Your Most Controversial Opinions!

All nations of the world should formally recognize the right of Taiwan's people to decide their own destiny. They have earned that right.Ashley Judd should do more nude scenes.Governments should not recognize marriage at all. Governments can establish 'domestic partnerships' to ensure certain rights for consenting adults: mutual property ownership, estate rights, tax filing, child guardianship. All contracts of 'marriage' and understandings of its 'sanctity' are then left to private citizens to work out according to their beliefs.Bison is better than beef.The biggest danger to citizens of a democracy is neither the party on the left or the party on the right. It is partisanship itself.Dates should be written in descending order so that they lead naturally into hours, minutes and seconds as needed:
-- 2006 December 1 Friday 09:00
-- 2006.12.01 09:00:23
The long form provides an elegant alternation of text and numbers with no commas. The short form allows for easy chronological sorting.If women ran the world we would have fewer wars, but more assassinations.Before anyone can register to vote they should pass a simple standard test. It would test voters' knowledge of the jobs they elect candidates to do.It's past time America adopted the metric system.Robert Heinlein's novella The Star Beast should be made into a movie. Give it to Spielberg or Pixar.It's past time European countries cared about human rights outside their neighborhood. When it's Bosnia, they care. When it's China, they don't.Contrary to popular belief, Jim Carrey is not funny.It's past time Russia buried Lenin.Someone should make a movie epic of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs.All high school students can use courses in logic and personal finance.People need to think about sex less and do it more.Let's count years from Apollo 11. That makes 1969 the new Year 0.Evangelicals should get rid of their verbal tic of placing 'just' before every first-person verb: 'We just wanna praise God,' 'We just wan to share the good news.' It doesn't sound self-effacing. It sounds like a symptom.When China becomes a democracy the US should present it with a gift: a Goddess of Democracy statue for Tiananmen Square. France made a similar gesture once. It would be great to see America pay it forward.Dozens of actresses could have won an Oscar with a script like Erin Brokovich.Michael Moore and Ann Coulter should marry. You know they want to.Death penalty for people who fake cynicism to camouflage total naivete.Lifelong imprisonment with no parole for people who:
1. say 'my two cents' on message boards
2. want to 'end world poverty' while objecting to 'our jobs going overseas'
3. use passive tense in office memos ('A meeting was held and it was decided that...')
4. uSe rAnDoM caPs
5. say 'evil' whenever someone else says 'Microsoft' or 'Wal-Mart'Drop the Pledge of Allegience in American schools. If kids need something to recite, teach them the Bill of Rights.Let's put real jazz in elevators.Plenty of good things happen in the world. People rarely consider the disasters that were avoided, the wars that went unfought, and the lives that might have been lost but were not. It's worth considering.Galaxy Quest is the best Star Trek movie ever made.___Edited by Archer Opterix, : Italics, mostly.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

I have a controversial opinion: all of us are capable of commiting acts we would normally consider appalling if we were sufficiently motivated and the environment provided the chance.Some people would steal, loot, or pillage. Not necessarily out of greed. Maybe out of desperation. Or glee. But suspend the rules for a day and there's no shortage of people who could indulge.Some people, if they had the aggressive feelings and weren't afraid of punishments, would willingly injure, rape, or kill another person.Some people, if no one was looking and they were angry enough, would abuse children. Some would suffocate their own babies.Here's another controversial opinion: this reality includes people of both genders. No chromosome combination comes with a patent on the shadow side of the human personality.Here's another controversial opinion: the fact that human beings are capable of doing terrible things may well strike us as disturbing, but it should strike no thinking person as surprising. Human creatures have established that they are capable of all kinds of things. The shadow side of the human personality is real.This reality does not make anyone 'guilty until proven innocent.' Don't fall for this. Neither is this reality limited to 'you other people' however that otherness is defined. Don't fall for this, either.The shadow side of others tends to be obvious enough. It's much easier to turn a blind eye to the shadow when it is our own. And that's always a mistake. Unwatched shadows have a knack of taking over the whole house.The healthiest thing, whether you are man or a woman, is to acknowledge your shadow side. Recognize your own nastiness. Don't kid yourself that you will ever expunge this energy completely from your being. But don't beat yourself up about it, either. Just keep an eye on it. When it moves, counter.

This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine.

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- William Shakespeare, The Tempest

___Edited by Archer Opterix, : Typo repair.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Clarity.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Who asked you to assume anything of the sort?I spoke of the responsibility of each individual to confront his or her own capacity for aggression. Most people would agree that individuals bear this responsibility. I spoke of the human capacity for aggression, and the right of the innocent to be presumed innocent.Odd that this would strike you as invalidating your opinion in some way.What opinion of yours do you see as being contradicted by this?___Edited by Archer Opterix, : Clarity.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Nothing I've said assumes special privileges for one gender over another.Nothing I've lets any individual off the hook for his or her violent or aggressive actions.Rather the contrary, on both counts.If you read my posts and find otherwise, please quote the comment so we can discuss it. Otherwise, kindly refrain from monstrous misrepresentations of my point of view, however righteous you consider the end to be reached by such means. Then we have no argument. Sounds reasonable to me.But why do you limit your comments to men? I spoke of everyone.And why limit the discussion to rape? I spoke of all violations.I would assume the same things of a woman. Not necessarily guilty of a crime, but capable.Do you agree?__Edited by Archer Opterix, : Typo repair.Edited by Archer Opterix, : HTML.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Clarity.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

