Who is the worst person in history? Also chicken!

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Captain Kinopio
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PostWho is the worst person in history? Also chicken!
by Captain Kinopio » Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:31 pm

Have occasionally mulled this over the past 4 years, with some of the appalling gooseberry fool we've seen happening. Mainly in the sense that I genuinely wonder how bad Trump is compared to the likes of Stalin, Hitler, Mao. That may seem ridiculous but the way the world works nowadays kind of makes what they did rather harder to pull off and it really seeming like that if the protections weren't there to stop him he is capable of overseeing that kind of mass murder / genocide.

But then what about other figures, Caesar, Genghis Khan. I think the time period of their activities maybe rules them out but listening to Hardcore History at times you wonder whether they really should be considered worse than people like Hitler. What about those who have overseen more recent atrocities, Bin Laden, Al Baghdadi, current political leaders other than Trump?

Not a particularly fun conversation topic but was curious what GR thought.

Last edited by Captain Kinopio on Mon Sep 28, 2020 2:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Frank
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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Frank » Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:39 pm

Vesp :x

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by PatSharpsMullet » Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:41 pm

Brendan O'Carroll

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Moggy » Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:42 pm

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I'll think of a more serious answer tomorrow.

But seriously, it's him.

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Preezy » Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:43 pm

I think as bad as the famous dictators of the world were, for the vast majority of them they never actually did any of the dirty work themselves, they just planned and oversaw it - it's the people who carried out their plans that are actually worse.

As for answering the OP - it's got to be some serial killer of children, but I can't think of any names.

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Dowbocop » Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:49 pm

"All of your Tesco Points add up!"

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Moggy » Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:53 pm

Preezy wrote:I think as bad as the famous dictators of the world were, for the vast majority of them they never actually did any of the dirty work themselves, they just planned and oversaw it - it's the people who carried out their plans that are actually worse.


I don't think I agree, but you reminded me of this Twitter thread.

twitter.com/libbyjones715/status/1308990001804390403



twitter.com/libbyjones715/status/1308991531685158912



twitter.com/libbyjones715/status/1308992549131087872



twitter.com/libbyjones715/status/1308993361546817544


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Preezy
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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Preezy » Sat Sep 26, 2020 11:07 pm

That's quite interesting (and horrible, obviously), but just to be clear I'm talking more about the people that had an active hand in things like the concentration camps rather than your local janitor snitch who perhaps didn't fully consider the consequences of his actions.

Thinking about it more, it's perhaps unfair or maybe misguided of me to suggest a serial killer. If you're a serial killer then you're most likely absolutely insane, your actions are likely something which you can't control, so are you as responsible as the Auschwitz guard that turns on the gas chambers? I don't know, but an interesting thing to consider.

Good thread idea, btw, I find stuff like this really interesting even if I'm no expert and likely wrong on all points :slol:

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Moggy » Sat Sep 26, 2020 11:20 pm

Preezy wrote:That's quite interesting (and horrible, obviously), but just to be clear I'm talking more about the people that had an active hand in things like the concentration camps rather than your local janitor snitch who perhaps didn't fully consider the consequences of his actions.


I know you meant the guards/executioners. It just reminded me of that thread, the utter banality of evil.

We all know Hitler was evil. We all know the top ranking Nazis were evil. The guards were evil. But we rarely think about the evil committed by the ordinary people. The accountant counting up the money stolen from dead Jews, or the strawberry floating janitor grassing people up for a few quid, knowing that they would be killed for it.

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Captain Kinopio » Sat Sep 26, 2020 11:25 pm

Preezy wrote:That's quite interesting (and horrible, obviously), but just to be clear I'm talking more about the people that had an active hand in things like the concentration camps rather than your local janitor snitch who perhaps didn't fully consider the consequences of his actions.

Thinking about it more, it's perhaps unfair or maybe misguided of me to suggest a serial killer. If you're a serial killer then you're most likely absolutely insane, your actions are likely something which you can't control, so are you as responsible as the Auschwitz guard that turns on the gas chambers? I don't know, but an interesting thing to consider.

Good thread idea, btw, I find stuff like this really interesting even if I'm no expert and likely wrong on all points :slol:


This is why I threw in some terrorism planners at the end there, I also meant to include some mass shooters, whoever did Sandy Hook or the Las Vegas shootings, Brevik. Serial Killers like Shipman as well. I definitely think there’s a point about evil individuals just doing as much harm as they can. Someone like Pablo Escobar too, having a plane blown out the sky because you want to keep dealing drugs is pretty strawberry floating horrific.

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Denster » Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:25 am

Ian Huntley just lost his 'worst school janitor' ever claim to fame.

Im always struck by the actions of Rudolf Hoess who was the commandant of Aucshwitz and his confession.
Its his matter of fact descriptions of the actions he took whilst overseeing the murder of millions.
He just saw it a series of logistical decisions and problem solving. It makes it all the more appalling to me.

Of course his testimony carried a lot of weight at the Nuremberg trials where so much denial and avoidance of responsibility and guilt was in evidence. He clearly inculpated so many of his fellow nazis just by saying what he said.

The Hitler /Stalin debate has always interested me.

Both could lay claim to the title to be honest. Certainly if we're talking 20th century onwards.

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Denster » Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:27 am

Escobar has to be up there as well I think. In terms of the far reaching extent of his actions.
Vesp as well.

:lol:

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by rinks » Sun Sep 27, 2020 8:35 am

But is it fair to judge historical figures by today’s moral standards?

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Moggy » Sun Sep 27, 2020 8:38 am

I guess to seriously answer this, there is no one right answer. Is a dictator delegating murder better or worse than a serial killer who tortures and kills up close and personal?

Is death count alone the decider? Mao killed more than anyone, but a lot of those were just stupid policy rather than deliberate murder. Hitler decided on exterminating entire races of people, it wasn't agricultural incompetence, it was pure murder.

In history, the like of Caesar or Genghis Khan might have killed less than Mao/Stalin/Hitler, but as a percentage of the world population at the time? Just vast empires of murder.

Is a serial killer that shoots 50 people from a distance better or worse than a killer who kidnaps, tortures and kills 5 people?

So yeah, it can't be answered. I'm sticking with James Corden.

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Jenuall » Sun Sep 27, 2020 8:52 am

This sort of thing is always impossible to answer, being awful is not a competition after all.

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rinks
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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by rinks » Sun Sep 27, 2020 8:53 am

Moggy wrote:Is a serial killer that shoots 50 people from a distance better or worse than a killer who kidnaps, tortures and kills 5 people?


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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Moggy » Sun Sep 27, 2020 8:54 am

Jenuall wrote:This sort of thing is always impossible to answer, being awful is not a competition after all.

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Christopher » Sun Sep 27, 2020 8:57 am

I don’t feel there is one right answer as Moggy says. The amount of atrocities in human history are too many to be able to say one is worse than another. Then you have those whom made the decisions but then you have people all the way down the chain that are complicit I’d say are just as bad as those at the top.

Though some mornings, I’d say my children push the envelope.

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Imrahil » Sun Sep 27, 2020 9:04 am

If I had to, I guess I'd plump for Stalin. Or Mao. It kind of feels like a depressing version of Top of the Pops, with Jimmy Saville doing the run down.

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PostRe: Who is the worst person in history?
by Moggy » Sun Sep 27, 2020 9:05 am

The only way to judge this is to get Danny Dyer to research it.

twitter.com/TownUltras/status/1309903403229884416



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