It’s oh so easy to look at a situation after the fact, as a third party, and say (with complete moral authority) “How could anyone do that?”
Well, here’s some news that you undoubtedly already know, and would have taken into account had you stopped to think before rushing to judgment: the world isn’t black or white. Not only is it all gray, it’s a very complex and multifactorial shade of gray. Often there is no definitive “right” answer or solution to a problem, there is only the best available option.
This discussion can get pretty uncomfortable in the real world. A good example is triaging in a mass casualty event (something I have never done BTW). I have been trained to do it, but thankfully have not (yet) been put in that situation. One of the ethical decisions the person triaging must make is to use their training and experience to decide who has the best chance of surviving and who doesn’t. What this means is that this person must assess the nature of the woundeds trauma, and decide whether or not it would be a wise use of available resources to attempt to save them. Remember: You must use whatever resources you have for those with the best chance of surviving. Someone has to make these decisions for the greater good.
How easy would it be to second guess these decisions after the fact?
How difficult would it be to make these decisions in the heat of the moment?
So don’t be so quick to pass judgment – you don’t know what decision you might have made if you were put in that situation…