What is your most controversial political view/opinion/thought?

[Tiphill]

[demmiblue]

1. What is yours?

[Squinch]

24. Oh, FFS.

[NobodyHere]

135. Here's proof

https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x56836

[grossproffit]

38. Really? Tell us more.

[pangaia]

53. See bel86w

[IamFortunesFool]

149. Yep... still amazes me how few people have truly examined the documented evidence for this...

I tend to think that the implications of it scare people so much that they either willfully ignore the evidence or outright reject the very idea.

[Chiquitita]

3. That there is something

To be learned by respectfully engaging people whose views are different than mine with an open mind.

[YOHABLO]

51. unless their mind is entirely closed!

[Chiquitita]

54. Yes

But it's hard to know until you try. I have had discussions that I thought were pointless and then days later the person tells me the discussion made them consider something new. It's exhausting though.

[Laffy Kat]

4. Child suffrage.

Every argument against it has been used against minorities and women. Children have the most at stake, IMO; give 'em the vote.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

88. At what age?

Back when the voting age was lowered to 18, the main argument was that it would pull younger people into voting. Hasn't happened. I've seen proposals to lower the voting age to 16, saying that it will get younger people more involved. Somehow I doubt it.

When we are young, we for the most part do not have a good sense of the world at large or our place in it. As we get older, as we go through life, as we work, as we (perhaps) marry and have children, we get far more involved in the world and care a lot more about things. And you don't have to marry or have kids for this to happen. For most of us, that journey through life does the trick.

Most 16 year olds and most 18 year olds simply don't know enough to make informed decisions. Most of the 18 year olds don't bother to vote anyway, so that lack of knowledge hardly matters.

But I still ask: how low would you set the age for voting?

[Laffy Kat]

93. I think it needs to be discussed.

They said women weren't able to make informed decisions, or we would just vote for whomever our husbands did. Turned out not to be true. Women voted four percent more than men in 2012 and there is a gender gap. Children have very definite opinions about what's right and wrong. We need to listen to them.

[Lunabell]

95. I think at least the age of 16

And fucking lower the age of consent. I was perfectly capable of making decisions for myself sexually at 16. Maybe some sort of Romeo/Juliet stipulation. Or Romeo/Romeo, Juliet/Juliet.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

102. There is a vast gap between

that old notion that no women could make informed decisions, and what is the lower age for informed decisions might be.

Quite frankly, most people under the age of 21 or so really can't make informed decisions. Keep in mind that history is very badly taught in almost all schools, which means that high schools students, ages 14-18, simply don't know very much history. Nor do they know very much about current events, since they are mostly wrapped up in their personal world. Which doesn't include history or current events.

I'm someone who has always love history. I read a lot of it from a very early age. In my sophomore year of high school I was astonished and dismayed to realize that my world history teacher actually knew less about certain eras of history than I did. The specific example was when he said that Princess Mary Tudor fled England after her younger brother became king (King Edward VI). I spoke up and said, no, that didn't happen. And if it had happened, she would never have returned to England and become Queen several years later. The teacher had apparently been teaching this misinformation for several years, and to his credit, rather than shutting me down, said he'd double check his information, which he did, and the next day in class corrected himself.

What really disturbed me was that I actually knew better than the adult in the room. I knew it should not be that way, at least not when i was 15.

More to the point, I was singularly different from my age mates in that I cared about history, read it, and paid attention to all sorts of related things And that was highly unusual, then and now. If you tell me that you likewise paid attention to history, then bravo. But if you think that most kids in high school give a flying fuck, then you are not really paying attention.

Do understand that most Trump voters who are not extremely rich simply don't understand lots of things, starting with history. They are voting against their own self interest because of their severely limited understanding of so many things. And these are adults who presumably should have benefitted from years of experience.

I'm not about to suggest the voting age be raised. We are actually saved from the ignorance of youth because the vast majority of young simply don't bother to vote. Here's a graphic that illustrates this.

?attredirects=0

Some years back I started a personal project reading old Life magazines, starting with the very first issue in November, 1936. Absolutely the most educational thing I have ever done. I learned so many things from that, and I'm only sorry that I read my way up through March, 1945, and I still don't know just how and when the war ended. Which is obviously absurd, since I actually do know how and when the war ended, but a part of me is stuck back at the end of March, 1945.

I sincerely believe that a strong understanding of history is crucial to understanding almost everything else. To bring this back to the present, Trump is, as Republicans always do, proposing massive tax cuts, assuring us most blithely that the tax cuts will pay for themselves, in increased economic activity. He is, of course, totally full of shit That's been tried (that referring to tax cuts) any number of times over the years, and it simply doesn't work. But do Republicans ever learn from history? Nope. They live in a seamless present, in which whatever they think or propose is true, no questions asked.

So I'll circle back to my original point: To be an informed voter you need to understand certain basics about history. Which most high school students have zero grasp of. Nothing will be gained by giving them the vote. And in case you're going to say that if they can vote then they'll care, I'll refer you back to the above graph.

