A moral question

Its time for this idiot meme to end.


they need to stop being able to make money by pretending mankind is about to fail completely.


please people just turn this crap off
 
Clovis said:
I'm bored (of course) and while I writing an article for GBF, a random thought popped into my head. Is it wrong to steal bread from someone if you or your family is starving?

Now most of you (myself included) would say that yes, it's moral to do so. But let's change the scenario a bit. Suppose, oh I don't know, a comet hits Earth. It's a large one, about the size of an Apollo asteroid. And like the last one that hit Earth it's an extinction level event. Over 5,500,000,000 people killed, agriculture destroyed, almost all known nations and governments collapse, the whole End of the world as we know prepper fantasy. You can replace this with a viral outbreak or nuclear war or whatever, these particulars aren't important.

Now to add to this level of fantasy, you manage to survive. It's been about a decade since said apocalypse, long enough that you and other survivors know how to survive, but not so long that you've forgotten what the world used to be like.

In this time you've joined up with a moderately sized group of other survivors, and you have a little civilization again. And part of your duty is to go out with a search party and look for things to scavange. While you and your party are out you happen upon another group, from a different little civilization. And they have something your group REALLY needs. Medicine, or fuel, or a generator. And you offer to trade with this group, but all your offers are rebuffed.

Now you and your civilzation aren't in IMMEDIATE danger of dying of from plague or sickness or whatever. But you do have a very real NEED for these items, and it's not something you can make or are likely to stumble upon any time soon, so if you don't get these thing people you know will die. Also, as the final twist, your scavanger group outnumbers these guys 2-1, and you are armed and they are not.

What do you do?
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Walk away and die?
 
evince said:
Its time for this idiot meme to end.


they need to stop being able to make money by pretending mankind is about to fail completely.


please people just turn this crap off
Click to expand...

You're right!

I'm getting rid of my TV today!!!
 
evince said:
Its time for this idiot meme to end.


they need to stop being able to make money by pretending mankind is about to fail completely.


please people just turn this crap off
Click to expand...
the fact that you clearly ignore any and all reality concerning the failures of government intervention to promote prosperous survival ensures that at least a portion of ignorant humans need to be killed off by a mega disaster.
 
evince said:
I get you tecky and it can be a great vehicle to examine the true value of things.


There is just this unporoductive level of it now.

When the media pictures the future anymore they picture massive destruction.


In all of these things so many people are being complete black hearted assholes.


It makes for great dramatic scenes but it misconstrues the heart of man.


Why is it being made popular to back stab and pretending that that is what mans souls contains.



Most people are mostly good.


I have lived long enough to know this is true without fail.
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I think "Earth Abides" and "Alas, Babylon" follow with what you think - most people are good and they will band together and help each other out.

Now Road Warrior - not so uplifting...
 
Interesting responses, especially some very long term ones. I personally don't think any of us would be so high minded if this were a reality, but I don't really know that. And there isn't really a "right" course of action.

Watermark brings up a very good point. The smaller unarmed band may be part of a very large nation, traveling in such a manner because they assume their status is secure based on their allegiance to said nation.
 
Clovis said:
Interesting responses, especially some very long term ones. I personally don't think any of us would be so high minded if this were a reality, but I don't really know that. And there isn't really a "right" course of action.

Watermark brings up a very good point. The smaller unarmed band may be part of a very large nation, traveling in such a manner because they assume their status is secure based on their allegiance to said nation.
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an extremely foolish and naive belief in any disaster aftermath.
 
imagine discovering a desh run village. they'll open the gates believing in your innate good nature and you'll be easily able to to raid them while they shout at you for not liking facts.
 
SmarterthanYou said:
I don't see any reincarnation of the mighty Khan bothering to expend any of his important manpower or resources on a small group that didn't bother to use effective means of defending themselves.
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Genghis Khan ruthlessly went after non-Mongols that raided and looted in his domain. Your victim blaming mentality aside, it's simply not good for business to allow others to come into your domain and interrupt the trade of those you're trying to tax. The entire reason Khan let people live rather than killing them all and using the land as grazing area was for their tax revenue.
 
