Unpopular/Controversial Opinions #3

amaranthine.:

I find this one of the worst things about being British. During the riots last August, for instance, as well as feeling angry, I actually felt quite embarrassed that the rest of the world was seeing what a mess some parts of Britian have become.
I know not every teenager acts like this - I don't act like it, and my friends don't act like it, but unfortunately, there are many who do. You only have to walk into my school on a Monday morning and you'll hear thousands of stories about last Friday's party where everyone got drunk to the point of being sick and then slept with someone they didn't even like. A lot of the time, it's pretty embarrassing to be a British teenager, because we're inevitably all going to be stereotyped as that kind of person.

This is such a class/ideology/media thing. I'm amazed by how strangely different attitudes towards alcohol are in Scotland and Romania. Statistically, the alcohol per capita consumption in Romania is higher than in Britain and one of the highest in the world. Does anybody care? Not really, we have bigger issues. Is there a public paranoia about young people losing their morals because of alcohol? Not at all, youth violence is understood as springing from other causes (such as poverty). Everybody and their grandmother brews their own wine and spirits, everybody guzzles them down at any kind of family or friends gatherings, most young people get slightly drunk when they go out with friends. It is a fact of life, it doesn't reflect on our nation's honours or our place in history any more than what kind of food we eat.

Of course not caring is a very harmful attitude, but so is demonising alcohol consumers in order to prove a point that doesn't really have that much to do with alcohol.

I fully believe a soul mate can be just your best/closest friend and that you can share a deep love and connection with them, but not necessarily have a romantic/sexual relationship .

I'm not a fan of illegal downloading. I don't particularly mind when others do it, but it just doesn't feel right for me. I'd rather buy the music/movies/whatever.

I love cold showers, especially in the morning. If I was to take a hot shower, it would just make me extremely tired and it steams up the room too much.

Sarah Dessen's novels have never appealed to me.

I feel like taking a hot shower does not help my sinuses at all. However, it could just be me.

kafka.:

But it's obvious that somebody who votes Rick Santorum does so because of Santorum's religious beliefs, wouldn't completely changing his beliefs and his agenda after he gets elected betray the people who voted for him and who are supposed to be the people he's representing.

It would, and that's wrong. That's why I don't believe he should be in government, period. He clearly can't separate his beliefs from his politics.

Using a personal religion to make baby-sitter decisions for the rest of the country because you 'know' what's moral is bullshit, imho.

Meat is disgusting. I don't want to eat something that once made sound.

^Too bloody right! Vegetarians, ftw!

the reverend.:

I fully believe a soul mate can be just your best/closest friend and that you can share a deep love and connection with them, but not necessarily have a romantic/sexual relationship .

Also, this. I consider my best friend to be my soulmate honestly. Like it started out as us just joking around, but I pretty much believe that shit. If she isn't my soulmate then I have none.

kafka.:

But it's obvious that somebody who votes Rick Santorum does so because of Santorum's religious beliefs, wouldn't completely changing his beliefs and his agenda after he gets elected betray the people who voted for him and who are supposed to be the people he's representing? When you're an elected official, you're the representative of the people who voted for you, not of everyone. I certainly don't want people whom I haven't voted for claiming that they're representing me and my views when they're obviously not.

Hypothetically, people would vote for Rick Santorum, if he were to be nominated, because they don't want Obama to have another term. Surprisingly, a lot of Rick Santorum's criticisms about how ridiculously fundamental and theocratic he is come from fellow Republicans. This is hypothetical, because Santorum doesn't stand a chance in hell at winning.

I disagree with the latter part of that statement completely, and that mentality is why the US government is so incredibly partisan and nonfunctional today. When a Republican is elected as a state senator, it's perfectly acceptable for them to marginalize any non Republican citizens from their state. There is no bipartisanship or compromise with the Democratic party, and thus no legislation is passed, because politicians would rather do nothing and remain loyal to a party, than act for their state as a whole and reach across the isle. I think that as a politician, at least a decent one, you must think beyond furthering a church, party, or personal agenda and think about the entire country as a whole.

This.Useless.Heart.:

^Too bloody right! Vegetarians, ftw!

Also, this. I consider my best friend to be my soulmate honestly. Like it started out as us just joking around, but I pretty much believe that shit. If she isn't my soulmate then I have none.

I used to think that until my friends started acting like asses. My mom also tries to force me to eat meat because she believes that it's "God's will". Bitch, I'm Agnostic.

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I think more funding should be put into programs at public schools promoting the arts. Sports get way too much attention, leaving the rest of us underfunded. Also, along with physical activity, promoting the use of creativity helps bring out the full potential of students and studies have shown that it can help their performance in school.

I don't believe in luck.

Pixie Crimefighter:

I used to think that until my friends started acting like asses. My mom also tries to force me to eat meat because she believes that it's "God's will". Bitch, I'm Agnostic.

I've had people try to get me with that crap as well. So far, no one has yet to back that up with any biblical proof, for the record.

