This is, of course, silly. What exactly can we do about genocide? Yet each of us can respect the people we interact with by using their pronouns. Why is it so hard to believe in basic decency?
That doesn't work because genocide events are rare. *If* you happen to find yourself in a society that looks like it's gearing up to genocide, there are plenty of things you can do, such as speaking up in favour of peaceful coexistence, debunking the arguments used by those who are pushing for genocide, helping canvass for whatever political party is the most credible opposition to the party favouring genocide, helping to smuggle members of the intended victim group to safety etc.
And the pronouns debate is as acrimonious as it is partly *because* there is disagreement about whether acceding to pronoun demands is in fact respect - if you respect someone who you believe is suffering from a delusion that causes them both to believe a falsehood and to demand that others participate in that falsehood, it is at least arguable that playing along with that falsehood is showing less respect than trying to keep them in touch with reality, as set out in the final part of M. Taylor Saotome-Westlake's 9worth reading in its entirety) rebuttal to Scott Alexander: http://unremediatedgender.space/2018/Feb/the-categories-were-made-for-man-to-make-predictions/
There's a comedy bit that uses "racism is worse than murder" as a premise
https://youtu.be/ZHHe3OujS5o
This is, of course, silly. What exactly can we do about genocide? Yet each of us can respect the people we interact with by using their pronouns. Why is it so hard to believe in basic decency?
That doesn't work because genocide events are rare. *If* you happen to find yourself in a society that looks like it's gearing up to genocide, there are plenty of things you can do, such as speaking up in favour of peaceful coexistence, debunking the arguments used by those who are pushing for genocide, helping canvass for whatever political party is the most credible opposition to the party favouring genocide, helping to smuggle members of the intended victim group to safety etc.
And the pronouns debate is as acrimonious as it is partly *because* there is disagreement about whether acceding to pronoun demands is in fact respect - if you respect someone who you believe is suffering from a delusion that causes them both to believe a falsehood and to demand that others participate in that falsehood, it is at least arguable that playing along with that falsehood is showing less respect than trying to keep them in touch with reality, as set out in the final part of M. Taylor Saotome-Westlake's 9worth reading in its entirety) rebuttal to Scott Alexander: http://unremediatedgender.space/2018/Feb/the-categories-were-made-for-man-to-make-predictions/