Furthermore, in an honour driven society, such as the Mongols lived in, and such that we're likely to revert to upon the collapse of the modern liberal order, once you put someone under your protection, it's imperative to take vengeance upon anyone that violates said protection. If you fall to, it makes you look weak, and invites more violations into your sphere of influence. You don't want your subjects to be armed, they'll use them to rebel, you want them to be reliant upon your protection and your reputation for fearsomeness that dissuades others. You're responses aren't based upon the historical ways that societies access before we were thoroughly civilized and domesticated, they're driven by modern conservative ideology and it's narrow focus on individual use of force. You wouldn't last long at all after the collapse of civilization with such a limited view.
 
evince said:
Its time for this idiot meme to end.


they need to stop being able to make money by pretending mankind is about to fail completely.


please people just turn this crap off
Click to expand...

Man is deeply flawed and twisted. If you are too optimistic, I saw you should be sentenced to working in a customer service department for one year. The point isn't that mankind is currently failing or not failing, but rather than mankind is capable of failing at any given time. The key is to be always working at building civilization and keeping it together for as long as possible.
 
Panda Hugger said:
Furthermore, in an honour driven society, such as the Mongols lived in, and such that we're likely to revert to upon the collapse of the modern liberal order, once you put someone under your protection, it's imperative to take vengeance upon anyone that violates said protection. If you fall to, it makes you look weak, and invites more violations into your sphere of influence. You don't want your subjects to be armed, they'll use them to rebel, you want them to be reliant upon your protection and your reputation for fearsomeness that dissuades others. You're responses aren't based upon the historical ways that societies access before we were thoroughly civilized and domesticated, they're driven by modern conservative ideology and it's narrow focus on individual use of force. You wouldn't last long at all after the collapse of civilization with such a limited view.
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who are you talking to?
 
Clovis said:
I'm bored (of course) and while I writing an article for GBF, a random thought popped into my head. Is it wrong to steal bread from someone if you or your family is starving?

Now most of you (myself included) would say that yes, it's moral to do so. But let's change the scenario a bit. Suppose, oh I don't know, a comet hits Earth. It's a large one, about the size of an Apollo asteroid. And like the last one that hit Earth it's an extinction level event. Over 5,500,000,000 people killed, agriculture destroyed, almost all known nations and governments collapse, the whole End of the world as we know prepper fantasy. You can replace this with a viral outbreak or nuclear war or whatever, these particulars aren't important.

Now to add to this level of fantasy, you manage to survive. It's been about a decade since said apocalypse, long enough that you and other survivors know how to survive, but not so long that you've forgotten what the world used to be like.

In this time you've joined up with a moderately sized group of other survivors, and you have a little civilization again. And part of your duty is to go out with a search party and look for things to scavange. While you and your party are out you happen upon another group, from a different little civilization. And they have something your group REALLY needs. Medicine, or fuel, or a generator. And you offer to trade with this group, but all your offers are rebuffed.

Now you and your civilzation aren't in IMMEDIATE danger of dying of from plague or sickness or whatever. But you do have a very real NEED for these items, and it's not something you can make or are likely to stumble upon any time soon, so if you don't get these thing people you know will die. Also, as the final twist, your scavanger group outnumbers these guys 2-1, and you are armed and they are not.

What do you do?
Click to expand...
No but it is unethical.
 
Carlos Danger said:
Man is deeply flawed and twisted. If you are too optimistic, I saw you should be sentenced to working in a customer service department for one year. The point isn't that mankind is currently failing or not failing, but rather than mankind is capable of failing at any given time. The key is to be always working at building civilization and keeping it together for as long as possible.
Click to expand...
Even if there all just a bunch of assholes?
 
Carlos Danger said:
Man is deeply flawed and twisted. If you are too optimistic, I saw you should be sentenced to working in a customer service department for one year. The point isn't that mankind is currently failing or not failing, but rather than mankind is capable of failing at any given time. The key is to be always working at building civilization and keeping it together for as long as possible.
Click to expand...

Under the right circumstances, most people are good. As well, under another set of right circumstances, most will gleefully commit unfathomable atrocities. Underneath it all, we are animals with a thin veneer of rationality holding us back. Let us just hope we are never tested in such a way.
 
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