Comment by soulofmischief
10 days ago
Have you heard of the slippery slope? A cornerstone of American political philosophy?
Arguments like this one are why the authoritarian ratchet continues to turn unimpeded over time.
10 days ago
Have you heard of the slippery slope? A cornerstone of American political philosophy?
Arguments like this one are why the authoritarian ratchet continues to turn unimpeded over time.
What "arguments like this one"? It isn't an argument at all, it's just pointing out some actual facts.
If your slippery slope argument can't withstand a simple statement that something is at the top of the slope, it's not much good.
Authoritarianism rarely happens overnight, it happens one step at a time and at every step the useful idiots [0] exclaim "It's just one step! What's the big deal? Stop overreacting!".
Next thing you know you've walked 100 miles and it's too late to turn back.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot
The comment you replied to only said the first "it's just one step" part. You're imagining the rest. Are we not even allowed to make factual statements when something is, in fact, just one step? "It's bad to factually describe what's happening because it will get worse" is a terrible way to make your case.
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This is not being supported because the size of the step is small, but because the step itself makes sense.
The slippery slope argument says that open source software is a stepping stone to a world where all commercial activity is banned. Should we therefore oppose open source software?
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Slippery slope is famously a fallacious argument. My first exposure to it was people insisting that legalizing gay marriage would end up legalizing marriage to animals.
A slippery slope is only a fallacy if there is no demonstrated history of it existing. I think we're all aware that that is not the case for surveillance laws.
"If this observable trend continues, it will eventually reach a point that is along this trajectory" is not a fallacy.
People's misuse of the argument doesn't weaken its appropriate application.