Opinion of opebo

[phk]

Is this first net HP poll since 2005?

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

You know, it's no so much opebo that I have a problem with...it's the fact that the majority of the Left on this site worships the sick, arrogant chickenhawk. Even if he is just a persona, it doesn't change the fact that he has a cult of his very own.

That, to me, is terrifying.

LOL. This is someone from the Libertas/Hamilton clique! The fact that anyone whatsoever liked Hamilton is something I actually find rather disturbing but not worth getting into here.

Hamilton was a harmless troll

Yes... a dude who is responsible for every newbie being immediately suspicious, was "harmless troll"?

[opebo]

And I say again, those two excuse the fact that he cheerleads rape and pedophilia how, now?

I've never 'cheerlead' either of those things, Svensson, and your accusation is a slander.  I don't believe I could get away with saying 'Svensson supports the Holocaust and frottage' without garnering some deadly points from the moderators.  I suggest that you delete the offensive post in order to avoid censure.

[Gustaf]

And I say again, those two excuse the fact that he cheerleads rape and pedophilia how, now?

I've never 'cheerlead' either of those things, Svensson, and your accusation is a slander.  I don't believe I could get away with saying 'Svensson supports the Holocaust and frottage' without garnering some deadly points from the moderators.  I suggest that you delete the offensive post in order to avoid censure.

But you are so opposed to censorship! Oh, right, that's only when it's about someone else. I forgot how you report every attack on yourself.

[Gustaf]

I think there is a very big moral difference between someone like me and someone like Opebo. I'm obviously not perfect, but I do my share of good deeds.

'Good deeds'?  Sounds mighty childish, Gustaf.  How old are you again?  Do you mean like using your turn signal, putting the toilet seat down (or up, which is it again?), or going down on your big-boned Swedish girlfriend?  I would feel a terrible twat if I did a 'good deed'.

He claims that one cannot get beautiful women once over 40, which also is obviously untrue. I know of several such men.

Yes, those men are desirable, Gustaf - in other words rich, powerful, having status, etc.  Most people aren't like that.  And I didn't say beautiful 'women' I said young girls.  In any case, paying for sex is a wonderful way out for the very numerous old men who can't get what they want any other way - after all, why shouldn't they get what they want?  Better to spend and enjoy, you can't take it with you.

And he claims that everyone wants to screw cheap hookers, except for women who all want to be cheap hookers which is also clearly untrue to anyone who actually has real friends.

I've never claimed that.   

And then there is the pathological insistence that everyone wants to live like him and everyone else must be deeply unhappy because his lifestyle is the only reasonable one.

I've never claimed that, Gustaf.  Jeering at fools who have poor taste isn't the same as 'insisting that everyone wants to live like him'.

The overall picture is that of a person who has failed at pretty much everything there is to life and has fled into delusion instead of facing up to it.

'Failed'?  At what?  I honestly don't think of life as me (the godhead of my universe) 'succeeding' or 'failing' at jumping through hoops.   Perhaps I'm a sociopath, but I would never take to heart that kind of nonsense.

Well, I'm not as old as the 40+ guy who just went "you're girlfriend is probably fat." The mature wit of Opebo strikes again!

I realize the concept is foreign to you, but I was referring to regular charity donations and volunteer work. Not big things that makes me into a hero, but still more than a lot of people and enough, imo, to allow me to make a distinction between myself and an evil creeper like you.

I realize you think that men, especially men with enough money, shouldn't be denied anything and be allowed to spend their wealth on what they want. What I don't understand is how anyone claiming to be left-wing can agree with it. After all, you don't want your generous dole allowing people not to work to be extended to Thai hookers, right?

[Gustaf]

You know, it's no so much opebo that I have a problem with...it's the fact that the majority of the Left on this site worships the sick, arrogant chickenhawk. Even if he is just a persona, it doesn't change the fact that he has a cult of his very own.

That, to me, is terrifying.