In response to a poster who says this-- schrafinator writes this: I appreciate this disclosure, Schraf, because it helps me understand better your purpose in returning to this subject.You say you have a goal: a particular response you desire from readers.Your goal, as stated, is not to make readers think a certain way. You say you intend them to feel a certain way. The conclusion you wish them to draw is an emotional one.If you don't mind elaborating a little further, a key detail would help to clarify this.When everyone on the board feels as disturbed as they are supposed to feel, what will that look like?Will they say a particular thing? Do a particular thing? What will happen?___Edited by Archer Opterix, : Brev.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

It is you, Mr Frog, who are changing the subject. I asked you a straightforward question that follows logically from your own stated principle. You have not answered it.I spoke of all forms of violation by all genders of persons. My remarks were inclusive. The word I used was 'crime.'You said your standard for men, in the absence of evidence of wrongdoing, was 'not guilty, but capable.'Is this your standard for all persons, or males only?___

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Here's that question again, Mr Frog. I will word it as simply as possible so you can understand.
Please pay attention. If need be, secure the assistance of a native English speaker.Do you believe that women as well as men are capable of crime?___

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Thank you.It's only as relevant as any other question about the potential of one human being to violate another.Tip of the hat, Mr Frog.___

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Of course, Mr Frog. True by definition. Along with other factors. The intrinsic value of the thing one seeks to protect. The sacrifices entailed in securing a particular level of protection. Others. Nothing in life is infinite, Mr Frog. It makes perfect sense to anticipate general and even unforeseen threats as well as specific ones.People do this all the time. Infinite resources are not a prerequisite.

We are discussing the human capacity for causing harm, Mr Frog.No possibilities are remote.___

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Welcome to EvC. Say humans are a natually selfish species and I agree. Guinea pigs are selfish, too. Ever notice? All they think about is themselves. Squeal, sqeal, squeal. Even those who tell us it's always wrong to make judgments? Morphine overdoes isn't a bad way to go.Some practical reservations come to mind, though. A responsibility would exist to assess the 'sound mind' of any individuals requesting the maximum check-out. Most of these individuals would test as being severely depressed. That would be a disqualifier because clinical depression is treatable. And if you say it to yourself over and over again, it starts to sound funny.Food is another one. Not a very appetizing word when you really listen to it.(By the way, did you mean to spell your handle miss-chief?) Well, regardless of the deterrent factor for anyone else, it certainly deters the person executed.We should put Osama Bin Laden at the top of a 100-story tower, then soak the tower with airplane fuel and ignite it halfway up. All the cameras in the world can record how long it takes him to jump. A well-functioning society strikes me as one that is open enough for individuals to find roles that suit them, and activist enough to be concerned that they do. Food for thought.__Edited by Archer Opterix, : tinkering.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Hollywood product is not the place to look for fair representation of anything.When's the last time you saw a Hollywood movie where the two leads wore eyeglasses?How many American urban skylines would you recognize if Hollywood was your source of information? New York and Los Angeles. Are there any other American cities?When's the last time you saw a Hollywood movie about Air Force flyboys who pilot propeller-driven C-130s?When's the last time you saw a Hollywood romance set in any city other than New York? Doesn't anyone ever fall in love in Pittsburgh?___Edited by Archer Opterix, : messing around.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

I realize that. I realize that as well.One more question. If you wish, it may remain rhetorical.Do you realize that the rapist is not the crazed, inhumane monster you don't have anything remotely in common with?___

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Thank you for this very candid admission, Schraf. It can't have been easy. But you did say you wanted people to feel disturbed. The brevity of your introspection when confronted with your own challenge--one word--suggests you find the idea every bit as disturbing as you intended. It seems we are all in the same boat.You make an excellent point in suggesting it is too glib to say 'I'm not like those creatures. They're monsters and I'm not.' But surely you recognize that it's just as glib to say 'I'm not like those creatures. They're men and I'm not.' It's the same gambit.We distance ourselves from our own capacity for aggression by telling ourselves all the crime is 'out there' somewhere. That other person has a shadow side. Not us.The truth is that all human beings have a will to power. We are all capable of aggression. We all tend to become predatory in the presence of weakness. We can all behave in hostile ways to people who don't deserve it.Women show just as much tendency to aggression as men. Men, as you note, are more likely to inflict the pain through physical means. Nature has endowed males with an advantage over their female peers in this department. Women favor using social mechanisms--words, alliances, stigmatizing, ostracism--to deliver their beatings. Nature has endowed females with an advantage over their male peers in this department.The gap in style between the genders begins in childhood. It is widest in early adulthood and gradually closes afterward.The type of physical aggression favored by males confers an advantage in war zones and wilderness--places where human social structures have relatively little traction. There, one is obliged to fight the kind of physical war we call 'hand to hand.' The type of social aggression favored by females confers an advantage in communities where complex social structures are in place. There, physical violence is condemned and punished. One is obliged to fight the kind of social war that does not get a person arrested.Pockets of each environment can exist inside the other. We speak of a wilderness having 'an oasis of civilization' and a city having an 'urban war zone.' One can live day-to-day in one arena and still find oneself thrust, with little warning, into the other. In such situations people are capable of suprising, even shocking shifts in behavior. I don't see why it's wrong for any of us to be aware of all of this.Thank you for raising the subject.___

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

OK, so Pittsburgh gets token representation if we stretch the city limits to include Punxsutawney. Exceptions that prove the rule.Does anyone ever fall in love in Detroit? Richmond? San Diego?Even when people from Seattle and Baltimore fall for each other the movie has to end in Manhattan.__

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Interesting quote, Doc. Thanks for sharing this. I agree, too. Almost.I'd say the artist's maintenance of social independence really is the artist's social responsibility.___

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ArcherAll species are transitional.