argument
stringlengths 55
36k
| conclusion
stringlengths 8
1.16k
| id
stringlengths 36
36
|
|---|---|---|
Hello, I am curious to see what you guys have to say. Try as I might I cannot see any meaning behind our insignificant lives. Some may deem people with this belief as depressed, but on the contrary, for me it's quite the liberating conviction. I live everyday free of worry and stress as I am quite aware of the fact that nothing I do really matters as within a few decades maximum I will be nothing in this world. Innumerable human beings have searched for meaning behind their lives and I think it absolutely futile, searching for something that never existed to begin with. This conviction has led to my inability to form close relationships and do well in whatever stage of my life I am in and all because my nihilistic views have led to a consistent apathetic state. I don't care if I do well on a test or in a job, I don't care if I build friendships or intimate relationships and all because I see no meaning to any of it. I consider myself fortunate to live with this conviction and to have come across it at such a young age as I am free from the trivialities of this world that seem to enthrall so many others. I am left perpetually content as I just live day by day with no real concerns, appreciating what the Earth has to offer and awaiting my demise. My friends, share with me your opinions and if somehow you have come across what you think brings meaning to your life, please share that too
| Life is meaningless.
| b1c3d867-2b22-41f4-a793-315ae45277af |
I first want it to be known that I don't necessary like this point the of view but I am not able to put a reason on why I should care about other people except for the consequential view of avoiding punishment or being rewarded. I also have Schizoid Personality Disorder where I am basically near emotionless and go mostly by cold logic so emotional please don't work for me. I say there is no logical reason for being moral out of empathy and concern for others because how would you define it to somebody who doesn't really feel love for anybody. How would you be able to convince somebody that they should care? And for what logical reason do you even care yourself? Can you honestly state it as anything else other than a preference that you care about people? David Hume said that one is unable to derive an ought from an is. Say for example, if you found a large sum of cash. You know who the cash belongs to. You also know that you can take the cash and be able to get away with it without suffering consequences. What logical reason do you have for not acting in your own best interest and taking the money? What logical reason do you have for caring about starving African children if it does not concern or affect you in any way? I will admit that I do not like this view. At all. I am actually hoping that somebody will change my view. This idea got stuck in my head a few days ago and I have had many restless nights. I may not have much in the way of emotions and may not be able to truly love another person, but I don't want to cause harm to anybody and I do think that everybody has rights to not suffer. But I am only able to say this as a personal preference. I can not logically defend why I should actually truly care for other people outside of a consequential morality. I don't believe in heaven or hell or karma or anything like that and even if I did that would still be a consequential view. So I don't know what to say about morality at this point. I used to think religious arguments of you need god for morality was a silly argument but maybe they were actually right in a consequential morality point morality. Maybe consequential morality is the only thing that exist and if you can get away with it then nothing can stop you.
| There is no logical reason why I should care about the well beingood of other people.
| f7e0c3f7-6d5f-4b4c-ad52-5880a5df62c9 |
In Zurich where sex work is legal, special car boxes are supplied but are hardly comfortable.
| Sex work often takes place in inconvenient places such as cars or on the street.
| b528e1c9-113b-4717-a893-afddaff71cd0 |
Okay sigh this is going to piss off a lot of people. I know that. I'd like to say firstly that I'm not trolling or going for shock value in saying kill all the retarded Notice I used the term developmentally disabled . I'm trying to approach this with as much decorum and respect as possible because while it is a belief that I hold, it also sort of disgusts me that I feel this way hence the . I work with the developmentally disabled. I've done so for 10 years and mostly I love the work. I work with clients who may have autism, downs syndrome, fragile x syndrome, brain damage, birth defects, you name it. I want to say that I am unequivocally NOT saying to get rid of the ones with some sort of function. The ones who can walk, talk, feed themselves, watch tv, no. They are wonderful, tragic, profound and very vulnerable population and I have learned more about life just by sitting beside a retarded man having a cigarette and laughing at absolutely nothing than from any teacher I ever knew. Then there is the very low end of the spectrum the ones who can't feed themselves, can't toilet so they wear diapers, need pureed food or thickened liquids spoon fed to them. These people in wheelchairs who can't walk, talk, communicate or interact in any meaningful way. I've had clients like this and I look at them and you can just see that no one is home. It feels so futile and discouraging what's the point? I want to find their souls inside and ask Do you really want to live this way? I feel like people in this condition are a drain on our tax dollars and they are. There are massive Medicare costs associated with these people to the tune of 150,000 USD per year. I feel like there are only a few reasons to keep them alive to assuage their relatives guilt at not having them euthanized and to make money for corporations like the one I work for. Someone's guilt is not worth 150k a year to me and these corporations sometimes are shady. For example, the company may own the houses the people reside in and can charge whatever rent they want. 4000 a month for a 4 bedroom house is more than 4x the normal for my geographical area but it justifies the company getting more of the client's disability money. Funeral trust funds are set up for these people that they pay into for decades. They may have 250k in their trust at the end of life and guess who the payee is? The company bury them as cheaply as possible and pocket the rest. There's the issue of natural selection. Nature selected these people to die. Period. We are artificially extending their lives for no real purpose or contributions. I feel like we should have just let evolution do it's thing here. Am I suggesting we round them all up and shoot them? No, I'm not a monster, but maybe have a system in place where if you know your baby is going to be like that, just try again. So everyone good and pissed? Ready to scream at me? Great because I hate it too. I want to find a purpose for them. The fact is there simply isn't one. It's a hardship on society, a drain on resources and a burden to families with absolutely no return. You can't even cite the financial gains of the company caring for them because they can get the same funds from higher functioning individuals, which I've already said I feel have every right to exist and experience life. I look at the lower functioning people though and they're basically waking comatose victims and feel this overwhelming sadness and think why? What's the point? Why not just get rid of them?
| I believe there is no value in keeping severely developmentally disabled people alive.
| a376eb46-d171-4b85-8457-5133c3cc24fd |
While immigration is not a problem in itself, if it is too large, and too fast, the people coming in cannot be assimilated to the country’s culture. Thus communities form, that live apart from British culture and do not assimilate or identify with it. It harms British culture, and weakens social cohesion indeed.
| EU freedom of movement inevitably leads to cultural diffusion as many British people move abroad and many Europeans with different cultural identities move to Britain. Many people in the UK feel this causes a rapid and uncontrollable change of their country's cultural identity.
| 3d79f0b2-e13c-4b2a-8e79-77b1ef702f5d |
First of all from a purely humanitarian perspective i largely agree with his policies and the values they are built on. However I have not found a realistic plan for making any of these changes in the american society without first sending it into turmoil. For example, to get big money out of politics, you would have to put up restrictions for who can influence and perhaps even contact politicians. How can policy be efficient and fair in all 50 states when the people are having a hard time being heard? Do you reduce the maximum donation for politicians to a 100 or a 1000 ? This might lead to increasingly populist politics to engage a large audience. This might be how politics work, or i might be cynical. I am no less overjoyed with the thought of a progressive yet reasonable president, which i think Hillary Clinton is on the republican side theres Bush and little hope On a final and less important note I would like to point out that the primaries are designed to bring out the grasrots of the parties leaving room for more extreme and unrealistic policies, although based on values i can agree with. A final summation can be that I dont understand the democratic value of the primaries. Do they force loyalty to the fundamental ideas of the party? Do they force interest in obviously abhorrent policies i.e. if we stopped giving blank checks to the military industrial complex, we'd be able to afford nice things like roads and healthcare for our citizens. nonades Or maybe i'm wrong. Maybe Sanders perfectly reflects the state of mind of the american public, but I have a hard time imagining this.
| Bernie Sanders would be a terrible president
| 6a5ae94c-6dc1-41f9-a909-54243ba82bef |
Certain drugs can help with the disease of one bodily system but it can negatively affect others. This can only be discovered with live subjects.
| Cell cultures are not always capable of testing interactions. Sometimes you need a full model organism in order to see the real results.
| 7759d074-d092-434b-8431-6a01150e62a7 |
Although ISIS is a relatively new presence in Palestine, 7% of Palestinians and 13% in the Gaza Strip perceive ISIS as representing true Islam. This can enable ISIS to gain a foothold in Palestine.
| ISIS is already gaining influence and popularity with Palestinians at the expense of Hamas.