LOL. This is someone from the Libertas/Hamilton clique! The fact that anyone whatsoever liked Hamilton is something I actually find rather disturbing but not worth getting into here.

Let me begin by saying that you seem to take a very Moderate Hero position on this issue. I thought you would have to either argue that all prostitution is bad or that all of it is good, to avoid falling into the middle ground fallacy that you so abhor?

Having a position in the middle is not that fallacy, rather it's arguing that it's correct DUE to being in the middle. Moderate Heroism is like where one group wants to spend $X on a project and another group doesn't want to fund it at all, so someone proposes spending $X/2 on it which is not enough to properly fund it and will just waste money. But benconstine and Gabu used to take such positions all the time.

I agree with most of that, except for one point. You basically seem to be running the argument that prostitution is mostly fine, and then there are some people being abused and that needs to be regulated. Sort of like with oranges being sold in a super market - some may have been produced under bad working conditions, but it is mostly fine. I take the opposite view. I think prostitution is by and large not a free choice in a real sense. I do this in the exact same way I don't consider alcoholism or heroin abuse to be a "free" choice. I don't think anyone deep down wants to be a heroin addict. People still become it for a variety of reasons and that warrants society intervening to help them.

I wouldn't consider arresting someone "intervening to help them."

I'm sure a lot of prostitutes claim to be happy and content with their lives. BushOK claims to be extremely happy with his life too. That's called denial. When it is to an actual client, it's not even denial it's just sales practice. If you ask any person trying to sell something to you whether they think you're being an asshole exploiting them or whether they love doing it, they're likely to reply the latter. I don't think sex is in the fundamental sense supposed to be bought and sold and I think it is psychologically damaging to most people to engage in it (I actually think this of people who are repeatedly buying as well). Even those women who aren't say drug addicts or trying to escape extreme poverty often had issues growing up, such as being abused as kids by their fathers, lacking father figures and stuff like that.

Even if this is true, I don't see how the intervention of the law helps improve manners. Do you think having cheap casual sex for free is not psychologically damaging? I really don't see a difference between some girl who goes to the bar and goes home with a different guy every night and a prostitute, the prostitute is just making money off it.  Even if a person has "psychological issues", that's not always the place where the state can intervene best, especially if the intervention is just with the law. Is putting a prostitution arrest on a woman's record going to help her adjust to society more and get a "normal" job? Is fining and giving a criminal record to some depressed guy going to help improve matters much?

For the record I think a lot of people who hire hookers are pretty scummy, think David Vitter, there are ones who are married and just do it for the thrill and all. But there's plenty of cases where I don't see anything wrong. You told opebo earlier that there are guys over 40 who do get beautiful women. Well maybe but not every guy is Brad Pitt. Not every guy over 40 can. Plenty of other scenarios. What about someone with Asperger's? What about a guy who makes a lot but does so in a very demanding and stressful job that doesn't give him much time for dating and all that? I suspect that type is a pretty frequent profile for johns. What about a recently divorced or broken up guy in severe depression? I know at least one who admitted to hiring an escort from an "alternative" newspaper here after his divorce?

Sure, I will grant you not all prostitutes have a horrible life, at least not at first. And I'm sure there is the odd one here and there who actually enjoys that lifestyle. There are people who enjoy all sorts of weird stuff, after all. Some people get turned on by being eaten by others too. But I do not for a second buy that the millions and millions of prostitutes we have in the world are making a great choice for themselves. You're picking out your examples of high-end escorts running blogs. In the world of prostitution I think those cases pale in comparison to the millions of poor prostitutes in third world countries. Third world countries like a particular one that begins with T and ends with hailand.

I'm referring more to simply developed countries here. Though I will note that as I stated before legal status has little effect in the third world. Prostitution is illegal in Thailand after all. The South American countries where it's legal have less of a problem.

