If you were given the chance...

[ybbor]

oh yes. i see what you mean.

its just that you would save those people for the same reasons you would save your friends and family. compassion.

i ask if you would save 3,000 strangers or an 20-30 close friends.

don't forget the after-effectd. thousands in war, tens of thousands of iraqis, if you're against abortion you could probably make an argument about the war casuing low approval ratings for Bush --> a generation of liberals --> pro-choice judges.

conversely, in the long run 9/11 might have saved more lives, if a president 50 years from now thinks twice about fighting a war in the middle east.

 

[CaptainF]

do you know someone who was killed in 9/11?

was he/she a "smarmy sarcastic ingrate"?

does that mean they all were?

do you really hold your fellow man to such low expectations?

1) No.

2) Not Applicable.

3) No, but they probably wouldn't give a damn if I saved their life, unless I told them, in which case I would be a psycho...

4) There are some genuinely saintly souls that walk this earth, unfortunately they are all outnumbered by the bastards.

So, more often than not, yes.

 

[IronMan2055]

imagine you had lost someone in 9/11.

i did lose someone

 

[Mr. Dictator]

i did lose someone

so you know the pain right?

would you want someone to make the sacrifice for him/her?

im not saying its right or wrong, in fact your choice would mirror his, im just saying wouldnt you be grateful? of course you wouldnt know but thats beside the point.

btw, if its not to personal, who did you lose?

 

[Eukaryote]

I'd reluctently do it.

 

[amadeus]

No. Unfortunate enough as it sounds, 9/11 needed to happen. We might otherwise be facing a far more severe threat down the road. I'm personally a little concerned that maybe 9/11 wasn't "enough" for some people, because it seems like we've lost focus on who and what we are really fighting here. (Don't ask -- saying who or what we should be fighting would inevitably start a flame war.)

Imagine what would happen if we'd sat on our hands for fifteen years and let Al Qaeda acquire nuclear weapons or some other horrendous way to destroy even more than they did in 2001.

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

Question: what would each of those strangers have chosen if given the option?

.....

Exactly.

 

[jalapeno_dude]

No way in hell. I'm not a utilitarian.

Actually, if anyone cares, I consider myself a limited utilitarian--utilitarianism within a small group of those people I care about. None of the 9/11 victims are in that group.

 

[Norlamand]

No. Unfortunate enough as it sounds, 9/11 needed to happen. We might otherwise be facing a far more severe threat down the road. I'm personally a little concerned that maybe 9/11 wasn't "enough" for some people, because it seems like we've lost focus on who and what we are really fighting here. (Don't ask -- saying who or what we should be fighting would inevitably start a flame war.)

Imagine what would happen if we'd sat on our hands for fifteen years and let Al Qaeda acquire nuclear weapons or some other horrendous way to destroy even more than they did in 2001.

I would have to agree with that. It was a much needed wake up call similar to Pearl Harbor.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

I would have to agree with that. It was a much needed wake up call similar to Pearl Harbor.

I'd agree with 9/11 being a wake up call.

But to be fair, Pearl Harbor was a pretty standard nation vs nation declaration of war, albeit with a surprise attack. It was clear which nation did it, who had to be retaliated against, no conflict about if it was the right thing to do.

Yes in both cases it caught the U.S off guard, but the consequences were entirely different.

 

[Elrohir]

No, I don't think I would. The idea of being responsible for the deaths of so many people I care about is too awful a thing to think of, even if that would save the lives of many more, most of whom were probably just as deeply loved by their own families and friends.

Maybe that makes a self-centered and selfish cretin, I don't know. Logically, more lives would be saved by stopping 9/11 (At least in the short term) so I suppose I'm a hypocrite for not choosing that option. But I really don't think I could force myself to accept the other option.

 

[amadeus]

I would have to agree with that. It was a much needed wake up call similar to Pearl Harbor.

It is a truly disgusting thought, but it seems like some people didn't get the message from this.

 

[Pyrite]

Hmm...would I save my friends and family....for 3000 bankers?

"sir...we're going to need more bankers! Much more bankers!"

 

[Bluemofia]

No, because I would not sacrifice my friends for random people I don't know.

 

[CaptainF]

It is a truly disgusting thought, but it seems like some people didn't get the message from this.

Yeah, Dubya still hasn't figured it out neither.

 

[amadeus]

What messare would that be, Dawg?

 

[CaptainF]

That we need to stop being so damn stupid.

The above is quite subjective, however.

 

[amadeus]

That we need to stop being so damn stupid.

You're going to have to be more specific than that.

 

[King Flevance]

Nope, because then I am the murderer. Who am I to sacrifice lives? It is not my place to decide who lives and dies. You might get a little more "Yes" votes if it was just to sacrifice yourself.

 

[warpus]

3,000 deaths is nothing compared to the deaths of 20 people close to my heart.

NO