Would you kill baby Hitler?

Why is it impossible then, to see innocence and beauty in grown-ups. We've all been a baby at some point! I don't know if this is clear... But it's something that I've thought about: as a child you are regarded in a certain light, but once you grow up, it's almost like society devoids you of those qualities you once posessed as a child. Children are to be protected, but once they grow up... tough luck, you're on your own. But everyone was a child once. So what went wrong? If personality is a growing process, then why is childhood severed from adulthood? I think maybe people should be appreciated for all that they were, are and will be. But we're mostly seen for what we are and accomplish in the present. This is why so many great people die in absolute oblivion or infamy? I do think a lot of children are little monsters, I've seen what they can do... so it takes a lot of education, control, upbringing and love to make someone grow into a decent person. It's a bit like the lotus metaphor, growing from the sludge into a beautiful blossom.

While we can see innocence in a baby, it is not long before we see another side. No mother ever teaches her child to tell lies, to get angry, to say "no" in defiance. It is part of human nature. Every child ever born has the ability to do wrong, and a bias towards doing wrong. A child's natural reaction is to please self. Every child needs direction. Every child needs teaching and discipline and the need for self control. We do not continue to see a child as innocent and then suddenly, when an adult, as no longer innocent. Right from birth, a wise mother will teach that child the right behaviour.

I agree with you there, except the part where no parent teaches these things to their child. Way too many do. Either through direct coaching (telling them to do something that is wrong) or be observation of their example! Plenty of bad parents out there!

The part about defending someone in court is interesting, because, if they proved that a certain gene could make people more prone to stealing or to murder, wouldn't they use it as a defense? They do it in cases of criminal insanity! But you know, the reason why I think people are born into evil (although the word "evil" is probably too strong), is the impression left on me from observing people and children. I don't know how you feel about evolution, but when we are born, we are born without any social conventions and moral principles, which we learn as we grow. So there is definitely an "animal" side to us, that is not very pretty to look at. Maybe some people, like some animals, are more violent than others, at birth. We all have different talents, different strengths, why not different predispositions in our behavior? Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

See, this isn't necessarily true. Remember people like the Menendez brothers, who murdered their parents. They claimed they were abused, but evidenced suggested they were actually spoiled by their parents. I'm sure there are more examples of people who have grown up in normal environments, and yet they commited evil actions. But at the moment, this was the first one that came to mind.

And I'm the second coming of Jesus :)

I am baby hitler

I think you got it wrong. That picture is not Hitler's baby, but rather Hitler himself when he was a baby. :D

Maybe the topic subject is confusing? (LOL)

By the way, did you know that before Adolf Hitler was a dictator, he was a fan of Mussolini, the dictator of Italy during WWII?

Wow, this discussion is really interesting! I would agree with the one above that said that children (well, we ALL are) born into sin...i.e., with a bent toward doing wrong. The bible says & I agree "Man is born to sin as the sparks fly upward". I just couldn't agree more! I have 5 small children at home now & I see it everyday, how we as mothers have to SHAPE, mold & actually CARVE out a decent person. (Hence the saying of someone gone astray in adulthood: "he was left to his own too much"...or "raised themselves".) Need I say more?

I snagged the photo from en.wikipedia.

Germany would probably be... different. But there's no way to know, we can't go back and change the past.

You're the second person to misunderstand the topic. That isn't Hitler's baby, that is Hitler when he WAS a baby. So that isn't the question at all. As far as I know, Hitler never had any children. You know what they say, that old wartime song: "Hitler's only got one ball!" ;)

Haha, the topic title is just for show :) I didn't say I was born cynical, I said, life made me cynical. But maybe I had some sort of "cynical gene" that was already "ticklish" ;)

Ha, there's something slightly Beatlesque about him, yes :) I think he wrote "mein kampf" in prison, yes... he lived through the first war, was a soldier and didn't like the jews, who he saw as traitors and all that. But anti-semitism in Europe and in Germany goes waaaay back. Events can trigger things that are always present, but somewhat hidden...

I should've chosen another topic title :) The part about killing baby Hitler is a cliche, and I used it almost as a joke. The important part, what I'm really asking is about child development. But people really like the thought of time travel and baby Hitler, so what can I do?

He was a hero only for a short time. Also, remember that the people of Germany were living under an oppressive, fascist state. If they didn't show their support, bad things would happen to them and their family. Many political oppositors were sent to their deaths in concentration camps and the like.