2 ms·
The argument of "if I don't do it then someone else will" is a self fulfilling prophecy. You are that someone and it speaks to a weakness of character in anybod
by abduhl 10y ago
The argument of "if I don't do it then someone else will" is a self fulfilling prophecy. You are that someone and it speaks to a weakness of character in anybody who invokes it.
If everyone said no then someone else wouldn't do it. Consider this: you are the last in the line of people - everyone before you has said no which is why they're asking you - except instead of being principled like all the rest you have caved and said yes. Congratulations, you are the "someone else" and the downfall of the entire system.
- dmichulke 10y agoYour example specifically ignores what I said: I was referring to the "likelihood of someone else doing it". If I am the last in a line of people, the likelihood of someone else doing it is zero, so the above would suggest refusal as well. And of course, all these decisions are quite easy to make if you ignore the "being forced to" part. In most scenarios we see in films or know from history it was: Either you do it or you will suffer dire consequences (some Nazi prison or death for example). I understand that the above is not romantic and doesn't make for heroic films. But this is about reality, so tell me would you as a soldier refuse to kill someone even if probability was highly likely that someone else would do it? At the threat of death? If so, you probably just got two people killed instead of one. If not, you cannot really complain about what I wrote above.