On legalization I've actually used your point with the drink myself in prostitution debates. That is why I find illegalizing it to be dubious. On the other hand, I really don't think it has any place in society either. So I end up not really caring much about whether it should be illegal or not. But there are a lot of legal activities I find deeply, deeply immoral and using prostitutes is one of them. Again, I don't think it's particularly immoral to be a prostitute. I understand they're often being forced to make tough choices.

In that case you should be against a system that threatens them with legal blackmarking if caught and drives the trade underground and causes fear in reporting abusive clients or pimps. I really don't see anyone who is benefited by criminalization besides self-righteous prudes who consider themselves oh so superior to "whores and perverts". Well that and the organized crime who are filling the void.

Finally, none of this is what Opebo argues, mind you. He has never admitted to anything negative as regards prostitution and thinks child prostitution should be legal and that all opposition to it is just prudery.

I've never said I'll defend every opebo position. I just find it amusing for being called a libertarian extremist and all that for a rather common view.

1. Who said anything about arresting? Swedish prostitution law, for instance, does not even criminalize the prostitutes. It isn't illegal to be a prostitute, it's illegal to be a pimp or a john.

2. I'm not saying everyone who uses prostitutes is a horrible person. But I note with interest that none of the examples you mention include Opebo. He doesn't have a demanding work. He doesn't have aspergers. He claims to be extremely happy. And he doesn't seem to have been in any troubled relationships. So what's his excuse? I would also note that now you're basically saying that prostitution is used to deal with severe problems, such as a job that has destroyed one's social life, depression or emotional handicaps. Still, you seem to think it is cool and awesome? It seems to me that you could exchange prostitution for alcohol in those sentences and it would work perfectly. Yet, few people think alcoholism is really cool.

3. I'm not talking about Brad Pitt. I'm talking about people I know and have met in real life.

4. Opebo isn't buying high-end escorts in the US or those legal prostitutes in South America. He is buying them in Thailand. A country not exactly known for its great treatment of women or avoidance of underage prostitutes and so on.

5. As I said above, I never even said I wanted it criminalized. I'm just arguing for its immorality. And it's perfectly possible to criminalize it without criminalizing the women, which is what a progressive prostitution law would do. Like the one where I live.

6. You are taking an extremely libertarian position. You're claiming that sex should be traded on a completely free market and that the state has no right to interfere. If someone think American hookers are too expensive or demand too much respect or too little abuse, one should have the right to buy cheaper ones in Thailand. Yet, I believe you do not think this should be true of other products, right? You favour tariffs, workplace safety regulations and minimum wage laws, right? And I bet that if a forum for owners of coal mines were filled with posts about how much they respect their coal miners (especially those who are dead)  and how they think the coal miners are really having a great time and they sometimes talk to them like equals, you wouldn't just accept that as proof that there was no need for legislation.

I'm not seeing how you can not just defend, but think the one is completely awesome and superior to everyone else's opinion, but then think the other is completely unacceptable. What Opebo has done is pick out a cheap country to buy sex in. This choice is conditioned on the Thai being so poor that they think the low payment they get for sex is still good. If someone were to do this with something else, say buy cheap products made in China by non-unionized workers, would you also think that it was really cool and escaping the oppressive prudery of American regulations?

What Opebo wants is a society where people are sufficiently poor that many will go into prostitution and not charge much for it and where the state is sufficiently authoritarian to shoot down anyone who criticizes it. How can a left-winger think that is awesome?

[Mr. Morden]

And I say again, those two excuse the fact that he cheerleads rape and pedophilia how, now?

"Cheerleads rape and pedophilia" may be an exaggeration, but "cheeleads statutory rape" seems entirely appropriate, given his comments on Polanski and a 13 year old:

Still, the dude's creepy as all get out.

A society where it is considered abnormal or perverse for a healthy, sexually capable man to desire to boom-boom young women up the bum-bum is a society with some serious disconnect from physiological realities.

people who want to prosecute Statutory rape= prudes? WTF

Yes, the sexually liberated position would be that the 'statutory' aspect makes it oppression.