While I can understand the desire to have your own child, experience pregnancy, etc, it bothers me that a lot of women spend tens of thousands of dollars and go into debt in order to go through multiple rounds of IVF to have their own biological child. I think after trying IVF a couple times and it failing, then obviously it isn't in the cards for you to have your own baby. I don't get why adoption always seems like a total last resort.

I want to have a family someday, but I know that if I wasn't able to conceive naturally, I wouldn't bother with IVF, I would adopt. I want to adopt a child regardless, just because there are children out there that need homes and loving families, and I don't think being blood-related is all that important. I just find it a little selfish to go into debt over fertility treatments instead of providing a loving family for a child out there that really needs it, if that makes any sense.

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I really enjoy "junk food" tv shows such as Steve Wilkos, Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, Jeremy Kyle, the like

I'm not happy that Forest Bailey won the street-style gold medal in the X Games this year. I don't think he had a great enough run, and I don't think he truly represents what the X Games and Action Sports as a whole are about. This is a pretty unpopular opinion with a lot of X Games watchers and fans.

Toby Turner:

Meh, students have been stereotyped as heavy drinkers since the 13th century in Oxford. I don't see us as getting worse but being pretty much the same.

I mean, I don't drink much or whatever. I don't think stereotypes are a good representation of anyone since it's lazy.

I guess I just find it a little annoying for people to put on rose-tinted glasses and think that this generation is getting worse when history indicates that every young generation has been described as worse than the one who precedes it.

I think the stereotyping is what annoys me the most. Young people now have this reputation of always drinking, being violent and having no respect, and yet it is only a minority of teenagers who act this way. Unfortunately, though, they're the ones who tend to make the news headlines, and this leads to all young people getting a bad reputation.
I'm not trying to judge anyone on whether they drink/do drugs/party all the time etc - I don't mind what other people get up to in their spare time; I just think that it's wrong that, because of the actions of a few people, we all get stereotyped as a violent, disrespectful, out of control generation.

Kurtni:

I think that as a politician, at least a decent one, you must think beyond furthering a church, party, or personal agenda and think about the entire country as a whole.

Pixie Crimefighter:

I think more funding should be put into programs at public schools promoting the arts. Sports get way too much attention, leaving the rest of us underfunded. Also, along with physical activity, promoting the use of creativity helps bring out the full potential of students and studies have shown that it can help their performance in school.

While I'm an advocate of art programs in public education (or any environment, for the matter), I disagree with your second sentence a little bit. Yes, sports are generally given more attention in terms of promotion and encouragement from peers/faculty, but there's a ton of sports at public schools that are funded significantly less than the notable sports people look at the most (first that come to mind are probably football and cheerleading) such as golf, flag football, and tennis, to name just a few. Granted, the numbers more than likely vary in a variety of aspects from county to county/state to state, but not all sports are given priority over art programs in public schools. Besides, while yes, creative outlets do give students to show their full potential and even improve performance, so do sports and physical activities. There's studies supporting both sides of the argument, I think it's just a matter of where you stand.

Kurtni:

Hypothetically, people would vote for Rick Santorum, if he were to be nominated, because they don't want Obama to have another term. Surprisingly, a lot of Rick Santorum's criticisms about how ridiculously fundamental and theocratic he is come from fellow Republicans. This is hypothetical, because Santorum doesn't stand a chance in hell at winning.

While people should be voting for Obama to prevent Santorum from becoming president? I don't understand how this is relevant to anything.

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I disagree with the latter part of that statement completely, and that mentality is why the US government is so incredibly partisan and nonfunctional today. When a Republican is elected as a state senator, it's perfectly acceptable for them to marginalize any non Republican citizens from their state. There is no bipartisanship or compromise with the Democratic party, and thus no legislation is passed, because politicians would rather do nothing and remain loyal to a party, than act for their state as a whole and reach across the isle. I think that as a politician, at least a decent one, you must think beyond furthering a church, party, or personal agenda and think about the entire country as a whole.

True democracy can only function if our elected representatives do what they were elected to do, that is, represent us and do what "the entire country as a whole" has democratically voted as being the best option for "the entire country as a whole" instead of doing what they personally believe to be the best for "the entire country as a whole" because of what their church/party/personal agenda tells them. The moment elected representatives become a kind of benevolent absolutist rulers who just know what's best for us and who are entitled to completely ignore what the electorate actually thinks should be done, democracy disappears. Democracy doesn't mean that only the laws that you like get passed, it means that the laws that the majority wants get passed.

Ice Queen.:

Sarah Dessen's novels have never appealed to me.

I read one of them and liked it, then I read another and went, "Wait, didn't I just read this...?"

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I don't like tattoos at all. A lot of times they just look stupid to me.

Crash Thrusts.:

I don't believe in luck.

Same. I'll say "good luck" to someone to wish them well, or I might say "phew, that was lucky", but I don't believe luck is an actual... fate-like thing.

I would call good fortune luck, but I don't believe in luck in a superstitious way. I suppose that's what I'm trying to say.

Pixie Crimefighter:

Meat is disgusting. I don't want to eat something that once made sound.

This is a fairly popular opinion where I'm from. Personally, I don't know what I'd do without it. i do like animals, but I just can't help but find meat delicious.