"if they really thought that sacrificing a child would save their community - perhaps thousands of lives - then what does that do to our perception of the morality of their act?"
Explored in 'The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas' by Ursula LeGuin. A Utopian society in which everyone is happy and fulfilled in every way, but everybody knows that the continuation of this state relies on the unending pain and abject misery of one innocent child. The metaphor's a critique of capitalism, but you could use it literally in this situation. The price is not "this life for those", but the knowledge that the life is being deliberately taken for your benefit. Merely surviving the famine puts blood on your hands - that's the real price. All gods everywhere are fucking with our minds.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-04-11 02:00 pm (UTC)Explored in 'The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas' by Ursula LeGuin. A Utopian society in which everyone is happy and fulfilled in every way, but everybody knows that the continuation of this state relies on the unending pain and abject misery of one innocent child. The metaphor's a critique of capitalism, but you could use it literally in this situation. The price is not "this life for those", but the knowledge that the life is being deliberately taken for your benefit. Merely surviving the famine puts blood on your hands - that's the real price.
All gods everywhere are fucking with our minds.