Re:An open letter on E.O. Wilson's legacy
by guelo on Wednesday January 19, 2022 @09:43AM
(#29994167)
I just don't see how you can make a slippery slope argument when comparing dictators with the power of massive governments to changing political youth culture. Especially when this left culture keeps losing politically and has little state power. The anti-CRT hysteria has resulted in a bunch of laws mandating changes to curriculums without input from educators, to me that's closer to the old communist dictators.
Re:An open letter on E.O. Wilson's legacy
by SpicyLemonZest on Wednesday January 19, 2022 @11:36AM
(#29995933)
Many of the worst parts of the Cultural Revolution were driven by the Red Guards, a political youth culture group with no formal government power. I don’t think American youth are gonna start beating their teachers to death, but it’s wrong to think that only things the government does can matter.
There is a nice sort of proportionality to how everything is hysterically overdone and out of proportion!
That said everything is on a sliding scale here, and the worst enforcement of orthodoxy on the mildest offenders can certainly be compared to much lesser attacks if they stem from similar impulses.
If you cannot make a comparison of this sort then the world would be a place with unconnected events and patterns, and no real way of defining or discussing how situations move from a not bad condition to a very bad one, or in the other direction.
There would never be such a thing as warning signs or worrying trends, because those things would not be relatable to absolutely awful things they might lead to.
Conversely if you were living with awful things there would be no reason to discuss how they could improve, because the improved version of life would not be comparable. How can you make legitimate and necessary criticism of actual authoritarian countries if you cannot compare bad with less bad?