Post your most controverserial oponions

[Antonio the Sixth]

the deficit is too high

[Antonio the Sixth]

OK, I'll post a honest opinion I have that seems to be highly controversial on here: I think humanity is great. I think that, despite all the awful things that we've done and keep doing right now, we have the potential to do good and that's ultimately what matters most. I think misanthropy (the kind that's widely held on here but most cogently articulated by a certain R-MI avatar) is the greatest danger that faces us and must be combated in every form. I think the only way to hold ourselves to a higher standard, and thereby become better as a civilization, is to start from a basis of unconditional love for humanity, and that anyone who doesn't start from such basis has no chance to truly improve reality.

And yeah, I realize I fall short of that a lot of the time.

[Antonio the Sixth]

My most controverserial oponion is that everyone is this thread who posted a non-troll answer should be very ashamed.

My apologies.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Cognitively mature human beings deserve higher moral standing than infants and even small children.

I'll say the inverse of this--cognitive capacity, intelligence, ability to live independently, and level of maturity/development/decline should all be completely irrelevant to a human being's moral standing.

Also, expressing strong dislike for children should not be any more socially acceptable or cute or chic than expressing strong dislike for the elderly.

Probably not something that I should have posted from my phone when I can't get into what I believe its implications are. For now I'll just add that (1) I don't think that what I mean by maturity has anything to do with intelligence or cognitive capacity and (2) while most adults probably like most children more than I do, and would blanch at my statement, it is extremely rare for adults to treat children as if they mattered as much as other adults, even though most of us would agree that we would be living in a better world if they did.

I'm really curious what you believe the implications are, since the only ones I can think of are either things that already exist (we don't let children vote and generally agree that, beyond the worst kinds of abuse, they're subject to the authority of their parents) or things that I'm hoping any decent person will agree are utterly monstrous (like, apparently there's a guy who thinks we should legalize infanticide).

[Antonio the Sixth]

Oddly enough, I support allowing at least children who are old enough to read a ballot the right to vote.

I wouldn't go quite that far, but I definitely think there's no valid reason to prevent children above 10 or 11 (isn't that around when the capacity for abstract thinking develops?) from voting.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Oddly enough, I support allowing at least children who are old enough to read a ballot the right to vote.

I wouldn't go quite that far, but I definitely think there's no valid reason to prevent children above 10 or 11 (isn't that around when the capacity for abstract thinking develops?) from voting.

Other than or in addition to the fact that they have no idea how a county/state/nation should be run?

I mean, most adults don't possess that knowledge either, but at least they possess the capacity

12-year-olds also very clearly possess the capacity. Congrats, you've done a very good job debunking your own argument.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Oddly enough, I support allowing at least children who are old enough to read a ballot the right to vote.

I wouldn't go quite that far, but I definitely think there's no valid reason to prevent children above 10 or 11 (isn't that around when the capacity for abstract thinking develops?) from voting.

Other than or in addition to the fact that they have no idea how a county/state/nation should be run?

I mean, most adults don't possess that knowledge either, but at least they possess the capacity

12-year-olds also very clearly possess the capacity. Congrats, you've done a very good job debunking your own argument.

Being around the age in question and coming in contact with 10-12 year olds often, I can say that most folks my age shouldn't be able to vote.

Again, that's an argument that could EASILY be made about adults.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Oddly enough, I support allowing at least children who are old enough to read a ballot the right to vote.

I wouldn't go quite that far, but I definitely think there's no valid reason to prevent children above 10 or 11 (isn't that around when the capacity for abstract thinking develops?) from voting.

Other than or in addition to the fact that they have no idea how a county/state/nation should be run?

I mean, most adults don't possess that knowledge either, but at least they possess the capacity

12-year-olds also very clearly possess the capacity. Congrats, you've done a very good job debunking your own argument.

12-year-olds can regurgitate abstract ideas, but they don't have the life experience to know how things ought to be.

Neither do most adults.

[Antonio the Sixth]

TL;DR nobody should vote

I think this makes sense

No. We just have to accept that one of the implications of democratic principles is that "competence" or "information" or "intelligence" is not a legitimate grounds for restricting suffrage, and that this applies to age limits just as it applies to literacy tests.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I think prostitution is nobody's business but the two consenting adults involved.  Therefore sex work should be legal.

I think there's nothing wrong with two cousins getting married if they're in love.  It's nobody's business but their own.

I think pornography is just fine.

I wish those views were as controversial as you think they are.

[Antonio the Sixth]

There's a legitimate (if profoundly depressing) argument to be made for the decriminalization of the supply end of prostitution

Not only that, I believe that there is no legitimate argument to be made against it. Punishing the victims is profoundly immoral and only serves to uphold the patriarchal culture that gives rise to prostitution in the first place. I'd much rather have complete decriminalization that do that.

I didn't specify this aspect here because that's clearly not the standpoint j92185 was arguing from, and because I thought I'd made my position very explicit in the past. If I haven't that's a serious problem, and I really hope it hasn't given any false impression about me.

[Antonio the Sixth]

     Women are not oppressed in the west today.