4 ms·

> The end doesn't justify the means If the ends don't justify the means, what does? The problem is actually on the other side. The means produce the end. No

• DigitalJack 14y ago
  There is a food shortage in Africa. One way to solve this would be to kill 80% of the African population. The end (solved food shortage) does not justify the means (mass murder). The means must be able to stand on their own.
  • reinhardt 14y ago
    That's a poor metaphor. The end is to keep the population alive. Solving food shortage is (one) means. Failing to mass murder them is another.
  • anamax 14y ago
    > There is a food shortage in Africa. No, there's a distribution problem, but I'll play along. > One way to solve this would be to kill 80% of the African population. Nope. Killing 80% of the African population will not solve the food shortage. (It also won't solve the distribution problem.) Why? Because Africa's food production is roughly proportional to its population and not limited by anything that will be helped by killing lots of people. The "end" of killing 80% of the African population is that 80% of the population has been killed. Some "good person" might have thought that some good (less starvation) would result from killing them, but the end was a lot of dead people who got killed by said good person. Thanks for providing an example of where "he meant well" had a horrendous result, as it typically does.