| cbfa0748-2e9d-413b-9964-270464fa666d |
This time last year, I believed wholeheartedly that universal health insurance in the US and ESPECIALLY single payer, gov't run health insurance was a terrible idea and should be avoided at all costs. Since then, I have been diagnosed with cancer. 27 years old, perfect health, non smoker, almost no drinking, no recreational drugs, exercises regularly, ideal BMI range and BANG, that diagnosis. Having to deal with my insurance which is really very good , coupled with the realization that Holy shit, if this can happen to me, it could happen to anyone has somewhat changed my view on universal health insurance. I no longer believe that it is a bad idea, however, I do believe that it is not feasible in the US. One reason is that the current health insurance system run by the government VA, Medicare, Medicaid appears to be poorly run. There are constantly horror stories about people having to wait to see a doctor, billing errors, and delays in receiving benefits. If the US can't cope with insurance and health care for this very small portion of the population, how can they be expected to competently handle the ENTIRE population? Secondly, there is the issue of finances. My impression is that there are fewer and fewer people becoming doctors because the cost of becoming one is going up via school bills and increasing malpractice insurance requirements for doctors while compensation is going down especially for doctors who accept Medicare Medicaid HMOs . If we switch to a universal system, I would expect compensation to decrease since more names on the rolls more bargaining power for insurance companies and that a shortage in doctors is inevitable. This, in my understanding, would result in more difficulty in seeing a doctor and less competent treatment due to a heavy case load. Universal health insurance is something I would like to support. However, given the current state of things, I do no believe it is feasible in the US, or that it could be rolled out without major hurdles that would make the system worse than it currently is. I am aware that other governments are able to pull it off, but I believe that the way our infrastructure and medical system are currently configured it could not work here, and that an overhaul of both of these systems is impractical. Can anyone ?
| Universal Health Care in the United States, while a good ideal, is not practical and
| 3f650bba-f4b2-4958-9f9c-80fdfa6ff5ad |
Religion provides a sense of community and purpose to people who might otherwise become isolated from social groups.
| Religion serves as a meeting ground for people to come together, network and create long lasting relationships.
| 319ee87b-c02a-4d8d-ba6c-95885f2504a7 |
Let me preface this with this I was not a member of r the donald nor did I vote for Trump in the last election. Additionally, I am unsure how well moderated this subreddit was, and am relatively uninformed to the general content of the subreddit, so I apologize in advance for any misinformed viewpoints. x200B Given the current state of the internet, I am constantly worried about a censorship and b upholding the principles I feel I joined and grew to love Reddit. To me, censorship, regardless of the content censored, is a worry because problems are not solved by hiding them, but by addressing those you find problematic and coming to a solution. I am unfortunately an idiot, but Hegel luckily is not, so Additionally, any censorship in this day and age feels like a modern white man's burden in which those with power feel they know what we, the Internet, want from the platform better than we do ourselves. x200B My worries with respect to the broader internet have been happening for a while, but just to highlight a three non Reddit recent incidents Pinterest has been accused of intense censorship Google has been accused of both anti collaborative behavior and censorship. Twitter likewise accused of censorship, though with rather weak evidence. x200B Reddit is also far from innocent with respect to censorship. The conspiracy theorist in me blames Tencent's ever growing role in Reddit for this x200B Reddit's logic for the censorship is the following The reason for the quarantine is that over the last few months we have observed repeated rule breaking behavior in your community and an over reliance on Reddit admins to manage users and remove posts that violate our content policy, including content that encourages or incites violence. Most recently, we have observed this behavior in the form of encouragement of violence towards police officers and public officials in Oregon. This is not only in violation of our site wide policies, but also your own community rules rule 9 . You can find violating content that we removed in your mod logs. However, I find this reasoning weak due to subreddits such as r ChapoTrapHouse and r Bad Cop No Donut managing to survive all this time despite constant calls for violence inside these subreddits. x200B Finally, Reddit is my last remaining social media, and I love it dearly, so I am worried that Reddit, through additional censorship is endangering its legal status. Reddit is currently protected by US Code 230 as it is interactive computer service as opposed to an information content provider, defined legally as any person or entity that is responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation or development of information provided through the Internet or any other interactive computer service. Reddit, by censoring their users, is muddying this distinction and in a way taking responsibility for the development of the information. x200B I love this place, not only for showing me constantly amazing things every day, or introducing me to nerds who love the same dumb shit I do, but also for being a place where I can check my viewpoints against those of differing opinions. so I can stop worrying about all this please x200B Also first time poster, long time reader. Feels weird man.
| r/the_donald should not have been quarantined and could endanger Reddit's status as an "interactive computer service."
| fe48f51b-fbc5-4431-8f56-d7271b865b1b |
Ramadan which is the act of fasting, helps believers understand poverty and thus be inclined to be charitable, help and share.
| Religion has motivated numerous selfless acts such as volunteering and charity.
| d98d172d-2bca-402b-90c8-c1c81e7f051a |
Most meat comes from a killed animal, whereas not all vegetarian foods come from a killed animal or plant such as fruit. Thus, a vegetarian diet could be cruelty-free for wasted food.
| Animals' lives are wasted when their meat is not eaten due to spoiling., causing them to suffer needlessly and thus die in vain.
| c9919639-cf5d-4adc-8660-3276d99b418d |
In Italy the principle of separation of church and state is enshrined in Article 7 of the Constitution, which states: "The State and the Catholic Church are independent and sovereign, each within its own sphere."
| A common standard in liberal democracies is the illegality of publicly funding religious organizations directly or indirectly. It is thus inconsistent with the norms of liberal democracies to fund religious organizations.
| 79b1ce50-4f95-48bf-becb-872443066558 |
Lots of people like to bash the US government for various mistakes it has made over the years. But people in power are always prone to make mistakes. I still believe that, in general, the people that make up the US government have good intentions. They generally want to do good in the world and be good representatives of their people. I think they deserve our trust. Am I just naive? Should we trust the government? PS. I'm a US citizen.
| I think the US government is generally has good intentions and is trustworthy.
| 9cc9c10d-b850-4f0a-95a0-fbaecc1cc0f9 |
Crafting an argument from a moral perspective is a non starter. Moral decisions are a function of responding to scarcity. Let's take the claim that stealing is immoral. It isn't a question of morality, it's a question of scarcity. There was a about stealing from Walmart. Let's qualify this. Why is the person stealing? Are they hungry? Are their children malnourished? Are they a kleptomaniac or a psychopath? Are they rationalizing that Walmart is more evil than my act, so my act is a virtue. The thing about morality, is you may never change anyone's mind. If you base decisions on scarcity and ask the same questions you will arrive at a better conclusion hopefully to determine Justice. Another example is the immorality of eating meat. Again, this needs to be based off of scarcity. You wouldn't call the malnourished immoral. That's roughly 25 of US children. Let's take the next 10 to 20 . How many of them have the resources to acquire b 12 and suitable vegetarian alternatives for a maximized dollar? So 50 of the country have a free moral pass. Alright. So beef is distributed on an income basis or do we have to rely on shame to keep the 'able' from being a carnivore? Morality is so subjective that it is a useless measure to solve social economic issues.
| arguments from morality are flawed from the start
| ba2f9cae-c741-4eae-80b2-ee7b352342cb |
To be clear, the view I am about to outline pertains primarily to Apple’s role in the mobile space. I do not dispute the central role that Apple has played in advancing handheld personal electronics to their current place in our everyday life. I do, however, believe that their time has passed. The death of Steve Jobs was an important milestone in this decline, though probably not the first or last step, but it did signal Apple’s position moving from that of a leader, to a company frantically trying to play catch up. Apple has not suffered as precipitous a decline as many other companies would because they have been able to coast on the tremendous amount of consumer goodwill they built up since the release of the iPhone. But I think that’s over. I do not believe that the slippage in both their stock, and their public profile will receive anything more than a modest and temporary bump from today’s announcements, and that the pace of their decline will increase markedly once the new iPhones reach the hands of consumers. Please change my view.
| I believe that we are witnessing the slow death of Apple as we have come to know it, and that the pace of decline is about to increase rapidly
| 54fbcf1d-894b-4ed3-8680-c4ec70e1974c |
My is based on a hypothetical situation in which I cannot purchase a piece of software, book, or movie. This could be due to any number of reasons region lock, lack of funds, whatever , but it is enough to say that no matter what, I cannot purchase this item. There are several factors that make me think that downloading this item for free from a P2P site is a net gain to the producer It increases the number of seeders snatchers leechers on the P2P site. This is free advertising. It increases the chances that I will purchase a product from the same producer, especially if the media is good. It increases the chances that I will speak about it to people I know. It gives the producer more information than simply not buying it. This could indicate a problem with pricing or distribution. It keeps me engaged inside a production environment at which the producer is an expert. For example, if I was a PC gamer, I would continue to be a PC gamer, rather than picking up a new hobby. Please convince me that in a situation in which I can't buy a game book movie, that ignoring that game book movie benefits the producer more than pirating it.
