It\u2019s a tired clich\u00e9 we have all heard, but have you ever really thought about the answer and all its implications? Do the ends justify the means? How abut this question, also a clich\u00e9; can you stick to your guns? My challenge to you in this essay is to combine them. Right now, answer the moral question I just posed. Yes, I know, its abstract and difficult because of it, deal with it. Yes, or no? I\u2019ve done it too; you aren\u2019t alone on this one. I\u2019ll give you some time to think\u2026Alright, now the hard part. Can you keep that answer all the way through?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s first tackle the question of a safe and secure internet. To achieve this, we would need strict controls on content. We would also need to control who has access, when, and keep track of it. In order to guarantee safety to everyone we would need, in a word, censorship. The implications are that we would be inhibiting the purpose for which the internet was made. We would also be opening ourselves to lots of government interference and regulations. Does the end goal justify the means?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What about, not saying it has happened, but what if a presidential candidate accepted foreign interference in an election? You get the candidate you want, but at what cost? Are they indebted to another country? Can they be blackmailed? What about their personal ethics? How does this affect the sanctity of the electoral process? What cost does this have on the faith of the American people in their own electoral process? Do the ends justify the means?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About power transfers, in the early 1900\u2019s a monarchy is not catering to the needs of its vast populace. The faith of the people is shaken by the increasing power of a so-called prophet, and the people are starving in the aftermath of a war. In order to \u201creturn power to the people\u201d the officials of the old government from the leader down to their 8-year-old scions are executed. As many supporters of the monarchy are gathered up and either executed summarily or worked to death. Over the next two decades, millions of people will lose their lives to try and secure \u201cpower for the people: Did the end justify the means?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States is \u201cat war\u201d with terrorism. By expanding the powers of the NSA (National Security Agency) and FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigations) we can cost wider nets and ensure the capture of more terrorists before they can strike. Yet, building up and encouraging an infrastructure of surveillance pushes us ever closer to a police state and beyond a preventable point should the wrong person come into power. We risk our nation and freedoms with every expansion in power. Does the end goal justify the means?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are more illegal immigrants now than ever before in our history. We fear they are taking jobs, not paying taxes, and bringing increased crime to our nation. The current solution is to build a large wall. Yet ours is a country founded by immigrants of on hope; some for religious freedom, some because of debt, and some for trade and economics. Without fail, all our colonies were settled by immigrants many of whom were trespassing on claimed land but did so, nonetheless. A century after the actual founding of our nation, immigration was so important, two gateways were established, Los Angeles in the West and Ellis Island in the East. The symbol of our country, a large beautiful and noble woman not only holds a guiding light into her harbor but is inscribed with words of welcome. Ours is a nation so rich with diversity that if you ask someone\u2019s heritage, not even one will start by calling themselves American. Yet our best option is to wall ourselves off and say \u201cgo away\u201d? Think a moment, are we not turning our backs on our heritage? Are we not inverting the very idea of what it is to be American by building a wall? Is losing, or even endangering that justified by stemming the tide of illegal immigrants? Does the end really justify the means?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the late 90\u2019s and several teenage boys decide to lash out at perceived tormentors in the most brutal manner imaginable. As a result of their killing spree, American begins addressing the systematic bullying problems in our public schools. Districts are made safer, teachers and parents more aware and for a time and the \u201cright questions\u201d start to be asked. The outcasts have people reaching out to help. By and large, the nations schools are improved. But did the ends justify the means?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, to close this question, I\u2019ll step out of the real world and into the land of superheroes and villains. In Marvel\u2019s Avenger\u2019s Infinity War, the villain is the Titan Thanos. Because of the loss of his home world to starvation and resource depletion he has taken it upon himself to \u201csave the universe\u201d by killing half of every living population to ensure every plant\u2019s survival and prosperity. He gathers 6 infinity stones, each encompassing an aspect of existence and in a single SNAP <\/em>kills half the population of the universe. Now, let us assume for a moment that doing this ensures the survival and prosperity of every planet in the universe. Does that justify killing half of the universe? Does the end justify those means?<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, did your answer change? Could you stay consistent? Going from hypothetical futures, to the Bolshevik Revolution, to the shooting at Columbine, could you stay the course? I could. Here\u2019s why. In my opinion if you have such a choice that you must ask, there must be a better way. I think the ends should never have to justify the means, because whether its losing who we are or risking something sacred like freedom, no end is worth it. If your means must be questioned, find better way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Author\u2019s note: When I say the nations schools were improved, I am speaking from the point of view of having been one of those outcasts. I mean no disrespect to those lost in any of the real-world tragedies. I simply am, as always recognizing what I see as hard truths, and addressing them. I also make no claims as to the intentions of the Columbine shooters, regardless of intent, their actions improved the school atmosphere for many, myself included. Still not worth the sacrifice of innocent lives. – CS Cage<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s a tired clich\u00e9 we have all heard, but have you ever really thought about the answer and all its implications? Do the ends justify the means? How abut this question, also a clich\u00e9; can you stick to your guns? My challenge to you in this essay is to combine them. Right now, answer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cscage.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cscage.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cscage.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cscage.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cscage.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cscage.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75,"href":"https:\/\/cscage.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cscage.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}