Controversial Opinions (For Everything Other Than DC Comics)

[Tuck]

The concept of meritocracy and what's actually been put into practice are different things. It'll probably never completely happen anywhere, but it's a good thing to strive for.

Why is judging a person's worth by their usefulness to us better than judging a person's worth by, for example, their attractiveness to us?

They're both somewhat innate, can be improved upon through work, and socially relative.

[TriggerWarning]

For a change of topic the two most important rock bands to come out of the 1960's were Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and not the Beatles. Pop music would have ended up in much the same place with or without the Beatles but Sabbath pretty much invented the heavy metal genre and Zeppelin popularized heavy guitar driven rock. They basically created new genres. Sure there were bands like Cream who predated them and had some heavy guitar sounds in some of their songs but Sabbath and Zeppelin are the ones who really popularized it and drove others to follow.

[ed2962]

For a change of topic the two most important rock bands to come out of the 1960's were Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and not the Beatles. Pop music would have ended up in much the same place with or without the Beatles but Sabbath pretty much invented the heavy metal genre and Zeppelin popularized heavy guitar driven rock. They basically created new genres. Sure there were bands like Cream who predated them and had some heavy guitar sounds in some of their songs but Sabbath and Zeppelin are the ones who really popularized it and drove others to follow.

Interesting! I want to respond, but I have to get back to work. I'll be back later.

[ZombieHavoc]

For a change of topic the two most important rock bands to come out of the 1960's were Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and not the Beatles. Pop music would have ended up in much the same place with or without the Beatles but Sabbath pretty much invented the heavy metal genre and Zeppelin popularized heavy guitar driven rock. They basically created new genres. Sure there were bands like Cream who predated them and had some heavy guitar sounds in some of their songs but Sabbath and Zeppelin are the ones who really popularized it and drove others to follow.

Yeah but I bet you Ozzy will tell you without the Beatles, there is no Sabbath.

Although, I do kind of agree with you, except I would say Sabbath and The Who were the two most important.

And The Creation, to round out the three, but I guess they aren't as big.

[numberthirty]

Yeah but I bet you Ozzy will tell you without the Beatles, there is no Sabbath.

Although, I do kind of agree with you, except I would say Sabbath and The Who were the two most important.

And The Creation, to round out the three, but I guess they aren't as big.

I can guarantee that.

Never mind that you don't have the mid-period Sabbath Mellotron tapes without the Beatles bringing the Mellotron to greater acclaim during their career. Same goes for Led Zeppelin's use of the Mellotron.

As for "Important", I always wind up thinking that The Kinks are probably more important than The Beatles. Not as groundbreaking, but probably more important. Same sort of argument could be made for The Byrds.

[GozertheGozarian]

For a change of topic the two most important rock bands to come out of the 1960's were Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and not the Beatles. Pop music would have ended up in much the same place with or without the Beatles but Sabbath pretty much invented the heavy metal genre and Zeppelin popularized heavy guitar driven rock. They basically created new genres. Sure there were bands like Cream who predated them and had some heavy guitar sounds in some of their songs but Sabbath and Zeppelin are the ones who really popularized it and drove others to follow.

Born to be Wild is the genesis of hard/heavy rock. When the song caught on, so did the genre.

[ed2962]

For a change of topic the two most important rock bands to come out of the 1960's were Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and not the Beatles. Pop music would have ended up in much the same place with or without the Beatles but Sabbath pretty much invented the heavy metal genre and Zeppelin popularized heavy guitar driven rock. They basically created new genres. Sure there were bands like Cream who predated them and had some heavy guitar sounds in some of their songs but Sabbath and Zeppelin are the ones who really popularized it and drove others to follow.

Ok, I guess I don't disagree much, but I would argue that the Beatles heavily influenced pop music in their time and for some years after. There's the obvious thing of the commercial trend they set when the were mop-tops, but post Revolver they influenced the way people thought about sound and the way people made albums and that includes people who played different genres of music. I agree that Zep and Black Sabbath pretty much built the Highway for what we think of as Metal today, but you needed The Yardbirds, Creem, and Blue Cheer ( and The Who) clear the path somewhat.

