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Midterms Megathread

Cause otherwise midterms discussion will be scattered around a bunch of separate Culture War thread posts. And it's nice to have more off-the-cuff rapid reactions in a dedicated megathread.

The first thing I've noticed so far: if the exit polls are correct, Americans are very pessimistic about AI.

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How would such a ban be enforced if not by criminal sanctions, i.e., imprisonment or execution?

I mean, you answered your own question. Fines, taking away a medical license, exposure to malpractice lawsuits.Yes in some states prison sentences are on the table as well, this is hardly an extreme either, we do that all the time with things like female circumcision, euthanasia, elective amputations, or human cloning.

and an anti-trans government would certainly want something more forceful

To compare our hypothetical to a real-life instance of medical procedures being criminalized

This isn't a hypothetical, these laws are already passed in various states,and you're assuming the conclusion here when you say "criminalized". Banning does not imply criminal charges. Some states criminalize it, some (the majority, from what I understand) don't.

Anyway, what's the point of these questions? You asked what's less moderate than JK Rowling's position, I gave you two examples of real, actually existing things that meet the criteria. Why are you cherry-picking their practicality now?

though some more traditional societies can be very forceful about extralegal enforcement of social norms.

Yes, as are progressive societies about theirs. This just shows that there are many steps on either side of the spectrum, and it doesn't hit a wall with JK Rowling's position.

But do we know if Rowling is actually indifferent regarding other people's pronoun usage?

The burden of proof is on the person making the accusation, if you want to say "there's nothing remotely moderate about Rowling's position" and it's on you to show how her position is extreme, not declare that since we can't prove that she didn't take a more extreme position, your original claim must be true by default, or mind-read her about what results of her advocacy she'd be happy with.