You're willing to discount the values of freedom and capitalism as the main contributions to American's success and instead argue that the only reason the US is powerful is because of the deaths of millions?

I don't think the value of the death penalty, or political assassination, is in teaching the person. Instead, the value comes from stopping them from doing any further harm to others. Also, it would be an example to others who would like to follow in their footsteps.

From the ideological perspective of preventing genocide, I think that going back in time to assassinate Hitler is absolutely defensible. Whether or not it would work is another question.

Have you ever read about The July 20 Plot?

Yes, I would go back in time and assassinate him because what he did to all those people was wrong and cruel. I think that someone should kill him the way he did the others. He should die a long painful death.

I agree Loudacris, if we could go back in time and capture or kill Hitler and prevent him from committing the atrocities that he did, it would be tough to defend a reason not to. However, I think that we all realize that this may be unrealistic; it's not as if the Allies didn't try to capture and/or kill him.

It's very similar to today's conundrum of finding and capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden. We are using every weapon and intelligence capability at our disposal to find him and bring him to justice (such as what happened with Sadaam), but we can't seem to find him. He's guarded by some very smart people who keep him on the move constantly, which is what they did with Hitler.

However, given the assumption that we could find him and assassinate him, I'm not sure how you could convince me it's not a good idea to stop him permanently.

+1

Didn't we learn anything from Time Cop and Back to the Future?

Now at this point my side on the issue probably is a bit clouded. Let's make something clear, I am in favor of political assassination at times of war. If there is a declared state of war and assassination of a single leader can shorten or prevent further fighting than I absolutely favor assassination. Thus Hitler was a prime target.

However assassination for purely political reasons, for example an uncooperative leader of a foreign nation, is not the place of outsiders. Let sovereign nations take care of their own problems I say.

Of course I did.

I still think the motivation behind such an impossible act should be fathomed before the impossible is...tomorrow.

This is my advice for every big change in plans, specifically for time travel, there's this thing about it; time travel is for some kind of a hero, or a psychopath, but just one guy, that got his head around the idea that he knows what would do BETTER to the world [F plus, CLICK], and he will sacrifice other's lives in order to summon his vision world.

In a way, time travel is a very misanthropic idea.

Touche. I agree that time travel would unleash new power so great that it would absolutely corrupt those within grasp of that power. But is it really too idealistic to hold out hope that it could be used by society for good?

if i could go back i would definitely assassinate hitler. what he did to all those people was wrong. maybe if it wasnt for him there would be no such thing as racism

Umm, he killed over 6 million people, and if I could go back and stop it, I think I would most definitely kill him so he couldn't do the mass destruction that he caused.

I would go back in time and assasinate Hitler because , if I was succesful in doing the assasination there could of been alot of great diferences in the history that Hitler did during his time

Yes, I would go back and blow his freaking brains out. Hitler caused so much pain and suffering for people and killed over 6 million Jews (not to mention the atrocities that were committed to those that survived) during his reign of terror.

If we really could go back and prevent all of this there's no reason we shouldn't. Give me the freaking M-16 and let me have at him.

I don't think live is that black and white.

I do oppose the death penalty, mainly because it is so hard to be sure. But in Hitler's case we know he is directly responsible for millions of deaths and a lot of misery. I'd take that shot.

Actually, with some artistic freedom, I'd probably go back in time and make the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna accept Hitler as a painter ;)

Tend to generalize much?

No, wikipedia should never be cited as a source of definite proof. Period, because of its very nature it's unreliable to say the least. It's a useful casual reference but when you want to prove something to someone you should use just about anything else.

Going back in time to kill someone would create a huge paradox that would totally screw up history since then.

Of course i would go back in time and assasinate him because all he did was cause destruction tp a race that didn't do anything to deserve it. Hitler was a bad person and he meant nothing but harm to the world.

I wouldn't call it an 'assassination'. if i had family members being killed because of one mans selfish and rediculous desires, i would join the army in first ranks and get as close to the blasted man as possible...if i had the opportunity you bet i take it.

I would definitely agree with your statement regarding Mussolini and Stalin. I would further add that in my view, Stalin is by far more brutal than Hitler. Stalin STARVED his own citizens because of his own ego and his inability to accept that his agricultural programs failed. I would totally prefer to assassinate someone like that before Hitler.

yes I would do this even if it costs my life. I would at least save 11 million people. He killed 6 million jews and 5 million other people. Trust me on this, I took a camp about it. To really know how many 11 million people is do this. 1+1+1+1+1+1+1 11 million tmes million times

it is right to assassinate Hitler

The title "Preservation of Favored Races" may sound racist, it's not of course. Races in this context is just a synonym for "species."

Hitler was a Roman Catholic, you know that right? And even if Hitler used evolution as the basis for the Aryan race, is that relevant? I mean, considering all the atrocities committed in the name of God, I think evolution wins in the "which is less evil" category.

Once again, Mr. 35-Year Journalist, you are super wrong.

I would not go back in time and assassinate Hitler even after all the bad stuff he did. I honestly don't think anyone has the right to kill someone no matter what that person has done. Hitler killed a lot of people and I don't think that the best way to teach him a lesson is to go do the exact same thing he's doing because we wouldn't be teaching him anything.

i wouldn't have assassinated Hitler In the past if i was given the chance. The reason is not to prevent the mass killings nor would it be for a an ethical problem. simply because America would not have developed into the power country it is today without World War 2.

I don't think assassinating Hitler would be a productive idea. At the time Italy and Japan has aspirations to gain control of large parts of the world as it is. Hitler aided them in their cause but they could still pose a threat without him.

Aside from that, the experiments conducted in concentration camps on the prisoners contributed heavily to modern medicine and science.

Based on your logic, then, would you be willing to establish more concentration camps today, so that science and medicine could be advanced?

Let's look at the facts shall we? When the United States mobilized for war with Germany and Japan (not necessarily in that order) it jump started our economy. More importantly many, many attempts were made and or considered to assassinate Hitler, none of them worked. The man was a genius, evil genius to be sure, but he was a paranoid genius. Let's hear some actual arguments for why someone from the future would be better able to assassinate the man where so many others failed

As long as we are suspending reality and are given the ability to go back into the past, I think there are a myriad of ways to get it done, the easiest of them them might be to go back into WWI and kill him when he was a private.

The real question here, though, is would you do that for political expediency? If killing him might prevent the deaths of others, would YOU do it?