What are your politically unpopular views?

[Aurelius2]

Tobacco smoking should be actively promoted for fat people

[Aurelius2]

We need a large-scale reintroduction campaign for large carnivores across the United States. The suburbs need a new kind of jaguar.

For a few years now, my ideal solution to overcrowding in Yosemite National Park and throughout the Sierras more generally has been reintroduction of the California grizzly.

[PSOL]

Tobacco smoking should be actively promoted for fat people

A significant amount of obese people do work normally compared to their skinnier peers even with the extra weight on. Smoking tobacco is just going to screw up their lungs and lead to decreased quality of life for them. We need to live more not less.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

-Not only is the death penalty wrong and evil, so is life imprisonment.

-Gun ownership should be actively promoted among the LGBT community and minorities

-"shrinkflation" is actually a good thing. It will make people less fat and keep prices stable

-On that note, discrimination against obese people should be accepted and normalized. Ofc I'm not talking about your average overweight dad, I'm talking about the obese clown who demands a second free seat on their Southwest flight.

-Taxes on the rich should be raised to lower the burden on lower-class families

-SAG-AFTRA isn't a real union, and actors aren't real people.

-Western culture (including LGBT acceptance, religious pluralism, freedom of speech, abortion rights, and free elections) are superior to Sharia nonsense. No exceptions, period stop.

-The growing birthrate among religious societies (including Calvinists, Amish, and the Haredim) is a very real problem that needs to be addressed, possibly through the shutting down or forced secularization of their schools and institutions.

[Dr. MB]

-The growing birthrate among religious societies (including Calvinists, Amish, and the Haredim) is a very real problem that needs to be addressed, possibly through the shutting down or forced secularization of their schools and institutions.

It's interesting how this is gonna play out in the future. I think the only place this has actually started to affect politics is Israel but that could definitely change bc America has a lot of the same sects. But Mormons for the most part have started to have fewer kids and are less insular/hardcore than they were a few decades ago, but then again they were never as isolated as the communities you mentioned.

[PSOL]

-The growing birthrate among religious societies (including Calvinists, Amish, and the Haredim) is a very real problem that needs to be addressed, possibly through the shutting down or forced secularization of their schools and institutions.

It's interesting how this is gonna play out in the future. I think the only place this has actually started to affect politics is Israel but that could definitely change bc America has a lot of the same sects. But Mormons for the most part have started to have fewer kids and are less insular/hardcore than they were a few decades ago, but then again they were never as isolated as the communities you mentioned.

Mormons haven’t fitted into that category of an insular bloc since the 1900s, and it’s been much longer that they’ve stopped referring to the United States as the second Babylon. The United States on account of its history and isolated geography means that societal problems with nomadic groups like Romanis and Travelers do not apply as these groups are also pretty much integrated into wider society or fully assimilated.

I don’t think the predominantly Dutch Calvinists in the Midwest really count as they behave more like Independent Baptist churches in regards to their relation to wider society rather than more distinguishable and self-isolating groups like certain Haredi dynasties and Amish groups do.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

1. While the Supreme Court should not be in the business of making law, neither should it take away rights previously established for any reason.

Classic leftlib view but one I hold very dearly. Perhaps Roe wasn't the right way to go for the pro-choice side and dubious from a constitutional standpoint. But, neither should the courts be in the business of deciding you have a right and then taking it away half-a-century later. Dobbs and its aftermath is an important example of how a government that can give you anything you want can easily take everything away. In an instant. Same with student loan forgiveness.

2. The federal government is responsible for killing more innocent people than every person on death row combined.

This sorta goes without saying, doesn't it? "Guns don't kill people, the government does." And indeed, I need not list all the drone attacks and other ways the US government has killed or maimed people. But a well-armed citizenry is far less worrying to me than a country where only the government -- or people who are friends of the government -- can carry certain firearms that civilians can't.

3. "The rich are in possession of the goods of the poor, even if they have acquired them honestly or inherited them legally."

- St. John Chrysostom

4. Poverty builds more character than wealthiness.

Having grown up fairly affluent and privileged only to eventually end up in a homeless shelter has shown me both worlds, and I can easily identify the one which was harder but also built me up more than I ever thought possible. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

5. “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”

This is a popular quote among certain elements of the right, but I think it actually makes sense if we reconsider what actually makes a person strong or weak, or at least distinguish what society tells us from what is true. See #4.

I still believe in all this but I will add some specific policy positions that are unpopular, since this doesn't exactly outline what changes I would make in the United States if I were a benevolent dictator (only on day one, of course):

1. Adopt the Nordic approach to criminal justice. Focus on rehabilitating criminals and lowering recidivism rates. Impose a maximum sentence of 21 years renewable indefinitely. I agree with Pope Frank that "life imprisonment is a hidden death penalty." That's not to say criminals should never get life imprisonment -- and the likes of Anders Breivik certainly never will see the light of day -- but a justice system oriented toward punishment and not the possibility of redemption is, well, a crappy justice system.

2. As explained in another thread, I support increasing funding for the police coupled with more accountability (see #3). The best way to fix the disconnect between police officers and the people they serve is to train them better. Requiring a Master's degree to become a cop should be considered.