[IamFortunesFool]

131. Impeccably put...

I, too, have been an avid student of history from a very young age. I couldn't agree more with your assessment of not only the interest and aptitude of the average teenager to understanding their place in history, but of the general intellectual and educational poverty of Trump voters...and of most Americans in general, I'd say. For all the wonders of the technology and communications revolution, the convieniences of the modern world have fostered an intense anti-intellectualism in our society. It is the height of irony that we live in a world where we can hold the sum of human knowledge in the palm of our hand (smart phone with access to the web and all archived therein) and yet the average person is less educated and informed than ever.

My most far flung political theory is that this disparity between the true depth of human knowledge and scientific discovery and the absolute ignorance of the average person is no accident... that we have been encouraged and bred to be ever more apathetic and consumptive for generations now... That there is a global cabal pulling the strings of our world, and of which the entirety of the Trump/Putin/Middle East/North Korea/etc... crisis are all staged and managed to various degrees to push society into ever increasing internal, sectarian conflict in order to manage and control us.

[Shandris]

5. That polarization is, in most cases (but not all), idiotic and a symptom...

...of two sides being simultaneously controlled. The only surefire way to win a contest is to control both teams, you know. Meme research seems to bear this out, too; the arrival of a meme pretty much necessitates it's opposite arising and over time, a stasis point tends to be reached between the two. Of course, this happens among all the refining and respreading of the meme, so the variables of it can alter subtly over time (as all memes do).

Make the problem, sell the solution, rinse and repeat.

[roscoeroscoe]

134. Hegelian dialectic

Is that how it's spelled? Create the problem, provide the desired solution. And, play both sides against each other. Working so far...

[nolabear]

6. That newbies who ask such questions are suspect.

Welcome to DU.

[Tiphill]

10. How so?

And thanks.

[demmiblue]

15. Yep. n/t

[JNelson6563]

79. Yes. I saw this and thought

a little early in the career to throw out potentially fur-flying stuff. Interesting.

[IamFortunesFool]

150. I think it's a great way to get started...

Fortune favors the bold. I applaud the effort to court potentially raucous but interesting discussion, no matter how curated the author is or is not.

[Squinch]

165. But then in post 149 you're agreeing with the guy saying 9/11 was an inside job. So there's that.

[AngryAmish]

7. IQ is largely genetically determined and cannot be changed.

It places me in really, really shitty company.

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. yeah, that's because it's nonsense

Irish in Ireland (which was one of the poorest countries in Europe, until recent decades) scored something like one standard deviation lower in IQ tests than Irish-Americans; same thing for Jews in Israel vs Jewish Americans. Same genetics, different material environment.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

63. 12 point increase in iq with breastfeeding

Neisser, 2012

[AngryAmish]

105. So if I load up on some good Cambodian breast milk I can increase my IQ almost a standard deviation?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

124. No, because of plasticity, you are already unfortunately

As intelligent as you can be.

However with kids and babies there is far more plasticity.

[rock]

9. Welcome aboard Tiphill

Mine would be that the republicans are not a party worthy of belonging to a Democracy. They do not want candidates elected by democratic means (they want their candidates installed). They do not want majority rule, they want their rule. They do not want the Constitution followed, they'll make up what they want as we go. I see their party the biggest threat to our Democracy that we face.

Good question.

[Tiphill]

11. I agree with you Rock

[PoiBoy]

16. +10,000

..totally agree..!

[YOHABLO]

56. I'd go even further in saying that they are the biggest threat to the world.

[SpankMe]

127. You misunderstood the question, rock.

The question was what your most controversial view is - not a view you hold that is most rooted in fact.

[rock]

153. LOL!

Still, it's the answer I wanted to give.

[GliderGuider]

13. Over the long haul politics is helping to kill life on the planet.

I mean politics in the general sense of "Systems of social organization that are based on power relationships."

It doesn't matter what kind of politics it is - democracies, republics, dictatorships, monarchies, communalism of myriad sorts and all the others. The various systems are simply different ways of implementing and controlling social power relationships, with the goal of organizing human societies around the concept of efficiency. Politics itself is to blame for the imminent, simultaneous collapse of the global biosphere and our human civilization that depends on it.

Controversial enough, I trust?

Oh, and welcome to DU. Way to make an entrance, kid!

[cilla4progress]

34. But what is a realistic

alternative? Wouldn't anarchy kill, as well?

[GliderGuider]

50. The only system that is sure to work is the one that has been proven historically

Villages of no more than 200 people, each governed by a headman and a council of elders. This system worked well around the world from before 30,000 BCE until quite recently.

The kinds of governments we have in the "civilized world" today were developed to manage the size, productivity and energy usage levels of modern societies, and are all organized to support and promote growth while resisting degrowth. Modern, global, constant-growth, techno-industrial civilization is inherently unsustainable, and that unsustainability is built into our governments and their promotion of constant growth.

The one governance structure that did support a sustainable human presence on the planet does not scale to manage large societies, so we're stuck with the various forms we have developed - all of which are unsustainable.