| If I cannot purchase media, pirating it benefits the publisher
| 39546089-8d83-4e9b-9407-f7c5c36f6195 |
How can a grilled cheese be grilled if it's not put on a real actual grill? I mean honestly it's a misnomer. Some of you may say a supposed grilled cheese can be cooked on what's known as a flat top grill but I must argue instead that this is technically a griddled and again you are making a sauteed cheese. Do not deny the truth Us grilled cheese truthers know true grilled cheeses have scars I'm tired of people walking around claiming they have grilled cheeses when there's no grill marks Get your shit together people
| a cheese sandwich cooked in a pan is not a grilled cheese, but instead a "sauteed cheese". A grilled cheese should be cooked on a gridiron, grill pan, or a Foreman grill
| 7b041e18-a1d2-4c46-92e6-f7b9e8a9fd21 |
I follow good basic hand washing tips and general hygiene, but I find that some people take this way too far when it comes to nitpicking about being exposed to pathogens and overly sterilizing. I’m NOT talking about people that suffer from OCD or compulsive behavior problems because I know handwashing is a majorly common sign of those issues. I’m talking about mothers always wiping hand sanitizer on themselves and their kids. People grabbing doorknobs with paper towels. That kind of nitpicking. I can’t help but think that this kind of behavior is just leading to an obsession of sterilization that’s not challenging our immune systems enough. I’m all about vaccines and disease prevention, but some things are just better left to nature. As an anecdote to better illustrate my POV, I worked at an urgent care center for over 2 years and was exposed to every common illness you can think of, and after a few months there I virtually never got sick and was in some of the best health of my life. And I didn’t adopt any new or excessive handwashing or sanitizer habits that I didn’t already have.
| Being overly cautious of germs/bacteria has more of a negative effect of your health than a positive one
| 2b54370a-d72f-4e46-824b-63de13ebbf4b |
Whale meat has a relatively low carbon footprint Therefore its consumption is helpful to fight climate change.
| Hunting whales in a population-sustaining fashion while minimising suffering should be allowed.
| f42cbc98-ea49-476e-9385-186b8c6aeee0 |
The 'shut in' phenomena seems to be accelerating in advanced societies and sex robots could reduce one of the few incentives to seek human contact.
| Sex robots will replace some human on human interaction. This can contribute to further social isolation
| e5d2770e-bf1d-459a-b1e3-88a5be3e9a10 |
To repent means to "intentionally turn away", as one would a landmark that draws attention. Until one recognizes a landmark, it is impossible intentionally turn away from it, even if one intentionally turns in a different direction.
| If someone is born without ever coming in contact with the idea of divinities then they have no reason to repent for those things.
| b8501d44-6b5b-4911-be57-bc05f6bb43ee |
Even if we apply the notion of "dominion" and deny animals rights, the principle of "dominion" should be applied in a way that requires humans to see themselves as "stewards", not dominant exploiters. As "stewards", inflicting suffering on animals by hunting them is unacceptable.
| "Dominion" makes humans stewards; no right to harm/exploit animals
| 0a522533-6a19-44cd-9487-2c7e4864f534 |
People who don't like society and use social discussion are the exception, they convinced the REST of society why their view is better and are now in the majority. Why should a minority dictate what changes we are and are not allowed to make in society? If they find it that unfavorable move to a better place that falls inline with your views. This applies to all issues like gay marriage, abortions, science, and so on. PS I know I'm not explaining this very well but^^^I'mVeryIntoxicated . If this isn't a coherent at it sounded in my head I will brush it up and ask again later.
| People that say I they hate the society they live in should move...
| bddda928-13aa-4acb-a6fe-47203ef9314e |
Obama's election as the first black president may have given his presidency fake-progressive clothing by making it appear that the problem of racial inequality have been solved.
| Obama's election created the inaccurate idea among Americans that racial inequality had been overcome.
| e4845841-922c-46f0-a557-9b77bce6bfd5 |
The Communist manifesto Marx insists that its implementation must be by violent revolution. This is still how many advocates of Communism envisage its introduction. Communist symbols are used as rallying points for this unacceptable notion and should be removed as they are likely to incite hate, division and fear.
| The history of communism has caused for its symbols to be heavily associated with morally questionable ideals such as violence and totalitarianism, which should never be tolerated.
| c3341d00-4289-4c14-8cb1-688a63e30607 |
In the majority of cases of fatal police shootings, the person shot was either armed, or believed to be armed. The perception of danger increases the chances that an officer will shoot you.
| Armed resistance to a police officer is rather more likely to get you shot than anything else.
| b337a526-8a6f-4de2-acd3-1b195cca4b66 |
In the words of the pro-independence politican Clara Ponsati's legal team, regarding the status of a Spanish court, it "has it been hand-picked by a government who says ‘we have hand-picked you and this is what you are going to do?'.
| The European Union must defend citizens and not member state governments.
| f06b06b9-8666-45dc-b610-fce4cc5d02eb |
If there really is a cosmic entity out there with unlimited power, total knowledge of all of time and space, an agenda of his own, and nothing better to do than to pick on us, then nothing in all of existence matters. No matter what we do, nothing will make any difference. His prophecies place unbreakable restrictions on what we do, so that we can never free ourselves from God, never truly change the world for the better, and never do anything of consequence. By his own admission, God cares more about destroying our world obliterating everything we've ever accomplished and redering all of our goals and dreams meaningless and forcing everyone to worship him than he does about us. If God is real, than all of us are being inexorably swept along toward oblivion and an eternity of either slavery or torture, and there is no hope at all. But, if God does NOT exist, then everything, down to the last line, matters. In a free universe, every action changes everything around it. Something as small as a glance across the street can influence someone's decision. Changes pile up, and eventually one decision can lead to an entirely different future. And without God to hold us back or destroy our world, such a timeline could potentially play out for billions of years. Humanity could advance without limit, and there is no telling how powerful we could become. Everything could shape the future, and we would have hope. Without God's prophecies to force our world toward oblivion, we would always have hope that things would get better, that no matter how bad things got, we could fight back and improve our world. Absolute freedom and limitless hope two things destroyed by God's mere existence
| If God exists, nothing matters. If he doesn't exist, everything matters
| 5a5ce948-3e15-45d0-beda-0df963cc43e3 |
Asian American groups are suing Harvard for racial discrimination Statistics show that Asians need to score 130 points more than whites on the SATs, and 450 points more than blacks on the SATs 1600 scale . That seems patently unfair. To change my view, please present legitimate reasons why colleges accept whites and blacks with lower test scores than Asians. Please also present evidence for those reasons. For example, is it that whites and blacks have a higher GPA than Asians? Or better extracurricular? gt This is a footnote from the moderators. We'd like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please read through our rules If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which, downvotes don't change views Any questions or concerns? Feel free to message us Happy ing
| Asian Americans are unfairly discriminated against in elite college admissions
| 400d730b-bd36-4b01-be54-83b08fbe0036 |
The Perry County Animal Rescue in the US - due to the costs of food and veterinary care for animals - barely have the funds for proper care.
| Animal shelters are severely underfunded as is, refusing this food could be extremely harmful for the animals present in them.
| 5185149a-1a07-4fe6-9238-bccf913b4642 |
Some religions don't allow blood transfusion or organ transplantation This is a problem when a religious parent refuses treatment to a dying child.
| People have been led to do terrible things in the name of religion.
| 9b59723e-0197-4cc1-b981-c4c13cf64d5c |
My general point of view is rooted in the belief that as Americans we have the ability to change our policies and that is through voting. In light of the recent events in Ferguson and Baltimore, I repeatedly here complaints about local corruption and institutional racism found in local officials against African Americans. My problem with this is that African Americans have a reasonable and non violent way of changing this and that is through voting. Take Ferguson as an example. Ferguson's population is 67 black, but only 6 of African Americans voted in the 2013 municipal elections. Right there they had their chance to change the institution but through their apathy they choose not to. I don't think people who don't actively try to change their situation should have the right to complain about these problems.
| I have no sympathy for African-American's who complain about institutional racism, but don't vote.