3. People who've killed cops should be allowed to claim self-defense if they can prove that the officer was acting in a rogue manner. Police officers do not deserve more immunity than the average citizen, and the knowledge that there are consequences for abuse of power will incentivize officers to be wiser with their actions.

4. The Second Amendment should be rewritten to be less ambiguous while retaining the fundamental right of people to keep and bear arms. The legal purchasing age for guns should be no higher than 18. If you're old enough to fight and die for your country with a gun, you're old enough to own a gun for personal use.

5. With that in mind, a license or competence test should be required to own a gun. Kids should be allowed to use guns for recreational use and hunting, but the caretaker who owns the license assumes full liability. Admittedly, I haven't put much thought into this. But I did invent a way to piss off the gun lovers and the gun grabbers simultaneously.

6. Under no circumstances is military conscription justified and it should be totally illegal. I'm just going to call the draft what it was here: military slavery. And slavery was still going on in the United States until the government chose to stop forcing young men, many of whom were poor or lower-middle class, into entering dangerous, unpredictable territory and being subject to Agent Orange.

7. The retirement age should be lowered to 60. The wealthiest country in the world is fully capable of this and can pay for this by means-testing Social Security and cutting back on freebies in the tax code. The very nature of work as we know it is changing rapidly and pretty soon there simply won't be enough jobs for people, because robots will have taken them.

On that note, I do not support a job guarantee like AOC and others on the left have advocated for. We shouldn't be paying people to paint rocks or become another cog in the bureaucratic machine. The decline of bullsh!t jobs will make society more efficient, not less. But we need to prepare our economy for that over the long term.

Every man a king, but no one wears a crown.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

11. Before weed is federally legalized, the government should fund a research program to get rid of the smell. The relevant genes should then be edited into all weed strains, and there should be extremely strict penalties for selling smelly weed.

14. Ban California from banning things.

I'm sorry, but both these things made me chuckle. Add New York, Massachusetts, and the Deep South to #14.

[Progressive Pessimist]

-Physician assisted suicide should be legal.
-Public housing should be built for the homeless.
-Legalization of prostitution (the Norway system, I guess).
-Religious institutions should be taxed.
-Felons should be able to vote, even while serving their sentence.
-Sanctuary city policies should be mandatory everywhere.

[Schiff for Senate]

I have a few related to the electoral process and what people are voting for:

1. The House of Representatives should be doubled in size.
2. All state legislatures should be full-time and paid like it.
3. Way too many positions are publicly elected at the state and local levels.

Not sure any of these would garner 60% disapproval if posed directly to the voters. 1 and 3 feel like common sense everyone should be able to get behind, and 2 doesn't seem too controversial either.

-Felons should be able to vote, even while serving their sentence.

The point is that they're being punished and are not yet ready to return as functioning, engaged members of society. As Eisenhower said, a prison has everything except freedom - and truly, that lack of freedoms ought to include the freedom to vote.

-Taxes on the rich should be raised to lower the burden on lower-class families

I think something like this would have 60% support (or higher), not 60% opposition.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I have a few related to the electoral process and what people are voting for:

1. The House of Representatives should be doubled in size.
2. All state legislatures should be full-time and paid like it.
3. Way too many positions are publicly elected at the state and local levels.

Not sure any of these would garner 60% disapproval if posed directly to the voters. 1 and 3 feel like common sense everyone should be able to get behind, and 2 doesn't seem too controversial either.

-Felons should be able to vote, even while serving their sentence.

The point is that they're being punished and are not yet ready to return as functioning, engaged members of society. As Eisenhower said, a prison has everything except freedom - and truly, that lack of freedoms ought to include the freedom to vote.

-Taxes on the rich should be raised to lower the burden on lower-class families

I think something like this would have 60% support (or higher), not 60% opposition.

Well, this is the politically unpopular views thread for a reason.

[progressive85]

Another of my unpopular views is to let high school students vote - so lowering the voting age to 16.  High schools are a great place to set up polling places and I feel that with a good civics class being taught at the same time, it would allow a lot of young Americans to vote together and to continue that voting as they move onto adulthood. 

In a way I think it's even more important for the high schools to have polling places than the college campuses since its an earlier introduction to civics and democracy, and also not everyone will go on to a college campus from there. 

For those that are homeschooled or attend non-public schools, they should also be able to vote so I would lower it all to 16.

16 for voting rights, maybe 17 to go into the military and run for local public office. 

I would also lower the age to serve in Congress to 20.

[Schiff for Senate]

I have a few related to the electoral process and what people are voting for:

1. The House of Representatives should be doubled in size.
2. All state legislatures should be full-time and paid like it.
3. Way too many positions are publicly elected at the state and local levels.

Not sure any of these would garner 60% disapproval if posed directly to the voters. 1 and 3 feel like common sense everyone should be able to get behind, and 2 doesn't seem too controversial either.

-Felons should be able to vote, even while serving their sentence.

The point is that they're being punished and are not yet ready to return as functioning, engaged members of society. As Eisenhower said, a prison has everything except freedom - and truly, that lack of freedoms ought to include the freedom to vote.