[ed2962]

I can guarantee that.

Never mind that you don't have the mid-period Sabbath Mellotron tapes without the Beatles bringing the Mellotron to greater acclaim during their career. Same goes for Led Zeppelin's use of the Mellotron.

As for "Important", I always wind up thinking that The Kinks are probably more important than The Beatles. Not as groundbreaking, but probably more important. Same sort of argument could be made for The Byrds.

I don't know I'd say they were more important but I would agree that get overlooked these days.

[Emperor-of-Dragons]

There's 3 groups of people when it comes to the military:

They're murderers of black and brown people overseas!

V.S

Don't blame them!!, They're just Desperate poor people that was conned into joining the military with promises of free health care and college. So don't blame them!

V.S.

The America Fuck YEAH! Crowd. Basically my country right or wrong types.

U.S. military service (and foreign policy in general) is a muddy grey area. That's explosively divisive, ever since Vietnam

[ed2962]

There's 3 groups of people when it comes to the military:

They're murderers of black and brown people overseas!

V.S

Don't blame them!!, They're just Desperate poor people that was conned into joining the military with promises of free health care and college. So don't blame them!

V.S.

The America Fuck YEAH! Crowd. Basically my country right or wrong types.

U.S. military service (and foreign policy in general) is a muddy grey area. That's explosively divisive, ever since Vietnam

Wow. That's actually kind of insulting. You know, there are people who join the military for reasons other than being poor, dumb, or mean.

[Madam-Shogun-Assassin]

There's 3 groups of people when it comes to the military:

They're murderers of black and brown people overseas!

V.S

Don't blame them!!, They're just Desperate poor people that was conned into joining the military with promises of free health care and college. So don't blame them!

V.S.

The America Fuck YEAH! Crowd. Basically my country right or wrong types.

U.S. military service (and foreign policy in general) is a muddy grey area. That's explosively divisive, ever since Vietnam

Yeah it started with Vietnam when people actually started questioning things. Don't necessarily agree with how some service members were treated by the public tho. War is a dirty business unfortunately.

[Emperor-of-Dragons]

Wow. That's actually kind of insulting. You know, there are people who join the military for reasons other than being poor, dumb, or mean.

I was highlighting the debates I see on social media between 3 different groups regarding the military.

[PwrdOn]

I was highlighting the debates I see on social media between 3 different groups regarding the military.

For me at least, while I will always respect and support the troops on the ground, it's impossible not to pick up on the fact that within living memory they are pretty much always fighting offensive wars against severely overmatched opponents, so the question is not whether or not they can win but whether they can do it without killing thousands of civilians in the process. And it's pretty clear that these wars have nothing to do promoting democracy and freedom and everything to do with protecting American corporate interests. It's very hard to think of a future where we'd look back on the history of American military adventures and conclude that we were in fact the good guys throughout all of this.

[Madam-Shogun-Assassin]

It's very hard to think of a future where we'd look back on the history of American military adventures and conclude that we were in fact the good guys throughout all of this.

History will spin it that way though. At least American history will. American history that is taught is basically just propaganda, and probably not very objective/academic. To this day we still have bitter debates over the founding fathers, the civil war, Lincoln, reconstruction, the war on drugs etc etc etc...

[CaptCleghorn]

History will spin it that way though. At least American history will. American history that is taught is basically just propaganda, and probably not very objective/academic. To this day we still have bitter debates over the founding fathers, the civil war, Lincoln, reconstruction, the war on drugs etc etc etc...

I believe America will have a varied label in parts of its history regarding whether or not it's a good guy or a bad guy. Just looking at the last half century, we've seen considerable shifts in judgment on many parts of history. There will, of course, be some resume padding by the winners, but there will also be a recognition of flaws and mistakes.