| 1c8e16f2-cd91-4b12-90d5-155d07d5abe6 |
I understand on an individual basis, promoting exercise and healthy eating can fix the issue, but obviously those recommendations alone aren't enough to fix our obesity epidemic as a society. It's estimated that obesity related medical issues costs the united states between 147 and 210 billion dollars every year data from 2006 so probably even more now . Every other time I've mentioned this to anybody, they always come back with the argument, why do you care? Just take care of your own body and let other people be fat if they want. While that does seem logical, I disagree for a couple reasons 1. The billions we spend on this every year could be going towards much more useful things i.e. actually working to progress society instead of fixing issues that shouldn't exist in the first place . 2. On a personal level, I truly hope that everyone can live as happy a life as possible. I have never seen someone lose weight and get healthy, while becoming more upset with life along the way. From what I've seen, healthier people are, in general, much happier than unhealthy people. My basic argument is that either extra costs need to be added for things that promote obesity i.e. extra tax on junk food, etc. , or that extra benefits need to be added for things that promote healthiness i.e. tax break if you are healthy especially if we eventually adopt a more socialized healthcare system, etc. . A combination of extra costs and extra benefits would work even better. I am not saying that the tax examples are the best solution, I was just giving examples to help explain what I mean when I say extra costs and extra benefits. Every single person, whether consciously or subconsciously, uses a costs vs. benefits analysis to make every decision. As it stands, it's clear that for many people, the benefits of being obese exceed the costs of being obese. I keep seeing more and more ads on t.v. that promote exercise and healthy eating. If you go to the doctor and you are overweight, he will probably say the same thing. There is nothing wrong with both of those recommendations, and I think we should continue promoting healthy lifestyles in this manner. However, this has been the only solution for many many years. This is nothing new to anyone, and it's obvious that it's not working for society as a whole. Our obesity rate continues to rise, regardless of those recommendations. I think a more systemic change needs to be made, such as the examples I mentioned.
| In terms of society as a whole, simply recommending to eat healthy/exercise obviously isn't enough to fix our obesity epidemic. Extra costs for being unhealthy or extra benefits for being healthy will need to be created if we want this to change.
| 84291cbb-54f2-440c-b2fe-505d6b0de0a3 |
I believe its unhealthy because you're opening yourself up in one of the most intimate ways possible to people that assuming you are this type of person may not even give the slightest shit about you as a person, and being addicted to that isn't going to help in any way. As for risk STDs. Simple. And for those of you about to shout CONDOMS there are diseases that could give less of a shit whether you wear a condom. Not worth it, in the case you become mentally, spiritually, or emotionally damaged, or get an STD. Or end up in a strange, uncomfortable, and possibly dangerous situation that you've literally fucked your way into. Not right. Because well, I guess I'm running off cultural programming and my own emotion here. Go.
| I think having sex with lots of different people is mentally and spiritually unhealthy, addictive, risky, not worth it, and not right.
| f5b45054-1216-47f6-bb3d-7d41a65fdab9 |
Hunt has recently said that a no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for the UK, after previously having said he would be in favour of threatening Europe with no-deal in order to ensure better negotiations.
| Hunt has been criticised by both Remainers and Leavers for his lack of consistency on the Brexit issue.
| d3a97338-a4a7-44a5-99ed-860c63ae814e |
If you use your when you're was appropriate, or its instead of it's , I think you're lazy and or stupid. .
| I think people who make simple grammar mistakes are stupid or lazy,
| 99821a9c-c267-4950-a9ef-5ffbd345ffb1 |
Democrats Left leaning social policies and more support for safety nets. Economic policy is to serve the corporate masters but to a less extreme than the Republicans. Republicans Right leaning social policies that focus more on control at any cost mostly through fear mongering and misinformation. Economic policy is to serve corporate masters to the extreme. For the record I voted straight ticket Dem because at least while I'm not getting fair wages, healthcare, and proper taxation of the rich I might get slightly more enjoyable social policies and freedoms. The article I linked above explains why I feel this way. Corporations have a 35 tax rate which is already far too low. The R's control most branches of government and slash it to 21. Now the D's claim via Schumer when they take back control they will raise it to 25 . So effectively we gave them a 10 tax credit on already too low taxes not to mention the loop holes. Is this the best I can hope for? Racists that rob me and the workers or people that allow some progressive policy and still rob the workers? Please change my view. Edit Great responses so far. I appreciate the responses but so far no one has been able to change my mind that there is any genuine benefit to D over R in the handling of our current economic issues. The system is broken both parties work to keep it alive and meanwhile we all suffer.
| It's voting day in the US. Democrat or Republican you get the same economic policy with a different social policy and for that reason nothing will get better.
| ea68ddb0-34cf-4119-bee9-2ff7445b1032 |
I think that exempting churches from taxation upholds the separation of church and state embodied by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which I value more important than any small revenue bump. I also think that requiring churches to pay taxes would endanger the free expression of religion and violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. By taxing churches, the government would be empowered to penalize or shut them down if they default on their payments. I also think that Churches have earned their tax exempt status by contributing to the public good. eg soup kitchens and stuff It's also important to note that the only constitutionally valid way of taxing churches would be to tax all nonprofits, which would place undue financial pressure on all of the public charities that aid that do good. If only churches were taxed, the government would be treating churches differently, purely because of their religious nature.
| I think that Churches should maintain their tax-exempt status.
| 2eda177b-1825-4b52-b577-a61dd1e4c33a |
Music is huge part of our society. It's present in basically every culture on earth, and is enjoyed in some way by basically everyone. Every person I know myself included who plays music enjoys listening to it all the more, and they've grown to appreciate it on a whole new level. I think everyone would enjoy playing music if they were able to, but many don't because they were not given the opportunity at a young age, or because the difficulty of learning how was a turn off. It's a damn shame that more people don't play music because it's not that difficult at all. And I think everyone would enjoy being able to. I think we should start children very young, with a focus on having fun with music. Start them on a guitar or piano and teach them simple songs that they want to learn. Give them a rudimentary understanding of how to play music, and give them the option do pursue deeper education in music if they want it.
| I believe all children should be taught to play music.
| cf8a9f9c-7a1c-43ae-814a-909be1e2ac69 |
The price of products would greatly increase to the point where they were un-affordable, if they were made on first world labour costs. It would be difficult for people living in third world countries to afford them.
| The labor provided is generally beneficial to the workers and their communities.
| 085bccd1-6525-4b6f-929b-ff6d36ea0876 |
People of course hate Andrew Jackson for his treatment of Native Americans but I disagree. I believe what happened was going to happen regardless and he was in the unfortunate position of being president during this time. He is a hero, NOT for what he did but for having the strength to do something unfortunate that would save this new nation. Native Americans were doomed the second Europeans stepped on their soil. Andrew Jackson spent 7.5 of his 8 years trying to make peace with Native Americans but they refused. Native Americans were NOT the peaceful people that everyone imagines. They had constant wars and brutal murders, never realy settling in one place. Native Americans besides the Cherokee refused to even try to understand that times were changing. If Americans had left the Natives alone, they would continue to kill settlers and inhibit any growth for the United States. Without growth the country could have easily been taken over. Basically I am not saying he was a saint but history paints him as a monster who wanted to kill every Native American, but truthfully if you look at the facts he had done all he could and for the sake of saving the country he had to do what was necessary. Why is Andrew Jackson always regarded as brutal where other leaders in similar positions were regarded as forceful.
| I believe Andrew Jackson was one of the greatest heros in American History.
| eb143fb9-56fd-4324-9f24-fb5fcf4e1172 |
College football accounts for a significant amount of money that the school would not have received otherwise. This money can go to supplies, new classes, facilities, etc.
| College or high-school football is the main source of identity and entertainment in many smaller/rural towns.
| a00c0733-609f-4050-bd22-286fcdf7e742 |
A study found that everyday sadism is more common than previously thought by researchers, potentially manifesting more commonly online.
| Many humans are sadists and feel pleasure in putting others in pain, hence they're not inherently good.
| 306c9b13-5247-4b06-8ef2-9a455ad8c75d |
In the US, abortion is legal in all states and they cannot pass a law to ban it outright. This ensures that everyone who really needs an abortion in the States can get one.
| Abortion is a readily available procedure, so there's little merit to the argument that a single instance of refusing to perform one is unethical, even in the cases of medical necessity.
