askchapo

22763 readers

4 users here now

Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.

Rules:

Posts must ask a question.
If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.
Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.
Try [email protected] if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.

founded 4 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

From a leftist standpoint, what is the right thing to do if you were sent back in time? (hexbear.net)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

58 comments fedilink hide all child comments

It feels kinda wrong how quickly some people say they wouldn't kill hitler if they were sent back in time and given the opportunity.

I'm using that scenario because it seems like a common example, but I'm curious about how materialist theory would approach this.

Barring the sci-fi theories around time travel and whether a new timeline is created, where I believe it's fair game to change the past (since it's a new timeline) would it be morally right to improve the world if flung into a version of the past?

My thought is that it would be a moral obligation to help with things and not just be a witness to atrocity.

Edit: I think my question was more - Is it wrong to do nothing if flung into the past when you know what is likely to happen, or is it more wrong to try to prevent or change it?

I ask because it's almost a given in media and general discussion that you don't mess with things on the chance you make things worse by interfering. That argument feels flawed and lib- brained and I don't think I would be okay with a bad thing happening in front of me just because that's how it happened in my history book. Like the idea of standing by and doing nothing in the face of suffering feels wrong especially with something as nebulous as 'affecting the timeline'

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

This is gonna be weird by I'd throw the dice and tell Lenin before he puts the revolution to a vote in the central comittee that Russia is going to be isolated AF once it revolts and Germany not only doesn't follow suit but it actually turns into the most reactionary regime ever. I assume the October revolution doesn't happen but the socialist challenge to capital is still there (and the bolsheviks would still be strong) so the 20th century might've gone a different way. This isn't the right thing to do as much is it's just a curiosity for me