-Taxes on the rich should be raised to lower the burden on lower-class families

I think something like this would have 60% support (or higher), not 60% opposition.

Well, this is the politically unpopular views thread for a reason.

And that's fine, but I was enquiring as to your basis for supporting that policy in the first place. We've established it's not popular (although allowing ex-felons to vote certainly is, I'm guessing I'm part of a significant segment who favor voting rights for ex-felons but not current felons).

[Long Live Israel]

Mass deportations will be needed because western countries are increasingly a minority among the world's population. The risk of open borders has been the highest ever (and this will be true every year from now on)

[Ferguson97]

-Gun ownership should be actively promoted among the LGBT community and minorities

This is an excellent idea if your goal is to increase the number of dead LGBT people and minorities.

[TheReckoning]

Giving people testosterone should be illegal. If that de facto eliminates trans men, so be it.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Removing the West Bank settlements built after 1967 would probably be ethnic cleansing, especially given there are now third-generation settlers and it would be unideal for a peace to result in their dislocation. As much as I despise their behavior towards Palestinians, "ethnic cleansing justifies ethnic cleansing" is just a race to the bottom in the Holy Land and not the proper foundation for peace.

[Wiswylfen]

The establishment of a republic, the construction of a planned capital at Winchester, and the replacement of the English language with Late West Saxon.

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Tobacco smoking should be actively promoted for fat people

Why?

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

Here is another

Its morally preferable to forcibly separate a child from a parent who wants to keep the child, putting the child up for adoption than to either let a child be raised by only 1 parent or to force a parent to take care of a child they would rather not have.

[TheReckoning]

Removing the West Bank settlements built after 1967 would probably be ethnic cleansing, especially given there are now third-generation settlers and it would be unideal for a peace to result in their dislocation. As much as I despise their behavior towards Palestinians, "ethnic cleansing justifies ethnic cleansing" is just a race to the bottom in the Holy Land and not the proper foundation for peace.

Would you be open for a consensual population transfer agreement?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Removing the West Bank settlements built after 1967 would probably be ethnic cleansing, especially given there are now third-generation settlers and it would be unideal for a peace to result in their dislocation. As much as I despise their behavior towards Palestinians, "ethnic cleansing justifies ethnic cleansing" is just a race to the bottom in the Holy Land and not the proper foundation for peace.

Would you be open for a consensual population transfer agreement?

As a pragmatist, if both sides were willing to come to a fair understanding and they made such a deal, I'd have to say yes. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, I decry that having bad consequences elsewhere, I'll be damned if I suddenly turned around and let a dogmatic viewpoint sink something that did the greatest good for the greatest number.

[politicallefty]

-Physician assisted suicide should be legal.
-Public housing should be built for the homeless.
-Legalization of prostitution (the Norway system, I guess).
-Religious institutions should be taxed.
-Felons should be able to vote, even while serving their sentence.
-Sanctuary city policies should be mandatory everywhere.

How many of these are actually politically unpopular, especially the first? I do think it's interesting how the issue of assisted suicide has dropped off political thought in recent years.

[ProgressiveModerate]

1. You should be able to buy Alcoholic beverages and certain light drugs at 13, but the amount you can buy is tied to your age. For instance, at age 13 you can buy beverages up to 2% ABV, 14 it's 3%, 15 it's 5% ect, ect. The actual quantity of beverages one can buy is also capped. I think prohibiting alcohol until 21 makes young people more curious and more likely to do stupid things; a slow introduction in the teenage years seems appropriate.

2. There should be less restrictions when it comes to people building and modifying their homes. I want homes to be reflective of the people who live in them and not some infinite suburbia where every single home looks the same to achieve a vibe.

3. More serious enforcement mechanisms in place to prevent minors accessing pornography. There's a lot of studies that show it can really mess up young people's view of sex, and the current systems just make the user check a box confirming they're 18. Honestly, this applies to other things outside pornography when it comes to technology - perhaps phones and computers used by people under 18 could be loaded with some sort of different software that literally makes it impossible to access certain things.

4. Stupidity and ignorance need to be more frowned upon and have legitimate social consequences. I think part of being a member of society is being a critical and free thinker, so when I see full grown adults baselessly saying the 2020 election was stolen or we must liberate Palestine for LGBTQ rights, it gets me angry that people can just live in a bubble of ignorance, but then actually act and vote on that ignorance leading to real-life consequences for others. I often see those on the far-right use bullying as a way to try and get and keep people on their side (i.e. "you're a loser beta male if you get vaccinated" kind of stuff), and so I think we have to do the same back.

5. Non-sexual nudity in public places should be less restricted, and culturally we should be less weird about seeing others naked. Allow people to sunbathe nude in parks. Allow people to go swimming naked. Allow people to just vibe on the beach. Like as humans, we are meant to be naked, and also a lot of folks are deficient in Vitamin D.

6. Owning a Capybara should be legal in every state. We need more of them in America.

[S019]

I have to imagine my views on foreign policy are quite unpopular among many people. Also my views on drug liberalization and entitlements but that really goes without saying.