Anarchy is not the answer, the governance forms we have developed are not the answer, and the tribal-village model is not the answer. There is no answer.

That which is unsustainable will not be sustained. Eventually we may arrive back at the tribal-village model, but not until a lot of hardship has unfolded around the world - until circumstances knock us back there kicking and screaming.

[cilla4progress]

70. I always felt as a young person that the assumptions society lived by

Did not make sense to me. Especially growth and development as unquestionable positives. More like cancer to me. Also capitalism. It is the death of the world.

[GliderGuider]

72. Humanity is not a cancer, but modern civilization definitely is.

And it's terminal. Bummer. It's probably a good idea to get to Kubler-Ross Stage 5 ASAP. That will make for a bit less inner suffering as shit starts to come apart (like half the electorate voting for an ostomy bag with a cat on top...).

[cilla4progress]

129. Do you have

kids?

[GliderGuider]

140. No. It apparently makes a difference to my attitude. - or so I'm told. nt

[cilla4progress]

146. Interesting ...

will you, some day?

[GliderGuider]

151. No. I'm 66 years old now.

I've never wanted children. On the other hand I've been married 4 times. Two of my wives came with ready-made families, and those experiences convinced me I'd made the right choice.

People I've spoken with about my rather uncompromising vision of the immediate future say that I'd be far less fatalistic if I had kids. The way I phrase it is that my sentimental attachment would make it imperative that I lie to myself about the state of the world and the natural and manmade forces at work in it. Sentiment and attachment cause people to drape a gauzy veil over the tough bits.

On the other hand, I'm not exactly a cold person. I'd call myself affectionate and deeply romantic, but not sentimental. Being an Earth human as well as a Martian anthropologist can get complicated.

[cilla4progress]

152. Well

I certainly enjoy following your posts!

[GliderGuider]

158. I'm glad you enjoy the way I think. That appreciation is not universal...

[IamFortunesFool]

154. I have kids, and I share your stark view...

I know the prevailing cultural wisdom is that having kids would somehow make you more hopeful or determined about the future, but that sentiment is insulting to true intellectual objectivity. I cringe over what I see the in the future and what it means my children will have to deal with, but that doesn't change the reality of what is coming. If anything, having kids has made me even more resolute in my oppionion of our bleak immediate future precisely because I put so much thought into it for the sake of my posterity. It is what it is. Having kids doesn't change that.

[GliderGuider]

157. Bingo. Well put.

Your phrase "insulting to true intellectual objectivity" expresses my view of that argument as well. Unfortunately the human world seems to be a very subjective place. Objective truth matters little to most people, compared to their feelings. That seems to be one of the main reasons we're in this global jam, and why we couldn't do what was necessary to pull out of it when there might have been a chance.

I say "might have been a chance" because a decade of poking at the problem has convinced me that we probably lost our chance about 4000 BCE when hierarchical, competitive, patriarchal civilization swept out of Saharasia to decimate and dominate the Middle East, then Europe, then all of Asia, and finally the world.

After investigating events like the development of agriculture, the positive-feedback loop of technological cleverness and population growth, the invention of money, the invention of language, a possible flaw in human nature, and even the operation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics as potential root causes for today's ghastly outcome, I stumbled across the work of Dr. James deMeo. He lays out a theory of the origin of civilization that is based on a 4000 BC drying event in the Sahara, one that I find far more persuasive than any of the others.

In my view the cause has been lost for a long time already.

SAHARASIA: SCHOLAR'S ABSTRACT

Global geographical patterns of repressive, painful, traumatic, and violent, armored, patrist behaviors and social institutions, which thwart maternal-infant and male-female bonds, were correlated and developed through a systematic analysis of anthropological data on 1170 subsistence-level cultures. When the behavior data were mapped, the hyperarid desert belt encompassing North Africa, the Near East, and Central Asia, which I call Saharasia, was found to possess the greatest areal extent of the most extreme patrist behaviors and social institutions on Earth. Regions farthest removed from Saharasia, in Oceania and the New World, were found to possess the most gentle, unarmored, matrist behaviors, which support and protect maternal-infant and male-female bonds.

A systematic review of archaeological and historical materials suggests that patrism first developed in Saharasia after c.4000 BCE, the time of a major ecological transition from relatively wet grassland- forest conditions to arid desert conditions. Settlement and migration patterns of patrist peoples were traced, from their earliest homelands in Saharasia, to explain the later appearance of patrism in regions outside of Saharasia. Prior to the onset of dry conditions in Saharasia, evidence for matrism is widespread, but evidence for patrism is generally nonexistent.

It is argued that matrism constitutes the earliest, original, and innate form of human behavior and social organization, while patrism, perpetuated by trauma-inducing social institutions, first developed among Homo Sapiens in Saharasia, under the pressures of severe desertification, famine, and forced migrations. The psychological insights of Wilhelm Reich provide an understanding of the mechanism by which patrist (armored, violent) behaviors become established and continue long after the initial trauma has passed.

http://www.orgonelab.org/saharasia.htm

[YOHABLO]

57. I'd say it's Greed and Lust for money.

[GliderGuider]

67. That's what most people think

But lust and greed are fostered by society, as part of the growth paradigm - they promote consumption and therefore require growth. They don't arise naturally out of human nature without the influence of social programming (look at aboriginal societies for evidence of this.) And the underlying growth paradigm is one thing that politics is invested in promoting and protecting.

