Would it be possible to defeat the Nazis with today's ethics?

1. 65

   Ghaaz Bposted 9 years ago

   Would it be possible to defeat the Nazis with today's ethics?
   
   We did horrible, unspeakable things in the past, especially during the World Wars. Fire bombs of Dresden being a big reminder, but other actions aimed at deliberately causing civilian collateral damage, such a our use of nuclear weapons (fire bombings were for worse, and killed far more people than the nukes).
   
   Without doing any of this, however, I think it's possible that the Nazis could have easily defeated the Allied Forces in WWII. Thoughts?
   
   

   replyreport
2. 60

   askformore lmposted 9 years ago

   The problem is that you can't use ethics to defeat countries (or groups of people) who have irrational opinions such as Nazism.
   Of course you have to avoid that it comes to an extreme situation with nukes, fire bombs, or chemical weapons.
   ... So how is this done? Well, you must debate with those individuals who have extreme irrational, and hateful opinions (e.g. based on racism etc.). And it has to be done at an early state before these hateful opinions have evolved to a "landslide".

   replyreport
   1. 65

      Ghaaz Bposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      But how do you debate with characters who have "extreme irrational"? It seems the very definition of an irrational person is that they can't be reasoned with. The Nazis bombed London, so we bombed Dresden; today's ethics wouldn't permit this behavior

      replyreport
   2. 60

      askformore lmposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Well, Hanoi and Bagdad were bombed too. But what I mean is that the communication (debate) must begin long before it is an open conflict.

      replyreport
   3. 65

      Ghaaz Bposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I think we can agree there. And the bombing in modern war today is absolutely brutal, unimaginable still, but by contrast, the firebombing of Dresden was worse than a nuke.

      replyreport
3. 0

   JThomp42posted 9 years ago

   First of all, the Nazis never saw an atomic bomb. The Japanese did. Dropping those bombs saved hundreds of thousands of American and allies lives. This being the reason that Japan surrendered.

   replyreport