[Mechaman]

You know, it's no so much opebo that I have a problem with...it's the fact that the majority of the Left on this site worships the sick, arrogant chickenhawk. Even if he is just a persona, it doesn't change the fact that he has a cult of his very own.

That, to me, is terrifying.

LOL. This is someone from the Libertas/Hamilton clique! The fact that anyone whatsoever liked Hamilton is something I actually find rather disturbing but not worth getting into here.

Hamilton was a harmless troll and Libertas was a loudmouth who people just couldn't ignore. opebo, on the other hand, is either a hardline hedonist who condones rape and pedophilia or at least a persona of one. And the left just loves that to death.

Hamilton was harmless my ass.
He reported more people than any leftist on this website for using words like "retarded".  Hell he openly admitted to silencing me because I had the audacity to make fun of his ARC party.

For the record as much of a tool I was back then I NEVER went as low as reporting people I disagreed with.

I, personally, fail to see how that's more reprehensible than opebo's MO.

Because opebo is merely an internet persona that promotes (again freedom of speech) unpopular stuff.  His greatest crime is advancing a point of view on an internet forum.  Hamilton meanwhile was the definition of "f***ing hypocrite" and "psychologically insane".

But then again you weren't here when Hamilton was around so I'll give you a freebie on thinking that someone as harmless as opebo is worse than Hamilton.

[Roemerista]

I probably disagree with him on almost everything, but I would say FF. How boring would it be without him?

[Torie]

I must say that there has been a lot of dissing of posters lately - considerably more than usual. It is as if most of us are going through our period right now, and are just out of sorts. Don't they have drugs to mitigate some of this?

[Gustaf]

I must say that there has been a lot of dissing of posters lately - considerably more than usual. It is as if most of us are going through our period right now, and are just out of sorts. Don't they have drugs to mitigate some of this?

I can't speak for anyone else, but I've always disliked Opebo, even when he was praising Pinochet.

[Boris]

I must say that there has been a lot of dissing of posters lately - considerably more than usual. It is as if most of us are going through our period right now, and are just out of sorts. Don't they have drugs to mitigate some of this?

Ran out on thursday, and 3.5g here costs $60! It ain't cheap to mitigate one's period

[SvenssonRS]

You know, it's no so much opebo that I have a problem with...it's the fact that the majority of the Left on this site worships the sick, arrogant chickenhawk. Even if he is just a persona, it doesn't change the fact that he has a cult of his very own.

That, to me, is terrifying.

LOL. This is someone from the Libertas/Hamilton clique! The fact that anyone whatsoever liked Hamilton is something I actually find rather disturbing but not worth getting into here.

Hamilton was a harmless troll

Yes... a dude who is responsible for every newbie being immediately suspicious, was "harmless troll"?

I fail to see how that has any impact on, you know, real--life.

[opebo]

...Svensson... I suggest that you delete the offensive post in order to avoid censure.

But you are so opposed to censorship! Oh, right, that's only when it's about someone else. I forgot how you report every attack on yourself.

I oppose censorship, but when living in a world of censorship, I must live in a world of censorship.   Of course I will say 'we should have no censorship', but when if we have it, I certainly want to use it to my advantage.  If I can't say what Svensson so obviously is (remember the days when I used to call all and sundry 'simpletons'?), then why should I not object when he maligns me with his prudery?

It is ridiculous to demand of powerless people that they somehow 'live by their own principles' - we all live as slaves, and we can't change that.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

You know, it's no so much opebo that I have a problem with...it's the fact that the majority of the Left on this site worships the sick, arrogant chickenhawk. Even if he is just a persona, it doesn't change the fact that he has a cult of his very own.

That, to me, is terrifying.

LOL. This is someone from the Libertas/Hamilton clique! The fact that anyone whatsoever liked Hamilton is something I actually find rather disturbing but not worth getting into here.