[IamFortunesFool]

137. Hello, My Friend!

I'm back from my sabbatical... glad to see you're still around!

[GliderGuider]

139. I can't quit the shit!

No way could I leave when Such Big Change is afoot! Glad you're back!

[IamFortunesFool]

148. I wish I felt optimistic about the "change"...

But in my time away here recently I've spent many, many hours reflecting and assimilating all that has happened in the last year, and I've come away impressed more than ever that we are witnessing nothing but highly staged theater... that our economic and socially dominative masters have long ago cemented their control and are now merely executing the next phase in their plan....and we lap it up like puppies. I think the only real option we have is to let this entrenched greed and lust for immortality run its course... grab a good seat and enjoy the show. The inevitable genetic bottleneck I've referred to in other posts/rants can't be stopped... And, again, we will emerged changed and adaptively evolved.

[Freddie]

14. The Constitution should not be sacrosanct

There's parts of it that made a lot more sense 250 years ago. There's nothing relevant to, say, healthcare (you got sick, you died) or women's rights (we had none). The Electoral College and the Senate are structured to give too much power to underpopulated states.
The size of Congress should be tripled.

[Scruffy1]

23. I agree with you 100%.

All the constitution humpers I ever met had no knowledge of the history or the use of it. it was pretty much a document insuring a slavocracy in the opinion of many scholars such as Amar. The Senate gives undue power to space over people. aAreas that have less than 20% of the population can in effect control the Senate and typicall their senators have been under the control of 1 or 2 soecial interests such as mining, oil, or other natural resource depletion.
Of course the constitution is whatever nine political appointees say that it is and their is no way to appeal their decision, even if they reach an absurd decision like in the famous Schecter sick chicken case. i think increasing the size of the Supreme Court would help a lot. It would help take away some of the importance of an appointment that may happen on an average of every five years or so. Also there should be a mandatory retirement age to keep new blood coming in. The way it is now we end up having a bunch of fossils like me deciding things for a present they know little about .
another problem with the Supremes is that they really have no ethics rules like other courts. this alway Thomas to bucket loads of money through his wife from the Kochs.

[WinkyDink]

77. That's why there are AMENDMENTS.

[Freddie]

106. Yes but

Amendments are virtually impossible. We couldn't even get something as (you'd think) common sense as equal rights for women.

[angstlessk]

17. Being a Democrat!

[tammywammy]

18. Pro-abortion/pro-3rd trimester abortion

I believe everyone who wants an abortion should have acces to it I believe in access to third trimester abortions, because they're only done in extreme cases.

I'm a Texan democrat.

[Lunabell]

97. I am also pro abortion not just pro choice.

People just need to fucking quit breeding.

[ck4829]

19. I would have to say it's a competition between...

Guaranteed rights for animals like apes, elephants, and cetaceans. (Human rights for non-humans)

Getting away from seeing gender as a binary

Putting out the message that money is socially constructed and any power it has, or the power of who has it, is something we create and allow it to have

Seeing that the House and Senate are not political bodies reflecting the first article of the US Constitution and are thus illegitimate

Our healthcare system ("the greatest healthcare system in the world" according to Republicans) is actually a system of social control rather than something for treating illness, injury, and disability. I would be more than happy to elaborate if anyone asks.

[DanTex]

20. That the constitution is actually pretty bad in many ways.

Probably the biggest is the way the government is set up. The electoral college is bad. The senate is bad, it gives more power to some voters at the expense of others. The house is bad because it can be gerrymandered, and also is subject to an inherent amount of "geographic gerrymandering" even if districts were drawn in a non-political way.

We should just have a proportional representation system, and one of the big reasons for a lot of the problems we have in this country is that we don't have that.

[Freddie]

107. 100% correct

Our government gives structural advantages to lower populated areas. Land has more power than people. MOST people vote for the Democratic Party yet thanks to the EC, gerrymandering and the nature of the Senate, here we are. It's wrong. And they're still blaming HRC.

[CK_John]

21. Reduse SocSec to age 40yr and have a min wage of 12,000 per yr.

[Squinch]

25. Hey! We agree on something!

[ananda]

22. Cooperatives

Seeing the USA as a Cooperacy

[TNLib]

26. Sensible gun control

Like restricting assault rifles. Closing gun show loopholes and not selling guns to the mentally ill and domestic abusers.

I'm from the south and people go insane when I express my views.

[Sculpin Beauregard]

27. That unfettered capitalism is not the ultimate human achievement

and will actually destroy itself eventually. Everything needs limits.

That human beings are more important than money.

[democratisphere]

28. Gag order.

[Kaye_NY]

29. I have this radical opinion that

women's rights are human rights.

