Poll: The Murder Question

[MeatMachine]

There's a government. It's just that murder is legal as any other legal act.

No, if murder was legalized, then the government would cease to exist. Government is, ultimately, the forfeiture of personal freedoms given to a public institution that holds the monopoly on justified aggressive violence; giving up one's right to murder is the very first cornerstone of legitimizing government in the social contract, as Rousseau lays out.

What are they going to do when they need to raise money to build new schools? Tax me? If I decide that I don't want to be taxed, I can legally shoot the police when they come to arrest me for tax evasion. Then what? Are they going to arrest me for attempted murder? If not, then the government does not exist because its completely lost its ability to enforce its laws - if so, then the government is above its own laws, and you now live in a totalitarian police state (in which case, legal murder from other civilians is the least of your worries, even if this completely redundant and nonsensical "freedom" exists).

If, for the sake of argument, you agree and say "yes, you now live in a totalitarian police state where murder is legal, so will you murder anyone or not?" then the topic has changed from "will you murder if it is legalized" to "will you participate in the pointless violent anarchy or will you fight to reinstate peace?". I don't think you can simply answer the question honestly and accurately without exploring the situation more.

So, I imagine the rich and powerful of very trusted and well-paid bodyguards protecting them.

What value would money have to anyone when you can just kill for what you want? The U.S. Dollar is "fiat money", meaning that it is backed purely by debt and trust, rather than concrete value such as gold or silver. If you can LEGALLY just slit someone's throat over a loaf of bread, then debt and trust have ceased to be relevant in any way, and offering people money would not buy anyone's loyalty.

Again, I don't mean to be overly-pragmatic, but if we are being truly realistic, your situation about "legalized murder" is completely and utterly absurd.

 

[Saltyk]

Nope. Never. Not even if it were completely legal. I would honestly be bothered to kill someone in self defense, though I would do it if necessary. To go out and kill a person in cold blood, even a person I hate, would never cross my mind. Not even freed murders or rapists.

Well, maybe ISIS members or Kim Jong Un. But those are very particular people who are responsible for crimes against humanity.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

There are quite a few people who probably don't deserve to take another breath. The unrepentant mass murderer who shot university students in Norway, for example. Who sit comfortably in prison "cells", room with a view and a comfortable bed and desk, playing console games. Why he's even still alive is a puzzle to me. Why people don't even want him to die, is also boggling. There's also the guy who raped and killed over 50 little girls on TV for a sick snuff/torture porn ring, he'd be pretty easy to put down.

Now, whether I'd be able to pull the trigger if the opportunity presented itself is an entirely different question. I'd sit here and say yes, sure I could, but having never killed anyone, it's only speculation.

Whether I'd be able to kill anyone if the world went full dystopia Mad Max, well to protect myself and loved ones, it's merely a matter of self-preservation so yes.