| 0deaeda0-79ac-4e94-899a-3468d234eac4 |
I apologize if this is the wrong place to do this, or in any way inappropriate. I'm also sorry if it doesn't make sense fully, this is a bit of a stream of consciousness as it's very current and raw to me at the moment. Today I found out that someone I am close to, have spent the better part of the last 3 years working for and befriending, was convicted of indecent assault of a minor and later accessing child pornography. This happened over ten years ago now. I dated his daughter for a year, I've been welcomed into their family almost as a surrogate sibling. I'm good friends with two of his other kids. I have shared meals with them, he has helped me move and I have returned the favour. I have lived under his roof. I'm at a complete loss for how to act now. I cannot fathom looking him in the eye. I don't know how to feel about my future interactions with his children all over 18, but to my knowledge were never removed from his care when this came to light, when his children were the same age as the boy that was molested . I want to be able to see him as the person I came to know. I like to consider myself a tolerant and accepting person, but I don't know if that is possible right now. I don't know if I can ever tolerate or accept what happened. And so I turn to you. Please, help me see any way possible that this could be forgiven. Please tell me there's a way that I can live with the knowledge of what has been done. I am strongly of the opinion that there is no forgiving the actions he has undertaken, and without resorting to illegal methods there is absolutely nothing I can do in this situation.
| Is it possible to forgive someone of sexual abuse of a minor?
| 86584ef1-66b3-472d-ba96-28436709dd44 |
People should be given a basic knowledge of different beliefs and be able to formulate their own judgements.
| Teaching the controversy between creationism and evolution is important to student development.
| 874bcb0f-1e29-4066-9293-2d32e45c05a2 |
I should mention I do not wear a fedora myself. However, when I read fedora bashing comments on Reddit, to me, the vitriol that comes across is kind of scary. Is it really that intimidating to these people that someone who might be a little socially awkward would want to use an accessory to help boost their confidence? I suspect the loudest anti fedora protestors to be the ones that most wish the freedom to don one themselves without fear of harsh judgement. I understand that, perhaps years later, the fedora crowd might look back and cringe a little at the way they approached their appearance. But I also think that looking back on one's own awkwardness is a nice healthy way to validate one's own personal growth, and that you need to commit mistakes in all ways of living in order to move on to something greater. It is often true that people who take chances are ridiculed for their failures in the present, but if they keep sticking with it, eventually find their own unique way to surpass, or at least become accepted by, the status quo crowd who mocked them. Very few people are born with an innate sense of style, and even fewer can look back on a 20 year old picture and think yeah this outfit would still look good today. So who is anyone to mock anyone else's sense of style, when eventually it's going to all look like brown and orange striped 70's style wide lapels and powdered blue ruffle shirts anyway? I will say that I have had a beard for many years, and for a very long time I did not properly trim it. I really, really wish someone had come along and told me not to shave directly along my jaw line. I wound up figuring that out on my own. So I understand the benefit of good ADVICE. Good advice would be to help a fedoran find the CORRECT hat. Or to offer fashion advice in other ways. Whenever I see people just losing their shit over the fashion accessories some total stranger is wearing, I just think that life is too short to start fuming over the way other people choose to look when they venture into the outside world. This just comes up so often on reddit and I'm sorry to add to the phenomenon here , I'm thinking maybe I'm missing something, and that I too should be personally offended by the way someone else dresses. I am willing to change my view if I hear a good enough argument.
| I think people who hate on fedora wearers are the ones with the problem.
| d429ef07-0c05-4d99-ac3f-f6ee5dc8fa29 |
Bringing South Africa and Lesotho will benefit SA on the global stage. The move would be one to provide aid to a smaller state and provide stability. The dire conditions for the Basotho people are acknowledged by the UN and the Africa Union. Firstly, SA, by the annexation of Lesotho, will prove good intentions in creating a sustainable Sub-Saharan Africa. This will ultimately create a better image and a greater influence in the region if they choose to respond positively to the People’s Charter Movement in Lesotho1, a social structure pleading for annexation. The movement, driven by trade unions, has collected 30,000 signatures in favor of their goal and is rising in popularity. Secondly the annexation will provide a boost for the South African Development Community and South African Customs Union by demonstrating the willingness of South Africa to integrate with poorer neighbours and take on some of the responsibility for them. 1 Smith, 2010,
| South Africa will gain influence, stability and a better image on the international stage
| 75f06225-6d2b-4a21-adab-993c6ceab832 |
To begin, this view of mine is quite open and although I hold that perspective, I'm certain there are many examples that could be used which help to disprove it. I'd like to look at this from a predominantly political or philosophical perspective rather than a logical one put simply, when one looks at the history of dictators term used loosely to include tyrannical monarchs etcetera and their regimes, a universal trend is that they put huge efforts in shutting down opposition groups and even the ideas put forth by dissenters. I am yet to find a monarch or dictator who was able to run a regime with no concern over dissenting ideas. Some may bring up examples like Hoxha in Albania, who made accessible certain western films and literature to his people, even if they were 'products of capitalist immorality' yet his reason to introduce such films was to thrust a criticism of western ideals on to his people, who needed to remain ideologically loyal to him just so that he could continue ruling. This was replicated throughout many 20th century dictatorships, with great figures like Stalin and Mao expressing genuine fear of dissent, resulting in the Great Terror and Cultural Revolution. Naturally, repression of dissenting ideas is a trait of dictatorships but also a consequence . Those who rise to power end up fearing the mere idea of different ideas as they can provide the spark needed to topple a tyrant. Such sparks led to the French Revolution and execution of nobility, many 20th century coups, and countless times throughout history where genocide was committed as a result of the perpetrators feeling threatened by the victimised group. Thus far I am yet to see the reverse, that a dictator or tyrant can lead without a genuine fear of those whose ideas they repress
| Tyrants are in fear of those they oppress
| 310b6d72-e672-4d93-90eb-c65a484f234f |
Let's say we are playing baseball, and I bring the ball and you bring the bat, and before we start, we spend some time deciding where the home run line is. We compromise, you want the further off road to be the line, and I want the closer tree to be the line, but we compromise and draw a line in the dirt between the two. Every inning, we decide to keep playing, though I continue to protest about not getting the home run line I want. Top of inning five, I hit a homer that gets past the tree but doesn't cross our agreed on line. I tell you I will quit the game, go home, and I'm taking my ball with me if you don't agree that my hit was a home run. Who is to blame for the end of the game? Further, I believe some republicans have been wanting this to happen. Lastly, I think some republicans think the shutdown is, on balance, a good thing. Edit I should have mentioned that when I say some republicans above, I mean that to mean a number of house republicans sufficient enough to deny or at least make it difficult to pass a continuing resolution that doesn't defund obamacare. I will leave the virtues of Obamacare out of the argument for now, merely seeking someone to on the topic above.
| I believe that House Republicans are entirely to blame for the US Government Shut down.
| 81e4a77d-3b3e-4ce0-88bb-75fda19b6387 |
Georgia's long history of attempting to assert control over S. Ossetia consists of unending conflict, tension, and resistance. S. Ossetians have never accepted Georgian sovereignty without putting up a fight. The length of this history of conflict suggests that it is very unlikely to end. The only way to end it is through S. Ossetian independence.
| Georgia and S. Ossetia have a long history of conflict.
| 87dc73ee-6dde-4742-bb8d-81f6fc2ae116 |
Having drugs be both illegal and valuable has funded extensive infrastructure for smuggling things across the US border.
| There will be less smuggling and less drug-caused conflict.
| abafbea1-68da-4886-8e1f-0167d318c488 |
George R. R. Martin has talked about wanting to write a fantasy novel where the hero dies or loses at the beginning and the rest of the story is the aftermath. If this is to be taken as true for Game of Thrones Rhaegar may have been the Prince that was Promised but died before the books began.
| This proposition is weakened by the other characters it could apply to just as well as Daenerys. Rhaegar Targaryen, Jon Snow son of Rhaegar, and Aegon Targaryen if he's legitimate would also be of the proper bloodline.
| 1d57f493-5e8c-4036-bfd7-345de73835ad |
Democracy is becoming obsolete. That might not be a bad thing considering how a giant portion of the voting block votes against their own interests consistently. People like democracy because it makes them feel like they have a say in how things run. Why should the common person have a say in how things go, while having little to no information on much of the topics? If you ask random people who their representatives, city mayor, or state governor are, the vast majority don't know or care . That's a huge problem for democracy. Also, if you were able to travel back in time 150 years and ask people who represented them, I think they would know right away. This has to do with information overload. We, as a society, are being bombarded with information everyday that reaches every possible interest we can have. You can watch Youtube videos on underwater basket weaving until the day you die and never see the same content twice. With all this information to sift through, especially the information that has particular interest to you, its nearly impossible to keep up with the dreary content that you need to be a responsible voter. Although I don't think democracy is what we have today or even a representative democracy , because of monied interests have all the representation through bought politicians. Democracy was fantastic to move society from the industrial age to the age of information but today I believe it is becoming obsolete or even detrimental because of our conditioning to believe it is the only option besides dictatorship. I don't know what the right answer is, but I don't think it's democracy anymore. Change my view.
