The first step on a slippery slope can be identified by a linguistic failure. If you can't or won't define community standards then there are no rules and everything all the way to tyranny and genocide becomes possible. Potter Stewart's bon mot of "I know it when I see it" was the first step on the slippery slope of anything goes porn. I have lost track of what the particular bit of porn he was dealing with but it had to be mild compared to what is readily available on the Internet today. By making the standard arbitrary, he opened the floodgates to a later deluge when others saw it differently.
I'm reminded of Lewis and Tolkien rejecting the nihilistic and despairing spirit of their age to argue in the words of Samwise Gamgee, "There''s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for!"
The first step on a slippery slope can be identified by a linguistic failure. If you can't or won't define community standards then there are no rules and everything all the way to tyranny and genocide becomes possible. Potter Stewart's bon mot of "I know it when I see it" was the first step on the slippery slope of anything goes porn. I have lost track of what the particular bit of porn he was dealing with but it had to be mild compared to what is readily available on the Internet today. By making the standard arbitrary, he opened the floodgates to a later deluge when others saw it differently.
I'm reminded of Lewis and Tolkien rejecting the nihilistic and despairing spirit of their age to argue in the words of Samwise Gamgee, "There''s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for!"