I wonder what criteria people use to decide that a certain argument or political position is extreme or at the extreme (whatever that means)? Ive seen some positions/arguments portrayed that way which, upon further investigation, turns out they were the reasonable arguments in the first place. I think its a smear campaign more than anything, and its not even useful when classifying an opponents position. Like, banning all contraception is not extreme. Its flat-out dangerous and wrong. Calling it extreme implies that there would ever be a good time to ban a method of contraception that has otherwise proven safe (or safe enough) for a majority of the population. Its gotten to the point that using that word is almost a litmus test for me--if the best you can say about something is its extreme, you dont think very hard about politics, period. I feel the same way about calling something backwards or outdated. I dont care how old it is, if its valid, its valid. Conversely, if its invalid, its invalid. Simple. Slavery isnt old-fashioned, its flat-out WRONG. Newtons laws of gravity still apply here on Earth, and theyre REAL goddamn old. Give it a rest already. New is not always better.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 17:26:10 +0000