| Democracy is becoming obsolete. Good.
| 736bcd2d-fe67-4d09-9444-9f9d0b8e0fec |
I mean that when you see a person, your mind usually subconsciously makes certain judgements about them, even when you don't actually know them. You might make positive e.g. smart, trustworthy or negative e.g. suspicious, threatening judgements based solely on someone's appearance. I think this is not necessarily bad or wrong. Judging based on appearance can, to a small degree, actually give accurate information about what a person is like. Some aspects of appearance are non discretionary e.g. the face you were born with , but might be linked to certain genetic traits involving personality or behavior. Other aspects of appearance e.g. clothing, body language are discretionary and can therefore give information about what a person is like because they reflect that person's choices. Of course, it would be ideal if we could all make totally accurate judgements about each other based on actual experience, but in practice it is not feasible to invest the time in getting to know every person you meet. Therefore, we have to use heuristics to narrow down the set of people we would potentially like to interact with. Judging by appearance is a heuristic not necessarily accurate, but accurate and efficient enough to serve a purpose. It can be a problem if we allow appearance based judgements to override experience based judgements though. For example, if I meet a person who looks shifty , I might feel like avoiding them. But if later I end up interacting with that person more and find out that they are actually very nice, then my new judgement of them should override my old, superficial judgement. If I continue to think of them as shifty despite new evidence to the contrary, that is prejudice and it is wrong. But making quick judgements in the first place is not wrong it is necessary to function in the world. gt This is a footnote from the moderators. We'd like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please read through our rules If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which, downvotes don't change views Any questions or concerns? Feel free to message us Happy ing
| It's not necessarily wrong to judge based on appearances.
| 8d6e4cf9-ebbe-4891-87b3-4bcbcf655e8a |
Given the large movement away from standardized tests in education, we shouldn't elect to have a test for democracy subject to the same inherent flaws.
| The difference between children and adults is logical and universally accepted. Such a distinction is not true in this case.
| 55557116-835c-4f12-91df-c29dccbc7f61 |
Providing medical care can be an act of love. However, a prison doctor may provide medical care to the serial killer that murdered his family out of duty rather than love. The observed behavior is the same, but the motivating force is different.
| This commits a category error. Behavior is observed, but is not love. Love may motivate behavior, but it cannot be directly observed.
| b24af140-7e62-4d0b-8a79-10e494ae3c8f |
Most of the world’s biggest landowners are monarchs from countries with official state religions that support the monarchy or heads of religions themselves.
| Many religious institutions exist mainly for financial gain, and some are corrupt.
| b15a50d1-f63c-4eeb-b83b-7847ff8faddb |
As the title suggests, I believe that there is nothing wrong with being a hypocrite. Let's first look a couple examples Say for example, that you a thief, but you are always telling your kids that stealing is bad. Typical example of a hypocrite, but although you are being a hypocrite, the idea that you are trying to convey is not a bad one, which brings me to another point What you do or say should not be judged based on who you are. Gandhi was always represented as the epitome of morality, especially when talking about civil rights movements. However, there are many accounts of Gandhi being racist among many other things that would definitely change how most people view Gandhi. You can read more about this here Does that mean there is no value for what Gandhi did for the world? He was the role model of many influential people MLK . If he was such a positive influence on our society, does it really matter what kind of person he was? One argument against this I can see is How do you expect someone else to follow what you preach, if you can't won't follow it? I think that this is the source of the problem you think that everyone else are just characters, ie, they are not unique and complex human beings like you are. When you make a mistake, it's not because you want to, but when others make mistakes, it's their intention to. There's a term in psychology for this but I forgot what it's called. Anyways, the point is that, you see others as hypocrites because they are either good or bad, while when you make a mistake that goes against what you preach to others, it was not your fault. Nobody can be perfect all the time. Even if they have an idea in their head of what a perfect person might be, they can't stick to that all the time. The point is that, we should not try to see hypocrites as bad people, because no one is just that there are good and bad in everyone. If the idea they convey is good, then we have no reason to criticize what they do.
| There is nothing wrong with being a hypocrite.
| d67cfd42-abd6-40fa-960f-8d6fbe8fe725 |
The appearance of a women candidates is discussed by the media far more than for male candidates. Such coverage is shown to have damaging effects on a women's candidacy Name it, Change it, p. 7
| The media does not give as much coverage to women as men, and the coverage it does give may lead them to be seen as non-competitive and less worth voting for.
| 253920d4-c2ea-4893-8310-37d970b0e54a |
Trump has directly threatened Assad on Twitter, referring him to an "animal" and holding him responsible for the ongoing chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
| Trump and his administration have taken a hostile stance against Syria's Assad regime, a close Russian ally.
| 6be0960d-1732-41a6-aa2b-928f2758d162 |
Depending on where Muslim refugees come from, they are likely to hold very different opinions on various issues.
| Muslims are not one group but as diverse as other major religions.
| ecf1262b-158b-45a7-8d04-c0313e46b17b |
More and more women do not have children Some polygamous families having many children would offset the reduction and thus act as a stabilizer for society.
| Polygamy means more children, which is a good thing for society.
| d9b4d33e-7da5-4ac1-b6f4-fbaff5cc3f31 |
The Chinese government has a right to protect the unity of China against Tibetan separatism. US President Abraham Lincoln, in justifying efforts to maintain the union in the face of an imminent civil war, said in 1858, “A house divided cannot stand”.1 Unity was argued to be essential to the integrity and future of the union if the United States as a much more decentralized federal union cannot sanction such a division then a much more centralized China cannot. China can put forth the same rationale as Lincoln for forcing Tibet to remain part of China, for example when it notes argues that the concept of an independent Tibet has historically been used by what it calls ‘foreign imperialists’ to interfere in China internally and split it up so that it can more easily be controlled from abroad. As an example of this, the CIA’s support for Tibetan separatists during the Cold War is cited.23 Mongolia provides a striking precedent for for Chinese worries about Tibetan independence, as it gained independence through Soviet backing and subsequently came under effective control of the USSR.4 If Tibet were to achieve independence, both China and Tibet would be weaker, with less geopolitical strength and with greater tensions and opportunities for conflict. This is especially true in light of the history of foreign attempts to interfere with China internally, as noted above. The Dalai Lama made a similar argument himself when he stated: “Look at the European Union . What is the use of small, small nations fighting each other? Today it's much better for Tibetans to join China.”5 In 2008 the Foreign Minister of Cyprus similarly argued that the ‘One China’ policy, including Tibet, was necessary to safeguard China’s territorial integrity.6 The government of Fiji has offered similar support.7 The 'Middle Way' accounts for this need of China's whilst also offering greater autonomy to the Tibetan people, thus respecting the rights of both parties. 1 Abraham Lincoln Online. “House Divided Speech”. Abraham Lincoln Online. 2 Xinhua News report Xinhua News Report. Xinhua News. 3 Wonacott, Peter. "Revolt of the Monks: How a Secret CIA Campaign Against China 50 Years Ago Continues to Fester; A Role for Dalai Lama's Brother". Wall Street Journal. 30 August 2008. 4 Xinhua News report Xinhua News Report. Xinhua News. 5 Liu, Melinda. “Fears and Tears”. The Daily Beast. 19 March 2008. 6 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus. “Cyprus supports the principle of a ‘single’ China”. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus. 20 March 2008/ . 7 Fijilive. “Fiji backs China’s action in Tibet”. Fijilive. 24 March 2008.
| The 'Middle Way' respects China's right to territorial integrity
| 226f1f06-6b56-4b93-89b6-05ba06ff8106 |
Many professions have a standard certification that one must garner in order to work in that profession. For lawyers, it’s the bar exam. For engineers, it’s the Principles and Practice of Engineering Exam. For medical professionals, it’s the MCAT. And so on and so forth Many, if not all, of the companies that create and proctor the exams require those who want to take a test to sign some pledge stating they won’t share what’s on the test, or share study material with other people. They often try to convince the test takers that keeping these secrets indicates a “respect for the profession and the certification board.” The real reason why these companies demand silence is because they know they’re running a racket. If the test takers all shared their study material with each other, the test prep industry would collapse. If they all shared what was on the test with each other, pass rates would likely skyrocket and they would have to actually redesign the tests. Thus, silence ungenerousness from those who have study material or who have taken the tests is not at all ethical, but merely perpetuating the racket.
