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by jonahhorowitz 2712 days ago
The slippery slope is a terrible counterargument.
2 comments

A slippery slope isn't a good or bad argument on its own. It's just the mapping of a physical model of reality to data. Whether it's a good argument or not depends on its fit! In some cases it's a very strong model. For example, free speech seems to work best historically when there are enshrined rules that are never infringed. Obviously the fit is not perfect (e.g. yelling 'fire' in a theater), but it's a pretty strong fit.

On the other hand, the model appears to fit pretty poorly for gay marriage, where they posit if you move from traditionalism, before you know it, people will be marrying dogs.

My family has slipped on that exact slope.

Before (IIRC) Reagan, the point at which different marginal tax rates apply wasn't adjusted for inflation for decades, perhaps ever. The result was exactly that middle class families (including mine) paid tax rates that were originally intended only for the rich.