Radical utopians think the ends justifies the means. But the problem is, utopia never arrives, so we never get the ends, but we certainly get the means.
The same is (almost) true of radical anti-dystopians. The problem is that their p(doom) is... shall we say uncalibrated? It may be a case of tiger repellent. But while they're trying to prevent their "doom", the damage they do is real. And they're willing to do unlimited amounts of it, because doom is really bad.
The "almost" part is because doom is sometimes real. Hitler, for example, really happened. The problem is that in 1931, say, it wasn't obvious that Hitler was actually going to become what he became. (Yeah, I know, Mein Kampf had already been written. It wasn't obvious that Hitler was actually going to be able to pull any of it off.) So in 1931, what was p(doom)? The doom everyone was trying to avoid in 1931 was economic. They weren't worried about trivial (!) little problems like a guy with a funny mustache who once wrote a nasty book.
So the p(doom) crowd, even if they're right that doom is coming, still are often wrong about which doom is coming, and so their steps to avoid it are just causing damage, and not preventing doom at all.
> The problem is that in 1931, say, it wasn't obvious that Hitler was actually going to become what he became
1923 was the Beer Hall putsch. It was clear to those who knew what they were looking at and didn't agree with the goals.
In 2016 people predicted Trump wouldn't leave office peacefully, and they turned out to be right. But people said "no your p(doom) is too high, you're deranged." But they were not calculating p(doom) they were calculating p(doom | narcissistic psychopath). The posterior probability skyrockets when you factor in the person has the same personality disorder in leaders that has spelled doom countless times throughout history.
Hitler wasn't the first Hitler, people had seen his type before, and we will continue to see his type in the future. Know the signs, they're not hard to spot if you know what to look for. Pretty much if someone's main complaint is "those people" then you have a good idea what they're all about.
When they start calling "those people" murderers, drug dealers, rapists, terrorists, gang members, then it's a foregone conclusion what they're all about. Hitler told Germans who he was in 1920 when he started giving public speeches against Jews. Trump told us who he was in 2016 (and arguably for decades before). They had no excuses then, and we have no excuses this time. We see it coming.
The same is (almost) true of radical anti-dystopians. The problem is that their p(doom) is... shall we say uncalibrated? It may be a case of tiger repellent. But while they're trying to prevent their "doom", the damage they do is real. And they're willing to do unlimited amounts of it, because doom is really bad.
The "almost" part is because doom is sometimes real. Hitler, for example, really happened. The problem is that in 1931, say, it wasn't obvious that Hitler was actually going to become what he became. (Yeah, I know, Mein Kampf had already been written. It wasn't obvious that Hitler was actually going to be able to pull any of it off.) So in 1931, what was p(doom)? The doom everyone was trying to avoid in 1931 was economic. They weren't worried about trivial (!) little problems like a guy with a funny mustache who once wrote a nasty book.
So the p(doom) crowd, even if they're right that doom is coming, still are often wrong about which doom is coming, and so their steps to avoid it are just causing damage, and not preventing doom at all.