| There is nothing “ethical” about not sharing testing material or knowledge about standardized tests SAT, MCAT, PE, etc
| 4b177bc5-1056-48f9-ae47-98e8c94aa27b |
Project MKUltra was a CIA-led project with participants including many research organisations, pharmaceutical companies and universities in the US. It focused on manipulating the mental state of prisoners under torture, leading to many scientific insights about the action of mind-altering drugs, hypnosis, sensory deprivation and psychological torture.
| In addition to torture being an interrogation tool, the beneficial insights into human physiology and psychology revealed in the process of torture help justify its application.
| 7c497051-6a36-4dcf-944d-5018ac699e12 |
Due to profiling and data-trading, many great services are currently free of charge users are paying with their data. A ban on data-trade would come with a price tag for users.
| It is immoral to sell an individual's data without their consent.
| 347cdb5f-61b5-40fe-9f3e-c1503fecb2a0 |
1.25 Million people die every year in car crashes with 20 50 million more injured or disabled. Humans are bad a driving there is no argument there. ‘You liking driving’ is not a valid reason to put my life at risk in a self driving car if you are going to crash into me while distracted. I think that we should be pushing to get people off the roads sooner and, once self driving tech is affordable, ban people from driving all together on the road. If people want to race cars on a track that’s fine go ahead but not on the road.
| Humans should be banned from the road within our lifetimes once self driving cars are available at a similar cost to regular cars.
| eda5688d-c23a-4fc0-bcc7-8a10e359292c |
Some argue that Washington, DC is not a state, and so the constitutional right to bear arms does not necessarily apply. Yet, DC residents are United States citizens, even if they are not citizens of states. The constitution and the second amendment apply to them as much as to other citizens. The right to bear arms is a right conferred to all US citizens equally, including DC residents. If we assume that the constitution provides an individual right to bear arms, then we should assume that US citizens residing in DC receive the same privilege to exercise this right as do other citizens.
| Constitutional right to bear arms applies to DC residents as much as citizens of other states.
| f688cc93-f499-4ab5-a7f2-aa5ddd30f9e9 |
The President is at risk of being influenced by external forces thus undermining the law and the decision of the people and parliament.
| Pardons are at a serious risk of corruption, which makes people lose faith in the government.
| ee31595e-243c-404e-b67a-6caf78e462e2 |
Trump's position on torture violates 2 international conventions, 2 constitutional amendments, and 6 domestic laws.
| The Trump administration has pursued numerous grossly unconstitutional and rights violative policies.
| 5957e35e-9bcf-4051-b21c-b2586c12ac8a |
It is immoral for the state or charities to raise money by exploiting people’s stupidity and greed. Taxing gambling is a regressive tax this means that the poor pay a greater proportion of their income in tax than the rich. This is because poor people are more likely to gamble. Regressive taxation is deeply unfair.
| It is immoral for the state or charities to raise money by exploiting people’s stupidity and greed. ...
| 34bb2f19-b0e0-4d59-bcb9-2158e0732f2d |
The Fermi Paradox suggests that intelligent life may not come about by natural causes. If it could, even with much time, at least one older or similarly-aged system would perhaps show signs of life like intelligent radio transmissions.
| Biogenesis indicates that life comes from life. Abiogenesis has far less support and takes an unknown amount of time. Our assumptions about the age of the Earth are recently scientifically suspect.
| ee034545-f660-4a4f-8297-c81ab64ce6f1 |
The Bible tells us that God created both good and evil to develop the spiritual wisdom of those of his creation who will be saved and live with God eternally. Evil is required to show the wrong ways. Experience / suffering is required to develop created spirits. God wishes for us to be wise. Not just alive.
| According to the character-building defenses some virtues may be contingent on evil.
| 1f49c94e-7de8-4b4a-bde7-365539ebaa40 |
Vision, a Vibranium-bodied android created in part from the remnants of Tony Stark's AI J.A.R.V.I.S., fought and destroyed the rogue AI Ultron.
| Advanced technologies within the Marvel Universe have also led to the defeat of great threats to Earth.
| 87c73a07-92ab-4037-8255-91b86e5b02c1 |
It's just words. When we get to a society where people aren't constantly doing offensive actions then maybe we can start worrying about offensive words and I wont mind, but it seriously bothers me the way we decide some words are offensive and rude. To me it just goes to show how manipulable peoples opinions are if you feed them the opinion from birth and raise them in a society that doesnt question it. Its far worse to raise your kids in a culture of violence eg. using guns and watching UFC on tv than it is to swear around them.
| I dont think there's anything wrong with swear words and I dont think there's anything wrong with saying them around children.
| 59892bd8-7658-475b-af8a-5be07a966fd6 |
Corporate money wholly failed to influence the result of the Republican primary election in 2016, despite enormous donations. One commentator remarked that “never in the history of political campaigns has so much, bought so little, so fleetingly".
| Corporate money may not be as effective at influencing the outcome of elections as commonly thought.
| 1b8f3cf7-3803-42a7-9fd2-42d3d34e7853 |
So there has been pretty substantial controversy in the Minecraft community of late regarding Mojang's Minecraft EULA. One of the key points is that server owners may not charge extra money to unlock core game functionality. Frankly, I don't see what is controversial about this at all. If someone wants to charge extra for non core game functionality, they still can, but the features that come with the game were already paid for at time of game purchase. It seems just common sense to forbid extra charge. .
| Mojang was right to forbid Minecraft server owners from charging extra for core game functionality
| b981704f-3e86-4abb-aa83-36cdfe215c65 |
Looking at polls for the last week of campaigns for 220 national elections in 32 countries over the decades to 2017 – with data for a handful of countries stretching back to 1942 – errors have held steady at about 2%
| This assumes the polls are inaccurate, which is generally untrue.
| 78f83a6c-faf8-4efa-93cd-cb5d8ee82298 |
The leadership of vigilante groups is often given too much power which gives rise to corruption and abuse.
| Vigilante justice can never be as fair or effective as a functional court and police system.
| b3e80d30-2135-4865-ac6c-0cf45fac7a36 |
50% of US Catholics are aged 50 or over. As older people are more likely to be conservative drastic progress change could drive them from the Catholic Church.
| It is more harmful to have the Church change too quickly for its members to be able to adjust to and accept the changes.
| dee49785-b11e-4289-a6ed-ba1d59ec7415 |
Tufts University law professor Michael Glennon, who has studied the U.N. Charter, compares Obama joining the coalition against Muammar Gaddafi with Harry Truman’s unilateral decision to enter the fight that turned into the Korean War. “If you don’t call it a war, you can just bypass the constitutional requirements of starting a war. That’s a totally bogus argument.” He points out that the length and scope of the conflict may not matter - a missile launched against another country could be considered an act of war, even though it only took a handful of minutes and a couple million dollars. Acts of war are clearly just as important as full-blown wars, so are covered by the War Powers.
| US is committing acts of war in Libya; War Powers apply.
| 91326238-6d2a-40cb-a001-b6e8cc6d7a81 |
Assuming God revealed His will first to the Jews people and then to the Nations in the Scriptures and assuming human dignity is determine by God's image, said human dignity is given right at the creation of said zygote, thus giving the moral obligation to protect such life, thus giving a zygote the right to life right after conception.
| A zygote should have the right to life right after conception.
| 7c484d86-4ea1-4b2c-9da9-4f970765ab21 |
From my understanding, we don't have a great evolutionary theory of homosexuality yet. I'm aware of the comments by Dawkins and others that the same gene s that activates homosexuality in males might exhibit itself in higher fertility rates and hypersexuality for females. Other ideas such as the gay uncle hypothesis focus on the positive personality traits associated with gay individuals that benefit the offspring of their brothers and sisters through a higher level of nurturing and care. None of what I have seen so far seems to provide an objective basis for either the mechanisms behind or the positive benefits of homosexuality for the individual, or for society at large. I myself am a gay man in my 20s, and I fully support equal rights for my own demographic. I oppose current gay conversion therapies given their proven inefficacy to achieve the intended result. That doesn't preclude the possibility of a more scientific method for changing one's sexuality, and all the advancements in neurology and psychology seem to leave the door open for a legitimate method of accomplishing the same. Roughly analogous to how people undergo gender reassignment today, I believe that people in the future will be able to change their own attractions and should be given the freedom to do so.
