning building to save someone... or save a thousand...
i would like to think i would... if i believed i that there's a reasonable chance of me surviving...
I'll tell you that I would do:
If I'd know those planes were going to smash against those buildings, I would have catch the plane myself and I would have fought against the terrorist. I would have risked my life to get to the cabit of the pilot and once there.. I would have asked nicely to have the steering wheel and I would have guided that flying shit myself right agaist those towers....
Why is terrorism when it happen in NY and become an insignificant news when it happen in the other part of the world?
The world has changed, but it has change a lot earlier than 9/11
KO
If I'd know those planes were going to smash against those buildings, I would have catch the plane myself and I would have fought against the terrorist. I would have risked my life to get to the cabit of the pilot and once there.. I would have asked nicely to have the steering wheel and I would have guided that flying shit myself right agaist those towers....
Why is terrorism when it happen in NY and become an insignificant news when it happen in the other part of the world?
The world has changed, but it has change a lot earlier than 9/11
KO
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Nightfly said:
I think it is important to remember that a lot of people are apathetic because they have figured out that in reality there is only so much they can do to stop suffering. It is not like they have a stop suffering button in their house that they can push and just choose not to. You can only do so much, if you keep trying to give until you yourself a nothing more than a withered husk of yourself, you will go crazy. There are only so many people that you can help, and it is not fair for anybody to reduce themselves down to the lowest common denominator just because there are other more unfortunate people than them in the world. To be fair, I find some of the people that have the least are the ones that care the most, and some of the people that truly have the resources to help change the world to be some of the most selfish. Maybe that is part of the reason they are in the positions they are at in the first place.
Would I sacrifice my life to save the people in 9/11. I don't know the answer, but it would probably be no. Is that a little selfish, maybe or maybe not, but there are some things that nobody has the right to ask of you. There are some things I would sacrifice my life for, but it isn't like a mathematical equation where one side is greater than the other so automatically one person is not as valuable as the others. Would I sacrifice my life to save the world from destruction or to have world peace, yes I would. It gets more complex the lesser the threat after that, and I guess everybody has their own line they draw. Although I will say that there are things I would sacrifice my life for even if it didn't involve a lot of people. Like someday if I had children I would sacrifice my life for them. It is sort of funny in a way that a couple of people might be more important than thousands to you.
If it was the other way around and I was about to die in 9/11 and somebody could save me if only they had to die I would not hold it against them if they choose their own life over mine. There are a lot more things I might risk my life for than I would just sacrificing it, and some people have a duty to risk there life for certain things. Having guaranteed death is different though.
All this is not to say I wouldn't hold a large amount of respect to somebody that would actually be willing to do this. To make a sacrifice, and I mean a true sacrifice, were you are going to suffer and gain nothing out of it is I believe one of the truest forms of love that somebody can express to another human being. On the other hand I don't think I have the right to expect somebody else to just give up their life for me, so I hold no ill stigma to the people that choose that road either.
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