Chuck Klosterman IV is rife with meme fodder. The Klostermeme series features these questions, my answers, my speculations on how Klosterman would answer and an invitation to the reader to answer these questions in the comments!
It is 1933. You are in Berlin, Germany. Somehow, you find yourself in a position where you can effortlessly steal Adolf Hitler’s wallet. This theft will not effect Hitler’s rise to power, the nature of WWII, or the Holocaust. There is no important identification in the wallet, but the act will cost Hitler forty Reichsmarks and completely ruin his evening. You do not need the money. The odds that you will be caught committing this crime are less than 2%.
Are you ethically obligated to steal Hitler’s wallet?
My Answer: Ethically, no. Not if it doesn’t effect history in any significant way. But it sure would be cool if you did.
Klosterman Theory: Yes.
What do you think? Answer in the comments!
2 Comments
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Effed by the Wind 
I wouldn’t feel ethically motivated to do something so petty if I had a chance to do something with more profound or longer-lasting effects. Also, a 2% chance of being caught means a 2% chance of being gunned down by Hitler’s thugs. In 1933 he was already führer, chancellor, etc. so he had the legal power to have me killed.
Don’t we have an ethical obligation to not steal? ‘Cause of how that makes us just as bad as Hitler, sorta? I mean, stealing the wallet is just what Hitler would want you to do. And terrorists.