| People should have the freedom to change their sexuality if and when there is a science-based method to do so.
| 402c1911-7654-47a9-bd00-a12a96a5b9fb |
Given the fact that jobs and the economy top voters’ priorities the notion of the U.S. government employing people directly is a natural extension of the benefits that the state already provides and people support.
| Public opinion in the US is in support of a jobs guarantee programme.
| c769d720-9caa-4504-8fb1-8c62d73fad69 |
The livestock sector is probably the largest source of water pollution due to animal wastes, fertilizers, and pesticides.
| The demand for, and pollution of, water resources from farming animals is immense.
| 6346a2d4-dddc-405f-8816-452fbc1f63b8 |
By drinking alcohol or smoking or doing excessive sports the mothers behaviour can severly harm the unborn child physically and mentally.
| The unborn child is dependent from the well-being of it's mother throughout the whole pregnancy.
| 67dbf9ca-f465-46e8-881b-cccb8feffd23 |
Criminalizing begging reinforces the idea that beggars are "bad" or "immoral", meaning employers are less willing to give employment opportunities to former beggars.
| Criminalizing begging will make it harder for convicted beggars to find work.
| 195881e4-4370-46d1-95ba-7d4b9acff5d1 |
Dear viewchangers, I'd like to present you with a view of mine, a fan of horror genre in general. While I love many things horror, I simply cannot understand why some people are so all over the ilks of the SCP, the Slender Man and Creepypasta. These things read like as though it were written by a group of 14 years olds that watched one too many Saw films and wanted to make up a 'cool' story just like the one he saw. SCP series are so poorly constructed that it requires one to suspend their disbelief so so far that it's blatantly unbelieavable. It's like the real world version of the PokeDex, if you get my gist. All the entries are written to be as 'cool' or 'larger than life' than the face value and the pitiful attempt to 'read between the lines' or just subvert cultural norm is simply too obvious to be credible as an enjoyable creation. So people of , about these contemporary urban legends that don't even try to be credible. TL DR The heart of horror, or its 'credibility', is its closeness resemblance to what is real. It allows us to suspend our sense of disbelief just enough to juxtapose ourselves into the situation. The less suspension of disbelief it requires, the better. SCP, Slender Man and various other Creepypasta fads are so poorly constructed that it's not even 'horror' anymore. It's sci fi that so desperately want to be taken seriously. . . Edit this is what I consider to be a good example of contemporary 'horror' urban legend that's believable enough to be enjoyed studied.
| I think SCP and related 'urban legends' are poorly constructed and not worth persuing.
| 1ad78618-12db-456f-a1d0-1f156d8cdca8 |
The Hindu faith teaches that though we do not choose the circumstances we are now in and the karma that will result from our choices, we are free to choose our actions Hindu faith teaches that though we do not choose the circumstances we are now in and the karma that will result from our choices, we are free to choose our actions..
| There are various religious and spiritual teachings that imply we have free will.
| d6ad5433-c9a3-4da4-b930-f020f634c3a7 |
It really seems like Frodo didn't do enough to earn all the credit that is given to him for being the ringbearer. He didn't do much besides physically carrying it while Sam took on way more responsibility. Sam killed Shelob, rescued Frodo from Cirith Ungol, kept Gollum at bay, and forwent sleep and food so that Frodo would have enough, but he is still considered second to Frodo. Even during the scouring of the Shire, Frodo didn't really do anything. What makes Frodo so special? His ability to carry the ring? Sam easily handled that while Frodo was paralyzed and kidnapped. Samwise Gamgee is the leading force that delivered the one ring to the fires of Mount Doom and should be credited justly.
| I think that Sam Gamgee did almost all the work and deserves more credit than Frodo.
| 69bf11a6-69b4-45dc-9c8e-a688a7c68be3 |
For those of you who don't know, South Africa's long time president stepped down in early February. He was replaced by a new guy who promised to change the things that the last guy fucked up. The leader of the opposition party, a Marxist, proposed an idea to let the government take land away from white farmers without compensation. In the past,the government could take land, but they had to pay a fair price. Or It was also almost always willing buyer, willing seller. Usually, the government didn't go in and just take the land. The bill is expected to be rubber stamped tomorrow, and if so, it will go into effect in August. The bill allows this with the justification that the farmers are the people who stole our land, we're taking it back. Here's the issues with this line of thinking 1 It's blaming the current people for the actions of their ancestors. It's stupid to blame DACA recipients in the U.S.A. for the actions of their parents, why blame these people for the actions of their ancestors hundreds of years ago? 2 It's blatantly racist. It's allowing the government to take land away from white farmers only. The bill doesn't say all farmers, just white ones. 3 It will almost certainly trash their economy. Zimbabwe did this a few years back, and their economy was ruined rapidly. The skilled white farmers had their land given to unskilled black farmers who didn't know what they were doing. Many of the black farmers actually continued to work on the few remaining white owned farns. All in all, it's a terrible idea all around. Economically, morally, and legally.
| South Africa's new land laws are racist and inexcusable.
| 8f87a5fe-8446-43ff-925d-d812962dc1bd |
I believe the common say that a man will never understand a woman's mind is highly subjective and wrong. I believe both men's and women's minds operate at the same complexity level. Evidence of this is that major psychological concepts such as Maslow's pyramid of needs or learning theories aren't gender specific. On the other hand, i do believe that women tend to be less direct and consistent that men at expressing themselves. This makes ir more difficult to capture the whole message but doesn't make it more complex.
| I don't believe women's minds are any more complex or difficult to understand than men's.
| 65921503-0297-44d0-8f3a-8736b9a62a29 |
In the idealized view of Capitalism, business compete with one another for consumers and employees. This keeps prices reasonable, and employee pay decent, including all the benefits associated. What I am seeing is despite governmental oversight, more and more companies are being owned by fewer and fewer companies. Despite the benefits of a free market, this conglomeration of business poses a real threat. As consumers, we don't have deeper, and deeper pockets, and as employees, pay hasn't really gone up and some work has been outright shipped off.
| Free market/ open market Capitalism is very dangerous. As companies buyout competitors, more and more of what we use will be owned by fewer and fewer.
| 80a3eccd-90ec-4150-91ca-3e748c4397b8 |
Reddit seems to really have a vendetta against Google lately. Everyone is irritated and inconvenienced by Google's request for real names. People are sick of being asked to merge their youtube and G accounts. People are scared of Google collecting data on them and constructing shadow profiles and the like. To me it all seems a bit farcical. Why not just use a fake name, like I do? What's stopping you from making a new G account to merge with your YT account, and treating them as separate accounts? Some people hate data being collected on them and these people go to great lengths to avoid being spied on, but I get the sense that most people complaining on reddit participate in all kinds of services that involve the collection of their data. Why pick on Google when you don't look out for your data security elsewhere in your life? I feel that I am someone who is relatively embedded in the internet, yet I do not understand the latest outrage at Google. What am I missing? Thanks
| I see no problems with Google's incorporation of G+ accounts into everything.
| 8b3f790c-44b5-404c-bcfc-25fac3ca9104 |
Exposure to a variety of perspectives in the classroom can create interest in learning more about one's classmates e.g. their religion, traditions, or thoughts on other related curriculum, which can improve sociability and classroom experience.
| Affirmative action improves education by enabling the presence of more diverse perspectives in the classroom.
| b1403419-814d-4910-92b9-7929756d3ab1 |
Using IVF is a far better method than having a one night stand with someone that isn't verified to have good genetics and isn't disease-free.
| Single parents getting IVF is preferable to other forms of starting a family alone.
| 6886bd47-7a6d-4fbe-bc3f-21d089ba5af9 |
I feel that they should have to suffer for what they've done to the most innocent and trusting of us. I don't think they should just get locked up, safe and sound, with three square meals a day. That doesn't seem any bit like punishment to me, and yes I believe they should be punished. In most cases I believe they should not ever be allowed to leave jail, either, and if they somehow are set free I believe they should be sterilized. People who purposely abuse those that cannot fight back do not deserve freedom or the ability to have more children. Ever.
| I believe convicted child molestors/rapists/abusers/murderers should not be put in to solitary when they are jailed.
| 4e02fe2f-e051-44a0-9056-6d5ab978db9e |