system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: In the "trolley problem," choosing to pull the lever is the only defensible choice.

The classic trolley problem: A runaway trolley is barreling down a track and is going to hit five people. There is a lever nearby which will divert the trolley such that it only hits one person, who is standing to the side. Knowing all of this, do you pull the lever to save the five people and kill the sixth? 

I believe that not pulling the lever is unacceptable and equivalent to valuing the lives of 4 innocent people less than your own (completely relative) innocence. Obviously it's assumed that you fully understand the situation and that you are fully capable of pulling the lever.

Consider a modified scenario: Say you are walking as you become aware of the situation, and you realize you are passing over a floor switch that will send the trolley towards five people once it hits the junction. If you keep walking off of the plate, it will hit the sixth person, but if you stop where you are, the five people will die. Do you keep walking? If you didn't pull the lever in the first situation because you refuse to "take an action" that results in death, you are obligated to stop walking for the same reasons in this situation because continuing would be an action that leads to death. 

Is it really reasonable to stop in place and watch four more people die because you refuse to consciously cause the death of one person? 

Many of my good friends say they wouldn't pull the lever. I'd like not to think of them as potentially horrible people, so change my view!

edit: Some great comments have helped me realize that there are ways I could have phrased the question much better to get down to the root of what I believe to be the issue. If I had a do-over I would exaggerate a little: Should I flip a switch to save 10,000 people and kill one? There are good arguments here but none that would convince me not to pull that lever, so far.
gpt
If you don't pull the lever, you are letting 5 people face the consequence of their choice to stand in the path of a trolley. If you pull the lever, you could be killing a person who is purposefully avoiding the trolley. 

Your stance requires a utilitarian viewpoint. We could probably save thousands of lives and cure Ebola if we rounded people up, infected them, and tested treatments. Is that a valid approach?