Few days ago the New York Times He surprised all his readers with a very banal survey at a glance, but very valid as a sociological experiment: "Dear Reader: Could You Kill a Baby Hitler?". Something like "If you could travel back in time, would you kill Hitler when he was a baby?".
The question was accompanied by the Twitter hashtag #BabyHitler, which became Trend. The results? They are what we can all expect, but it is worth commenting a bit, simply to offer my opinion and so that you also give us yours.
What did people say they would do
The question had only 3 possible answers: "Yes", "No" and "Not sure". The results, as explained in 20 minutes, were the following:
- He 42% of those who participated said yes I would kill that baby.
- 30% replied that they would not.
- The remaining 28% said they would not know what to do.
This means that we don't really know what most people would do, because in 28% there will be people who would end up doing it and people who would end up not doing it. In any case, of those who have the answer clear, there are many more who are clear that they would do it than those who would not.
What would you do?
Think about what Adolf Hitler did, think that the death of seventeen million people For racial causes, think of the concentration camps and all the suffering that their cause generated. Thinking about all this, even I would say yes.
But then look at the picture above, that of any baby, as little Adolf could be weeks after arriving in the world. You are in the year 1889 and you have this baby in your arms. Do you think about what he will do? Maybe it deserves a second chance? Will we be heroes if we finish him or maybe some killers, just like him?
And that is what personally leads me to place myself in the "No". No, I wouldn't kill a baby, even if it was Adolf Hitler. Now, if I had the chance to travel back in time and have that baby in my arms, I would be in the "Not sure" (not sure) and as soon as I could I would kidnap him. It is clear that kidnapping a baby is a despicable act, but put in the position to kill him, I would rather not do it and take it with me. And given the option of simply doing nothing, I would never forgive myself for seeing his actions and everything he did, Thinking I could help it.
And what would he do with him?
Well, treat him like a son and educate him in the same way that I educate my children: with love and respect, with humor and with love, with my logical imperfections, but trying above all make him a good person. Hitler was a boy whose father whipped him often, and a boy who wanted to be an artist, painter for more signs, while his father refused to be his life, urging him and forcing him to be an official, as he was.
I do not mean by this that he ended up being who it was solely and exclusively because of his father, actively intervened in his character and in his choices, because one day he decided that he was not going to give his father the pleasure of suffering when he hit him and from that moment he never complained visibly before him. Similarly, he chose not to study, to get bad grades, just because his father wanted him to have good qualifications to be a customs agent, like him.
Would give a second chance and I'm sure he wouldn't end up being the person he became. And you?
