Arithmetic of death

Posted Sep 24, 2006 6:02 UTC (Sun) by man_ls (guest, #15091)
In reply to: DRM good or evil? by dlang
Parent article: Kernel developers' position on GPLv3

Suppose I tell you I've also seen some reports that Stalin only authorized those Gulags after receiving a report that leaving those people alive would only have costed many more lives (based on the behaviour of the Russians at the previous revolution). Does it make the Gulags more palatable? Is Stalin a humanitarian now?

Also, imagine the report was not true. Maybe some guy in the military slipped it to Truman because he wanted to use his new toy. I tend to think that reports made during wartime are not very trusty, but what do I know.

I cannot avoid but think that those arithmetics of death are weak as a justification.