Would you kill someone in self defense?

[FAST6191]

I really don't see how anyone could vote no on this. The premise here is that you either kill someone, or they kill you or someone close to you. If you don't kill them then either you or someone innocent dies. What purpose does that serve? Instead some psychotic bastard will live at the cost of someone innocents life. I suppose you could try to injure them instead, but that isn't necessarily an option. You may not be able to simply injure them without killing them. Sometimes its the only way.

Psychotic bastard posing immediate threat to you or those you might care to defend is a narrow and specific set of circumstances.

Psychology would tell us there is a serious aversion to killing things in most people, the first place most would meet it is in the discussion of weapons and range -- club is further than teeth and nails but still requires effort and gets you blood splattered, so we have spears, so we have bows, so we have firearms (ish and then definitely), so we have artillery... Also good is the rationalisations that some non combat military people use -- you might be a chef, a navigator, a bomb loader, one that loads the shells in a ship cannon and you did not "do anything to hurt anybody", but back in the civilian world I build a bomb and am nowhere around or pressing buttons to arm it and I would still get the book thrown at me, or I knowingly drive the truck to the parking lot and put it under that nice support section and same again.
There is also the "contagious gunfire" issue to consider -- if inexperienced people are pointing weapons at each other (though experience is hardly a sure fire dodge for it) and someone fires, or even sometimes a loud noise is happening) then it all kicks off and people potentially get hurt. It is why the adrenaline and guts comment a few pages back got the response it did from me.

Similarly others already mentioned the various degrees -- I already mentioned I think stand your ground and castle doctrine are dangerous and silly laws.

Equally I have some people I would consider truly pacifistic.

It is also not necessarily some psychotic bastard -- desperate people exist, otherwise mentally ill people exist, people that have not got a clue exist (see also make things idiot proof and you only create a better class of idiot), people that also do not have a clue about how dangerous things are (kicking people in the head is bad news, glass will ruin someone's life easily enough, knives are known to most people by virtue of them eating dinner most days and tend not to run out of ammo), drugs can make some interesting things happen though I might put that under desperate people.

 

[vayanui8]

Psychotic bastard posing immediate threat to you or those you might care to defend is a narrow and specific set of circumstances.

Psychology would tell us there is a serious aversion to killing things in most people, the first place most would meet it is in the discussion of weapons and range -- club is further than teeth and nails but still requires effort and gets you blood splattered, so we have spears, so we have bows, so we have firearms (ish and then definitely), so we have artillery... Also good is the rationalisations that some non combat military people use -- you might be a chef, a navigator, a bomb loader, one that loads the shells in a ship cannon and you did not "do anything to hurt anybody", but back in the civilian world I build a bomb and am nowhere around or pressing buttons to arm it and I would still get the book thrown at me, or I knowingly drive the truck to the parking lot and put it under that nice support section and same again.
There is also the "contagious gunfire" issue to consider -- if inexperienced people are pointing weapons at each other (though experience is hardly a sure fire dodge for it) and someone fires, or even sometimes a loud noise is happening) then it all kicks off and people potentially get hurt. It is why the adrenaline and guts comment a few pages back got the response it did from me.

Similarly others already mentioned the various degrees -- I already mentioned I think stand your ground and castle doctrine are dangerous and silly laws.

Equally I have some people I would consider truly pacifistic.

It is also not necessarily some psychotic bastard -- desperate people exist, otherwise mentally ill people exist, people that have not got a clue exist (see also make things idiot proof and you only create a better class of idiot), people that also do not have a clue about how dangerous things are (kicking people in the head is bad news, glass will ruin someone's life easily enough, knives are known to most people by virtue of them eating dinner most days and tend not to run out of ammo), drugs can make some interesting things happen though I might put that under desperate people.