[mtngirl47]

59. Me too, and that women can do a better job

as leaders by building consensus. And that women leaders could bring about a more equal world society. And that women leaders could bring about world peace.

[Lunabell]

30. I am not anti death penalty.

Some people are animals.

[grossproffit]

37. Me too.

[Freddie]

108. There goes my liberal cred

But yes, in some cases where there is absolutely no doubt of guilt. Local case where a 9 year old girl was raped and murdered by a neighbor. They found him with her blood on his clothes. Sorry he does not deserve to breathe anymore.

[IamFortunesFool]

144. Actually, we're all animals...

Animals with a very inflated oppionion of themselves...

[kwassa]

31. Reparations.

Not in the form of cash, but in terms of investment in training and educating poor people holistically, from early years past college into the work force.

[mvd]

60. If we can find a way to make it work, I am also for them

Maybe even cash.

I can't think of a conservative opinion I have that would be controversial. I am very spiritual, but that isn't conservative or controversial. I might be in the minority at DU with that view, though.

[Lunabell]

99. Exactly.

We need to invest wisely in our future and repair what damage was done. Something anything. Was there ever even an official apology made by the US? For more than just slavery, but jim crow and the abuse and murders? For fuck's sake they are just now starting to take down the confederate flag and monuments.Sad. Who am I kidding, look who's president. I am so depressed.

[cilla4progress]

32. That polygamy should be legal.

Why shouldn't consenting adults be able to be married to more than one person at a time, if they wish?

[Lunabell]

100. That would really be a tax burden to figure out.

What would they do?

[Lee-Lee]

109. Maybe we should abondon the idea of taxation tied to marriage

When you think about it the idea of taxing married couples differently is essentially tax breaks for those who believe in certain religious practices and traditions.

[cheapdate]

33. I'm an anarchist at heart.

The powerful use the power of the state to separate people from the land base and to force them into wage slavery.

[smirkymonkey]

35. Conservatism is a mental disorder.

[JI7]

36. Pro GMO

[Warren DeMontague]

48. I'm not pro or anti, because it's a tool/technology- it can be used

for good reasons and not-so-good reasons.

Personally I question whether selling more roundup is the best use for the tech, but I'm not against the concept itself.

I agree that the knee-jerk luddism around it is annoying.

[mvd]

55. I avoid all GMO when shopping in the grocery store. Just my preference

I am not convinced we have the means to mess with nature with positive results yet.

[True Dough]

80. Sign me up!

Feed the world!

[MurrayDelph]

39. That there are some murder cases where the death penalty is appropriate

When Richard Allen Davis was convicted of murdering Polly Klaas, he used his statement time to not only brag, but taunt her parents about it.

I believe he has already used all of his share of the world's oxygen.

(Note: I do not believe this to be a universal support of the death penalty)

[Crunchy Frog]

40. Opposition to child genital cutting.

Very controversial in these parts.

[TlalocW]

41. Atheism

Apparently we're one of the least trusted groups in America despite not having much of a population in prison, and secular moral systems are easily demonstrated to be superior to religious ones.

TlalocW

[True Dough]

81. How do you think I feel?

I'm an atheist and a journalist. That puts my level of trustworthiness at about 0 in the minds of many!

[Lunabell]

96. As if you can't have a moral compass without a belief in a fairy tale.

I mean come on, Zeus? Jehova? Venus? Which one?

[sarisataka]

42. I think my most controversial belief

is aliens have secretly infiltrated our society. Under disguise they have managed to collaborate and put themselves in virtually all positions of power in politics, the media and Industry. They keep humans passive and under control thru subliminal messages found in all print, television broadcasts, advertising and even money.

[YOHABLO]

61. Okay turn the History Channel off.

[Adrahil]

111. Ummmm.... wow. They Live!!! NT

[sarisataka]

143. Just a movie... Or is it?

It would explain a lot of things lot of things like the electoral college polls being wrong.

And what better way to hide the truth then too make it into a B science fiction movie

[LanternWaste]

160. Not so much "controversial" as much as it is groundless

Not so much "controversial" as much as it is groundless, unsubstantiated, lacking any objective evidence, and chimerical.

There are of course, far more accurate and objerctive terms... however a tender and gossamer soul often interprets simple accuracy as too callous and inelegant for polite conversation, and might alert.

[sarisataka]

163. Go ahead you can say wacko

I would find it less insulting than gossamer

[adigal]

43. That the United States is dead as a country, and we need a split

After this election and the interviews they do in red states (and, to be fair, red parts of blue states) I see NO way that we can fix Humpty Dumpty. I think we should do a loss consortium of sorts. Cut federal taxes to the bone, the blue states will make it up by raising state taxes and then we don't have to send our hard earned $$ to those states who believe we all need god, guns and hatred.
I am really hoping we start to look into this. Cause I'm done with the ignorant blowhards in this country.

[DemocraticSocialist8]

46. We're definitely headed down that path...the U.S. being dead part I mean

[tblue37]

71. I believe that civilization is like a rabbit shot on the run: it keeps going for a while

in the same direction before it falls over, but it is already dead.

