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Comment by routerl | Hacker News Reader

Given the substance of your comment, you're not actually complaining about "Godwin's Law", as stated, but about "slippery slopes". And your point is good in the abstract, but in practice this slope is actually extremely slippery.

Canada has legalized medically assisted euthanasia, and we've already had cases of homeless people and chronically ill people seeking medical death due to hopelessness. We've had a government employee recommend assisted suicide to a military veteran who was just looking for a disability accommodation.

This is absolutely a case of "small steps that lead to dystopia", and we've witnessed these steps over the past few years. Economic and social conditions for specific demographics have become awful, and rather than trying to remedy those conditions, we're offering assisted suicide as an answer.

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  From: KVORK, Inc.//NYCNET.89.09.63.53
  To: Multiple Recipients
  Subject: SPAM: Tired of life?

  Hello Friend,

  Has life become too impersonal, too tedious, too painful for you?
  Then now is the time to exert control, to make that decision which 
  is ultimately the only real choice we ever have: the decision to die.

  Some may describe this as an act of selfishness, but with the dwindling 
  reserves of natural resources throughout the world you're actually 
  contributing to the well-being of all those around you. A recent bill 
  passed by the United States Congress even authorizes a one-time payment 
  of c10,000 to your chosen benefactor upon passing away.

  So do yourself, your family, and your friends a favor and visit any one 
  of the KVORK, Inc. clinics in a neighborhood near you. We'll help you 
  make a difference -- quickly and quietly.

  Sincerely,
  Derek Schmitt
  Director of Development, KVORK, Inc.

I should have referenced the definition of Godwin’s law. It says that all internet arguments ultimately degenerate into referencing Hitler.

My point was not complaining about Godwin’s law, or about slippery slopes. My point was almost the opposite: the tendency to trot out ultimate, extreme ends in every disagreement. Hitler for Godwin, dystopia for others.

It’s not a persuasive argument in either framing. “You’re destroying civilization” is the rhetoric of someone who, like the author of the linked piece, can’t actually articulate why someone’s actions are wrong. Seriously, the piece never gets there. It’s a lot of legitimate, honest hurt tied up with “dystopia” as if that makes the position unassailable.

So apologies for being unclear, hope that’s a more cogent representation of my distaste for this style of argument.

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