[peter12]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I've always been fascinated by the process by which individual issues and incidents are plucked out of the thousands of things that cause harm and distress and make it to the public consciousness and political agenda. Even though I worked in the media, and saw it first-hand, the process remains opaque. What is clear is that utilitarianism plays no role. The number of people affected by an incident, injustice, or change has no bearing on its likelihood of becoming a public issue. Some types of issues (involving sex, or children) have a hot-button quality. Other types (involving old people, or the poor), are typically ignored.

So there's no real way to anticipate what will become a major societal issue in, say, 2025. No metrics or utilitarian considerations. Though if you had to put money on it, the safe bet would be something that is novel, involve sex and/or children, and not affect many people.

Yeah, this is an issue completely permeated by advocates - as shown by posters who can't seem to summon an opinion more complicated than "I don't see what the big deal is?"