[DemocraticSocialist8]

44. The Drug War should be abolished and all non-violent drug offenders

need to be immediately released from all prisons, state, federal and private...and they should be given reparations based on how much time they've spent in prison.

[Warren DeMontague]

47. Damn Straight.

[Warren DeMontague]

45. Chris Christie reminds me of Baby Huey

[True Dough]

82. I'd take that over this...

[hrmjustin]

49. The only one I can think of here is that I don't agree with the abolition of the UK

Monarchy.

[bench scientist]

52. that the Cubs will repeat win the World Series.

[True Dough]

85. They couldn't even beat the Red Sox tonight!

[bench scientist]

103. 162 game season...

[mvd]

58. Capitalism is a bad system that enables the greedy

In the U.S., that is controversial.

[LeftyMom]

62. I believe people who support the Designated Hitter are reptilians sent to destroy Murica.

On most other points I'm open to debate.

[True Dough]

87. If every pitcher was like Madison Bumgarner

I'd want them all to hit (and all to stay off of dirt bikes!!!).

[LeftyMom]

92. The next time he picks a fight with gravity I expect him to at least get his licks in.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

64. The worst democrat is better that the best republican

THat all of trumps voters are racist, even the few non whites

[WinkyDink]

78. Is this controversial? I'd have thought these truths by now were self-evident! :-)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

125. Have you not heard the bullshit term economic anxiety?

[Ken Burch]

65. Probably my support for massive cuts in the war budget

And my call for a Statement of Apology and Renunciation to the peoples of Latin America, Africa, and Asia for pretty much everything we've done militarily or through the CIA in those countries after 1950 or so.

[Worktodo]

66. Infrastructure sprawl is unsustainable

Post WW2 American built a suburban sprawl that will cost more to maintain than anyone will want to spend.

[Codeine]

68. I'm pro-nuclear power and have no issues with GMOs.

[cemaphonic]

74. I'm with you on nuclear power

It's not without its costs and risks, but even with the gains that renewables have made in the past decade, it still needs to be part of the base load equation if we are going to do anything about global warning. Especially since more modern design can mitigate the chances of the serious accidents we've seen to date.

As for GMOs, I do have some issues with some of the business side of how they are used (farmers being shackled to Monsanto year after year, suing over accidental natural cross-pollination, etc.). But the idea that GMO produced foods are literally poison has about as much scientific legitimacy as vaccines causing autism.

[dlk]

69. What if Men Ceded Control of Women's Bodies to Women?

Funny how in 2017, this is controversial as it gets.

[lovemydogs]

73. I suppose wanting to reconnect with the New Deal and its policies.

It seems those who know little about history, about the era or the policies seem to find the New Deal controversial and anti equality.
Its none of those things.
But those entrenched into the new democratic thinking find it scary

[Hamlette]

75. I am sympathetic to arguments for some limits to abortion.

I think if the fetus is alive after an abortion, it should be saved unless it will not likely survive for long.

I imagine myself as a health care professional witnessing such an abortion. It would be extremely hard for me.

[WinkyDink]

76. Yeah, like I'd post it here.

[JNelson6563]

86. Oh come on!

Don't you want to see a blood bath?? A bunch of DUers getting worked up and angry at each other?

what a transparent OP. Oh myyyyy!

[WinkyDink]

89. One of my rare moments of sanity. :-)

[Inkfreak]

117. That doesn't happen regularly, regardless?

[JNelson6563]

122. right? So no need to incite.

[Iggo]

126. ...and all of a sudden a brand new list over at the cave of everything wrong with "libtards"?

[cemaphonic]

83. I was OK with the Gulf War

I rolled my eyes at all the propaganda painting Kuwait as our stalwart allies, and Hussein as a threat as big as Hitler. And I was horrified at the notion being promoted at the time that it would be good for us as a nation to have an easy, virtuous war to "get over Vietnam."

But even with that, an important part of the post-WWII international order is that stronger countries unilaterally annexing weaker countries through raw military force isn't tolerated. And unlike the other Iraq war, the diplomacy was handled well, with a true regional alliance, and a lot of effort into making sure that Israel didn't get involved, despite a fair amount of provocation.

[Foamfollower]

84. I have several

I believe America is great.

I believe in the RKBA because I live in rural Kentucky and encounter coyotes and other dangerous animals at my home on a regular basis.

I believe that extremist liberal purity demands are every bit as dangerous to this country as extremist conservative purity demands and both are to blame for our current predicament.

I fully support GMOs and will promote their virtues to my ending days. I have family who are insulin dependent and would never be able to survive without the GMO revolution.

I support all forms of energy production that do not rely on carbon based fuels, including nuclear power.

I support science, even when the science disagrees with so-called liberal beliefs and values.

I supported Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

There are many more.

[WinkyDink]

90. "I supported Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton." You really think that qualifies as "controversial"?

[Foamfollower]

91. Based upon my short time here?

Definitely.