Hamilton was a harmless troll

Yes... a dude who is responsible for every newbie being immediately suspicious, was "harmless troll"?

I fail to see how that has any impact on, you know, real--life.

I fail to get your point.

[Gustaf]

...Svensson... I suggest that you delete the offensive post in order to avoid censure.

But you are so opposed to censorship! Oh, right, that's only when it's about someone else. I forgot how you report every attack on yourself.

I oppose censorship, but when living in a world of censorship, I must live in a world of censorship.   Of course I will say 'we should have no censorship', but when if we have it, I certainly want to use it to my advantage.  If I can't say what Svensson so obviously is (remember the days when I used to call all and sundry 'simpletons'?), then why should I not object when he maligns me with his prudery?

It is ridiculous to demand of powerless people that they somehow 'live by their own principles' - we all live as slaves, and we can't change that.

That doesn't really make any sense, because your freedom of speech doesn't contradict anyone else's. If one opposes, say, state-funded education it obviously isn't hypocritical to still use it, since you will have to pay for it with your taxes anyway.

But if you think it should be allowed for someone to insult you, why does it matter whether you're allowed to insult them as well? Shouldn't you defend everyone's right to be insulting?

[opebo]

That doesn't really make any sense, because your freedom of speech doesn't contradict anyone else's. If one opposes, say, state-funded education it obviously isn't hypocritical to still use it, since you will have to pay for it with your taxes anyway.

But if you think it should be allowed for someone to insult you, why does it matter whether you're allowed to insult them as well? Shouldn't you defend everyone's right to be insulting?

I do defend their right to insult, but only by saying 'I think they should be allowed to insult'.  I'm certainly not going to defend it by allowing myself to be insulted when I have a legal recourse, since in fact that would do nothing to defend the freedom and would only harm me (by being insulted without being able to properly retort).

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Under the precedent set forth by Inks and D F Mikado, Svenson is deserving of a 10 pointer for each offense........don't like that, take it up with them.

[Mechaman]

You know, it's no so much opebo that I have a problem with...it's the fact that the majority of the Left on this site worships the sick, arrogant chickenhawk. Even if he is just a persona, it doesn't change the fact that he has a cult of his very own.

That, to me, is terrifying.

LOL. This is someone from the Libertas/Hamilton clique! The fact that anyone whatsoever liked Hamilton is something I actually find rather disturbing but not worth getting into here.

Hamilton was a harmless troll

Yes... a dude who is responsible for every newbie being immediately suspicious, was "harmless troll"?

I fail to see how that has any impact on, you know, real--life.

And how does opebo endorsing pedophilia or whatever on an obscure internet forum at all have any impact on y'know real effing life?
Seriously.

[Phony Moderate]

I would like to make an announcement.



I am a supporter of the NAMBLA.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

You know, it's no so much opebo that I have a problem with...it's the fact that the majority of the Left on this site worships the sick, arrogant chickenhawk. Even if he is just a persona, it doesn't change the fact that he has a cult of his very own.

That, to me, is terrifying.

LOL. This is someone from the Libertas/Hamilton clique! The fact that anyone whatsoever liked Hamilton is something I actually find rather disturbing but not worth getting into here.

Hamilton was a harmless troll

Yes... a dude who is responsible for every newbie being immediately suspicious, was "harmless troll"?

I fail to see how that has any impact on, you know, real--life.

And how does opebo endorsing pedophilia or whatever on an obscure internet forum at all have any impact on y'know real effing life?
Seriously.

Mechaman writing greatly influenced my real life for worse. He ought to be banned.

[Frodo]

The fact that Opebo has this high an approval rating on this poll is sickening.  

[They not like us]

The fact that Opebo has this high an approval rating on this poll is sickening.  

Yeah, this.

But dear lord this thread was a mess.

[Peeperkorn]

When I get older I'd like to be like him: full of money and asian twins.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

The funniest man I have met on the web... he and I would get on well if we knew each other personally