Oliphantasmal Force (oliphant@oliphant.social)'s status on Tuesday, 09-May-2023 09:07:45 JST

The Parable of the Killer of Hundreds vs. the Killer of None

The Killer of Hundreds and the Killer of None met to resolve their differences.

The Killer of Hundreds said, "I offer a compromise, we shall only kill fifty."

The Killer of None replied, "I offer only that we shall kill none."

The onlookers cried out in shock and surprise! What sort of compromise was this?

The Killer of Hundreds smiled coldly and said, "You should be more reasonable. Clearly I have compromised, and you have not. If you will not deal with me reasonably, how are we ever to proceed?"

The Killer of None replied, "You offer little compromise, killer of hundreds. For you, to compromise on the number of people killed sacrifices none of your position. For you, it is only a matter of scale.

"However," The Killer of None continued, "For me to concede to even one of these murders would be to compromise all of my position. Once I cross that line, what argument can I ever possess for one against fifty or hundreds?

"In truth," the Killer of None explained, to the listening ears of all present, "You are compromising nothing, while asking me to compromise everything.

"For some things there can never be any compromise."