Controversial Opinions (For Everything Other Than DC Comics)

[C_Miller]

There are smart people who did not graduate from college.



Neither George Washington nor Abraham Lincoln went to college and both of them became the greatest presidents in American history.

Education back then was built around apprenticeships and practical learning with classroom learning only being available to the super wealthy (which Washington was a part of, so it's likely he was very learned. I have spent a lot of time studying the History of Education and to compare what someone went through in the 18th and 19th Centuries to today is intellectually dishonest. Washington became President because there was no one else that could be. After the war, he was by far the most popular individual person in the country. And seeing as one of the primary roles of the President is Commander in Chief, Washington was a uniquely qualified as he was the leader of the Colonial Army.

No one is saying that you can't be intelligent without college. It sort of feels like you're trying to quell a personal anxiety, but there's no reason to. The most successful person financially in my family is not college educated. However, for better or worse, college is a stepping stone on the path to many other jobs, political office being one of them.

[Surf]

All the while 90% of us black folks are tight,

not really, most black people are forced to work together because of institutional racism. Black people AREN'T as monolithic and tight, as pop-culture would have you think. We reluctantly work together out of necessity. I would also argue black people from the southeast rarely takes up the same causes as black folks from the north or the west. Unless they have no choice.

No. I didn't mean 'tight' as in closeness or fellowship. Tight like a spring, like in a watch. Guarded, a general heightened awareness in many situations other people think little to nothing about. I agree and it should be a given that a monolithic approach is silly but I disagree there is a reluctance in generally working together. Proximity is a huge factor co-habitation among us. I've got cousins in Atlanta that have never worked or gone to school with but maybe a handful of white folks their entire lives. Where as me, 7/10 of any rando situation I'm the only brotha in the spot. Is what it is but also due to the historical precedent in much of the South, black folks tend more to cope rather than thrive like in Atlanta... which is actually kind of glaring that it operates as a type of oasis as it has for this long.

Quite frankly, most of the people who claim to be fighting for justice and equality are really just seeking to have the privileges enjoyed by white men extended to whatever demographic they happen to belong to. A part of this is because the ruling classes have perfected the divide and rule strategy that keeps various minority groups at each other's throats most of the time, but for the most part it just comes down to the fact that people of color are just as hierarchical and status-obsessed as anyone else, and so while it drives us mad that someone else ranks above us on the socioeconomic totem pole, we have no problem ignoring the plight of people we consider below us. And really, I don't really see a way to square this circle. Calling for different groups of people with diametrically opposed interests to unite in the name of intersectionality is unrealistic and makes everyone look foolish when we can't set aside our own prejudices for long enough to come up with a coherent platform.

Capitalism says "yea what's the problem here?" Privlages extended by and to white men can wildly vary and not all of those things are attractive to other non-white Americans.

Also I don't think it's a binary choice any more for the white folks as it goes for African-Americans. Again an instance of the poles being confused for the feelings of the mean. Not all of us are interested in being blinged out and even if you are some, a likely very small number agreed, can make attempts to see what that can for the less fortunate, on some level. Personal socioeconomic rankings have levels to them too and they probably are a bit more evenly spread amongst African-American's and white folks than people would tend to give credence to. Age and greed play major parts of that totem pole too, race is probably only third or 4th billing in that hierarchy.

[Dalak]

A Meme, but it boils down my opinion about the popular conservative response to socialism:

[Madam-Shogun-Assassin]

Quite frankly, most of the people who claim to be fighting for justice and equality are really just seeking to have the privileges enjoyed by white men extended to whatever demographic they happen to belong to. A part of this is because the ruling classes have perfected the divide and rule strategy that keeps various minority groups at each other's throats most of the time, but for the most part it just comes down to the fact that people of color are just as hierarchical and status-obsessed as anyone else, and so while it drives us mad that someone else ranks above us on the socioeconomic totem pole, we have no problem ignoring the plight of people we consider below us. And really, I don't really see a way to square this circle. Calling for different groups of people with diametrically opposed interests to unite in the name of intersectionality is unrealistic and makes everyone look foolish when we can't set aside our own prejudices for long enough to come up with a coherent platform.

I think this REALLY applies to certain toxic forms of feminism too.

Speaking of intersectionality, I think pan-africanism is a pipedream too. As it appears that immigrants benefit more from it than African Americans.

[PwrdOn]

I think this REALLY applies to certain toxic forms of feminism too.

Speaking of intersectionality, I think pan-africanism is a pipedream too. As it appears that immigrants benefit more from it than African Americans.

As far as I can tell, pan-whatever movements usually tend to be little more than a cynical ploy for a small group to co-opt more people into the movement to add weight of numbers and credibility to their cause, while rarely listening to the needs and interests of the people who they are trying to include.

[wjowski]

Putting aside politics...if the plane crash that killed Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper had never happened nobody'd give crap about Elvis.

[C_Miller]

Putting aside politics...if the plane crash that killed Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper had never happened nobody'd give crap about Elvis.

