I understand that Vonnegut went through the firebombing of Dresden. But what of Hitler and Stalin and Tojo and Pol Pot and Idi Amin? What would Vonnegut say the right thing to do is when in the path of these murderous maniacs? Stand by passively and mute while tens of millions are enslaved and murdered? And if you do, what does that say about what it is to be 'human'? To accept your fate meekly; that's what SHEEP do, as they are lead to the slaughterhouse. For the passive, slaughterhouses without NUMBER! People who live in the theoretical, in their head, will always imagine worlds of universal peace and harmony. But THIS world has never worked that way.
It's all well and good to deplore the killing and the waste, but those who will not resist tyranny, murder and enslavement have already surrendered their humanity.
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Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Leutchik, July 5, 2008
I understand that Vonnegut went through the firebombing of Dresden. But what of Hitler and Stalin and Tojo and Pol Pot and Idi Amin? What would Vonnegut say the right thing to do is when in the path of these murderous maniacs? Stand by passively and mute while tens of millions are enslaved and murdered? And if you do, what does that say about what it is to be 'human'? To accept your fate meekly; that's what SHEEP do, as they are lead to the slaughterhouse. For the passive, slaughterhouses without NUMBER! People who live in the theoretical, in their head, will always imagine worlds of universal peace and harmony. But THIS world has never worked that way.It's all well and good to deplore the killing and the waste, but those who will not resist tyranny, murder and enslavement have already surrendered their humanity.
(5 of 11 readers found this comment helpful)