It may not be a psychotic bastard, but that doesn't mean it can't be. The way I interpret this thread, is that the OP is asking if under any circumstances you would kill someone to defend yourself. I think it is safe to say that most people would avoid the option of killing someone if possible, but this is a situation where you couldn't. This isn't necessarily a question of whether you would want to kill someone, its more a matter of whether a situation would arise where you would be willing to do it. What if someone was going to go on a killing spree, and you could prevent that by killing them. By saying you wouldn't kill anyone under any circumstances, that means you would be willing to let dozens of innocent people die for nothing.

 

[proflayton123]

If I had to kill someone regardless of ethic and morals, depending on what it was down to, yeah.

 

[nero99]

I'd do it with no mercy, no regrets, and it wouldn't even bother me one bit. In this world, it's kill or be killed lately.

 

[DKB]

Like the bitch owes me money, yes.

 

[FAST6191]

Like the bitch owes me money, yes.

Dead people don't pay and when you collect from their relatives apparently you are the arsehole.

 

[DKB]

Dead people don't pay and when you collect from their relatives apparently you are the arsehole.

What?

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

Not only would I but also feed it to the pigs and dogs.

 

[FAST6191]

You said you would kill someone like they owed you money, I pointed out that in most cases people involved in loan giving don't want the person with the debt to die as such things tend to get erased with the death of the person having the debt, or at least seriously limit the scope to collect upon that. If you then go to the relatives and say blah died and owed me money they tend to be under no obligation to pay you.

Unless of course you meant it like that, and in that case I apologise for the failure of my deeper meaning detector and ultimately spoiling the joke.

 

[DiscostewSM]

If someone was out to kill me, and I could not pacify them so we'd both live at that moment, then yes, I would kill them in self defense.

 

[Engert]

I wouldn't. I'd give them flowers instead.

 

[Nyap]

my life > the guy whos threatening me life

 

[G0R3Z]

You said you would kill someone like they owed you money, I pointed out that in most cases people involved in loan giving don't want the person with the debt to die as such things tend to get erased with the death of the person having the debt, or at least seriously limit the scope to collect upon that. If you then go to the relatives and say blah died and owed me money they tend to be under no obligation to pay you.

Unless of course you meant it like that, and in that case I apologise for the failure of my deeper meaning detector and ultimately spoiling the joke.

Indeed, there's a reason loan sharks only break a limb or two.

 

[Crusylicious]

I only would if I absolutely had to. If I could incapacitate them without killing then thats what I would do EVEN if they were indeed trying to kill me. Though as with all things, I'm sure there are exceptions.

 

[SapphireDaisy]

yes if i had no other choice

 

[Xanthe]

No...I would not. Why? Because I'm waiting to go to Heaven. I would rather be in Heaven than on Earth, as do a lot of people I suppose. This would probably be my gateway to Heaven...

 

[Jack Daniels]

No...I would not. Why? Because I'm waiting to go to Heaven. I would rather be in Heaven than on Earth, as do a lot of people I suppose. This would probably be my gateway to Heaven...

what proof do you have of this dream land excists more then they told me so or a relly old book tells me so? if theres a god he meant us to make that dreamland right here, but we can't... since the dream as like you read it differs from the dream when i read it, my dreams will never be your dreams. sorry to bring it to you but this is gonna be it, afterlife is just a human creation for those who're afraid of th dark/death...

 

[RevPokemon]

Every person has a right to defend themselves provided that they do it under non aggressive principals.

 

[cearp]

Every person has a right to defend themselves provided that they do it under non aggressive principals.

yeah, kill them with a smile, if you're snarling when you fight back to defend yourself, that's bad

 

[MionissNio]

I definitely would kill someone in self-defence.
Also if there name happens to be Donald Trump or Nigel Farage, I'd happily assassinate those two idiots

Clinton as well!

Anyways, what I would do is have a laser like arctic silver or a pepper spray, flash it in their eyes and marathon as far as possible.
Teaser would also work though. As for killing I cannot, I cry even after killing a fly man.