[WinkyDink]

98. Ridiculous.

[Lunabell]

101. IKR

[Foamfollower]

128. OFFS!

[JNelson6563]

94. Well, if it kicks off a primary 2016 battle

then it would do as a "controversy". And by controversy I mean "bait".

[ileus]

110. progressive 2A stance.

[yankeepants]

112. Is that "tiphill" as in Syracuse?

[Lee-Lee]

113. That a real progressive economy requires a strong police power and force

You can't have progressive taxation without strong enforcement of it and that has to be backed up with the use of force or it's nothing.

If you think there should be non-discrimination laws there has to be at some point armed agents of the state who enforce the law or the courts orders.

If you think that there should be environmental protection laws there needs to be armed enforcement to make sure people comply or pay their fines.

If you believe in progressive taxation there needs to the the threat or armed agents of the state taking away your stuff and/ or taking you to jail to enforce those laws.

You need it to enforce, well, every law. If there is anything you think government should do or should regulate or should control it cannot be done unless that is backed up directly or indirectly by armed agents of the state. If any law is not backed by force then it is just words on paper. It may not be direct for a violation but it is in the cycle of enforcement. You may only get a code enforcement citation for not mowing you lawn, but if you don't pay that $25 or show up in court to fight it then you get moved up the enforcement ladder and there is a warrant issued for your arrest, and that is enforced by the police.

Any time you have ever said "there should be a law that says ________" you are saying "we need armend agents of the state to make sure this happens". That is true from big things like crimes against murder and rape down to the smallest zoning ordinance that says what color your door can be painted or how any cars you can park on your driveway- eventually that employee of the government sworn with legal authority to enforce the law will show up to use force to make sure you comply if your refuse.

Progressives seen very disconnected from the fact that not a single law we want can't be enforced and is totally meaningless unless backed up by armed agents of the government enabled to use force to mandate compliance. In fact progressives tend to get real uncomfortable when you discuss this and like to pretend it isn't the reality.

Sure, there are places where they don't need as strong a police force. Places like Japan, for example, have a much stronger cultural respect for authority deep in their culture so voluntarily compliance is much more pervasive. That isn't so in the US.

[Orrex]

114. "The Walking Dead" is boring

There. I said it.

[kwassa]

123. Seen one walking rotting corpse, seen 'em all.

[roscoeroscoe]

138. For the win

Yes. Bad script writing, living off past success. Ironic the show features zombies, the whole series is a shambling mess

[Voltaire2]

115. The collapse of the Soviet Union was a disaster

for people in the west. No fan of Marxist dictatorships, but the USSR kept our elites in check.

[HughBeaumont]

166. With no superpower to saber-rattle . . .

. . . they concentrated on a new target: America's middle/working/poor classes.

[get the red out]

116. Human rights over religious rights

Even if that means amending the constitution to guarantee it (which could never be done).

And yes, I am talking about here in the US, we do a piss poor job of defending human rights in the face of so-called "religious rights".

[Buckeye_Democrat]

118. That the USA is the greatest danger to world peace.

I suspect that liberals are more likely to agree, but it's still a minority viewpoint among them too.

When people around the world were polled by Gallup a few years ago, the USA was the clear plurality choice as the greatest danger to world peace. I now believe they're correct.

It doesn't mean that I'm pro-"some other country" at all, but I don't trust my fellow USA citizens and representatives when the government and media beats the drums for war.

The USA is now like the kooky gun-crazed neighbor who shoots people for looking at him cross-eyed.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

156. +1,000,000

[Iggo]

119. Nope.

[Inkfreak]

120. Across the political spectrum or with our own party?

I can't think of anything republicans wouldn't already find controversial. Pro-abortion, Marriage equality, etc..

Within the my own party, I'd say my anti-illegal immigration stance gets flack. Dunno why, I welcome anyone and believe we need to take in refugees, too. But I want everything done through the legal process.

[Sancho]

121. My CT for years (but now it's caught on a little) was something I witnessed...

My wife and I went to vote in Fl and saw a DRE flipping votes!! It was a Congressional election - and no matter what you selected Buchannan was the winner (corrupt legislator from FL 13) if you reviewed your vote. I called the ES, and demanded the machine be impounded. She had me escorted out, turned the machine on and off to "reset" it, and carried on...

Now it's almost 2 decades latter. Scholarly articles, poll-watchers, observers, and some pop-up groups (like Election Integrity) are trying to prove what seems obvious to me....since 2000 the GOP has been stealing elections.

Besides the gerrymandering, registration games, and Russian interference - I'm convinced that some elections are simply manipulated by hacking the machines or tabulators. I'd even say that the hacking appears to be strategic and designed to win by just enough in certain places so that it's not easily detected.

Call me crazy if you want, but since I saw it, I'm convinced.

[LonePirate]

130. Repealing the 2A and confiscating all guns.

[Sunlei]

132. that governments local/state/federal should only subsidise businesses under 5 million gross.