This issue with that opinion though is that Elvis was a very big deal before 1959. A lot of what Elvis is remembered for happened before he went into the army which was a year before Buddy Holly was killed. At least in terms of his place in rock and roll. By the time he was back to making media, he was focusing on making movies and the British Invasion was about to take place. Buddy Holly certainly would have had a longer career, but I even wonder if he would have been as well regarded had he not died.

[The Darknight Detective]

This issue with that opinion though is that Elvis was a very big deal before 1959. A lot of what Elvis is remembered for happened before he went into the army which was a year before Buddy Holly was killed. At least in terms of his place in rock and roll. By the time he was back to making media, he was focusing on making movies and the British Invasion was about to take place. Buddy Holly certainly would have had a longer career, but I even wonder if he would have been as well regarded had he not died.

Basically, yeah.

Before 1959, Elvis was, without a doubt, not just the biggest name in rock 'n' roll (he was already being referred to as the King), but the biggest name in music. It's arguable if any single individual has ever dominated the charts like he did during the '50s - pop, country, and even rhythm and blues (racists of the time hated the fact he was getting African-American girls crazy like the white ones, too). That he was also a top-ten box office star made him the #1 entertainer of that era.

Would he have been less popular today had he not died young in '77? Maybe, but it's like saying musical giants Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong would have had a bigger cultural impact had they died 20 years after their starts. If he had lived to be an old man, Elvis would still be talked about now, just like he will decades or even centuries after we're all gone.

[KC]

Comic Book shops are closing and I think that is a good thing. The current "Direct Market" system for comics is a blight on the industry that is slowly killing it. Digital Comics is the future of the industry and the industry should start to move in a direction that would eventually eliminate the floppy.

[Darkseid Is]

I realized I'm not a republican or a conservative. I just hate the left.

[jetengine]

I realized I'm not a republican or a conservative. I just hate the left.

.......why ?

[PwrdOn]

I realized I'm not a republican or a conservative. I just hate the left.

The thing is, the conception of "the left" that you and countless other internet edgelords have in your minds, that of a bunch of idly wealthy 20-30 somethings sitting around drinking overpriced coffee and discussing the finer aspects of genderqueer theory while snidely dismissing anyone who isn't woke or cool enough to be part of their circle, doesn't really exist at all. It's just a mishmash of various marketing cliches meant to sell people on an aspirational lifestyle and use that emotional appeal to push various products. In the real world, it's exceedingly rare to find anyone who is young enough to be hip and trendy, rich enough to not have to worry about money, and yet not so overburdened by work to have the time to enjoy that lifestyle, usually at least one of those three components is missing.

[williamtheday]

Basically, yeah.

Before 1959, Elvis was, without a doubt, not just the biggest name in rock 'n' roll (he was already being referred to as the King), but the biggest name in music. It's arguable if any single individual has ever dominated the charts like he did during the '50s - pop, country, and even rhythm and blues (racists of the time hated the fact he was getting African-American girls crazy like the white ones, too). That he was also a top-ten box office star made him the #1 entertainer of that era.

Would he have been less popular today had he not died young in '77? Maybe, but it's like saying musical giants Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong would have had a bigger cultural impact had they died 20 years after their starts. If he had lived to be an old man, Elvis would still be talked about now, just like he will decades or even centuries after we're all gone.

I wonder what Elvis is doing nowadays...he must be at least 90.

[Gray Lensman]

On more of an entertainment note, I believe that the worst boyfriend in anime (outside of outright villains) is Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon. The way the guy pops in at that exact moment every fight can only happen if he is watching her get her butt kicked for several minutes every episode, and he chooses to appear by planting a rose in the sidewalk instead of someplace useful like the Monster of the Week's forehead. He just comes across to me as an abuser is waiting when I have any time to think about it.

[GOLGO 13]

Comic Book shops are closing and I think that is a good thing. The current "Direct Market" system for comics is a blight on the industry that is slowly killing it. Digital Comics is the future of the industry and the industry should start to move in a direction that would eventually eliminate the floppy.

I don't know exactly when my last LCS closed. Only when the sign was finally taken down did I know for certain. I hadn't been in the store for over 2 years. I felt...nothing.

Basically, yeah.

Before 1959, Elvis was, without a doubt, not just the biggest name in rock 'n' roll (he was already being referred to as the King), but the biggest name in music. It's arguable if any single individual has ever dominated the charts like he did during the '50s - pop, country, and even rhythm and blues (racists of the time hated the fact he was getting African-American girls crazy like the white ones, too). That he was also a top-ten box office star made him the #1 entertainer of that era.

Would he have been less popular today had he not died young in '77? Maybe, but it's like saying musical giants Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong would have had a bigger cultural impact had they died 20 years after their starts. If he had lived to be an old man, Elvis would still be talked about now, just like he will decades or even centuries after we're all gone.

Elvis was many things. He was a soul-full singer, a snappy dancer, a pharmaceutical pioneer but he was the KING.