[FSogol]

133. I've been promoting this one for years: Let's seize the Cayman Islands!

Send Seal Team Six and every finance lawyer we can find in the Justice Dept, FBI, and SEC. We release the funds owned by foreign citizens and foreign corporations. All of that illegal cash that has bypassed US taxes can be seized and put in the US Treasury. When the billionaires squawk, jail them on tax evasion.

[snooper2]

136. Doing research for future OPs?

[roscoeroscoe]

141. Space colonization, I guess

I really support human expansion into space. As we turn inward and compete for limited resources, every selfish and cruel impulse will become more common. We see it now.

Space gives us room and resources to expand to greatness.

Humans 2 Mars summit next month

[SomethingNew]

142. Open borders

[heaven05]

145. you're looking for something

what? Besides your stated query?

[VOX]

147. Tax the rich at 1950s levels, 80 percent at least.

And less privatization of services and systems that a strong, fair federal government can provide without cutthroat profiteering.

Medicare for all. European-style socialism. Let the fat cats go on a crash diet.

[karadax]

155. Sun is more impactful on overall climate change than man.

Its an uncommon belief around these parts but it's something I'm comfortable sharing because it brings about conversation. The more we talk about stuff the more we can truly get to the bottom of an issue and solutions.

[DefenseLawyer]

159. I'm in favor of a government operated health care system n/t

[LanternWaste]

161. Nations, governments, politics, economics, et. al. exist no where but our imaginations

Nations, governments, politics, economics, et. al. exist no where but our imaginations, yet we predicate the vast majority of our daily decisions on these imaginary constructs.

That being one of the reasons I giggle every time someone mentions 'magic thinking' as a pejorative to one and only one construct, as we indeed embrace the magic one and all of us.

[Hugin]

162. "Guaranteed Minimum Income"

" Guaranteed minimum income (GMI) (also called minimum income) is a system of social welfare provision that guarantees that all citizens or families have an income sufficient to live on, provided they meet certain conditions. Eligibility is typically determined by citizenship, a means test, and either availability for the labour market or a willingness to perform community services. The primary goal of a guaranteed minimum income is to reduce poverty. If citizenship is the only requirement, the system turns into a universal basic income."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaranteed_minimum_income

As an alternative to warehousing indigent people in privately owned "nursing homes" at $4,000 to $6,000 per month. Where it's debatable that they are receiving the level of care for which the tax-payers are paying

You know I'm right...

[DiverDave]

164. Nationalize the oil and gas

And the banks and the pharma
Pretty radical, eh?

[jalan48]

168. Maybe it's time to bring back the guillotine.

[jcmaine72]

169. 1.) Comprehensive Hate Speech Laws

I know this is something that many fellow progressives chafe at, but we're one of the few Western nations without hate speech laws in place. While I firmly believe such laws are nothing but an asset to a civilized nation, I acknowledge that in our society there's no way to have such laws on the books because of our First Amendment. I accept that without complaint. That said, I firmly believe that hate speech should never be free. Just imagine (if you dare) if we did have hate speech laws on the books akin to those in many Western European nations, and how different our nation would be today. Trump would probably be in prison for promoting and inciting hate and intolerance along with a fair percentage of his deplorably racist, xenophobic, sexist Islamophobe fan base. oh well. A person can dream, can't they?

2.) Nationalizing all utilities and natural resources. These are far too important to the collective security, welfare and prosperity of any civilized nation to be allowed outside the domain of the government, but especially to be allowed to remain in the hands of an avaricious few.

3.) End the Electoral College. I don't know why standing opposed to this archaic and blatantly discriminatory relic of the past would be viewed as a controversial, but it is by some. The travesty of last election must never again be repeated.

4.) Open borders accompanied by a comprehensive and humane settlement plan for all refugees into our nation's interior. This policy would accomplish two absolutely vital goals:

A.) It's simply the humane thing to do. Every civilized nation (especially wealthy ones) should feel morally obligated to assist our fellow human beings who are in need. Not only should all refugees be welcomed, but steps must always be taken to ensure they are never ghettoized and marginalized once they're here. Therefore, steps should be taken to ensure they are not socially isolated in large urban centers as has, unfortunately, been the case throughout much of Western Europe.

B.) The added benefit of this policy would be to diversify our heartland. Diversity is our strength as a nation. One fleeting glimpse of a political map of our nation should explain why additional diversity is absolutely necessary in our interior. Large swaths of our nation have become decidedly backward bastions of un-American intolerance, bigotry and white supremacy. Diversifying small town and rural America is the only way our nation we will be able to move forward as a modern, civilized and progressive nation and ensure we never get another Donald Trump again.

5.) Reduce our military budget by 90% if possible. Let's face facts: The U.S. military hasn't been a force for good on the world stage in decades. Our ongoing umteen military actions and wars worldwide has accomplished nothing but make the world a more unsafe and hateful place, not to mention costing us trillions of dollars that are sorely need to rebuild our infrastructure and public education system. I'd like us to be a moral superpower, like Merkel has transformed Germany into, not the perpetually paranoid, belligerent and intrusive military one we currently are.

Well, that's just about it.