# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=200 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 201 --- ## [What level of technology would we be at without WW2/Cold War](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-level-of-technology-would-we-be-at-without-ww2-cold-war/716332)
**Author:** [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 2, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-level-of-technology-would-we-be-at-without-ww2-cold-war/716332 "2015-04-02T18:03:06Z")
The foundations of the Internet, the jet age and nuclear weapons are a direct result of the military funding during WW2 and the Cold War, which lead me to think, if these two conflicts didn’t happen, and without the impe… --- ## [Abolish student loans](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-student-loans/715091)
**Author:** [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Replies:** 138\ **Last updated:** [April 2, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abolish-student-loans/715091 "2015-04-02T17:57:45Z")
Student loans ruin a lot of lives every year. Not only that, but they also cause colleges to waste money on ridiculous things and jack up salaries far above where they should be, because they know they will always have … --- ## [Is secession still worth opposing with armed force today?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-secession-still-worth-opposing-with-armed-force-today/715773)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [April 2, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-secession-still-worth-opposing-with-armed-force-today/715773 "2015-04-02T00:40:16Z")
In the 1800s, sure, secession was worth the Union going to war over, but in modern 21st century American society, if one or many states attempt to secede - legally or illegally - would or should the federal government j… --- ## [Killer Whales are a type of Dolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whales-are-a-type-of-dolphin/715564)
**Author:** [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-whales-are-a-type-of-dolphin/715564 "2015-04-01T17:15:02Z")
Over in this thread about Heinlein, a weird discussion broke out about dolphins. Granted, it’s a random hodgepodge of a thread wandering around the topic rather wildly. Nevertheless, the dolphin discussion seems just a… --- ## [Which Is Better Suited Regionally: Iran or Turkey?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-suited-regionally-iran-or-turkey/716454)
**Author:** [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2015, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-suited-regionally-iran-or-turkey/716454 "2015-04-01T09:27:21Z")
Between these two neighbors which country is better off in the region? 1)In terms of military.? 2)Diplomacy, and by that I mean alliances and influence? 3) Economically, short term and long term? I’ll give my take on… --- ## [Is the Social Justice Movement Racist? (Content note: Mentions of rape)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-social-justice-movement-racist-content-note-mentions-of-rape/716055)
**Author:** [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)\ **Replies:** 105\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2015, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-social-justice-movement-racist-content-note-mentions-of-rape/716055 "2015-04-01T07:51:19Z")
Is the Social Justice (SJ) movement racist? Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m trying to puzzle it out. My gut instinct tells me that, yes, the SJ movement is racist. However, I need to qualify what I mean by ‘racist’. I d… --- ## [Russia after Putin?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-after-putin/711976)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 34\ **Last updated:** [March 31, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-after-putin/711976 "2015-03-31T18:02:17Z")
Vladimir Putin has created a system where the President and/or Prime Minister of Russia has vast and arbitrary power and authority, can even appoint all the provincial governors. The old Soviet leaders based their power… --- ## [Special needs student can't wear varsity letter jacket.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170)
**Author:** [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Replies:** 304\ **Last updated:** [March 31, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-needs-student-cant-wear-varsity-letter-jacket/716170 "2015-03-31T02:55:39Z")
Resolved: That any student should be allowed to wear varsity letter jackets. Story here. A special needs student has been told by his school that he is not allowed to wear the letter jacket that his mother purchased fo… --- ## [Will we have pilotless commercial airliners soon?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-have-pilotless-commercial-airliners-soon/713607)
**Author:** [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Replies:** 57\ **Last updated:** [March 31, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-we-have-pilotless-commercial-airliners-soon/713607 "2015-03-31T01:27:14Z")
Say within 10 or 15 years? I am not a pilot and don’t know what kinds of things that they deal with that might be too difficult to program a computer to do. They can certainly take off, fly and land autonomously right … --- ## [Saving an animal's life vs. saving a human's life](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-an-animals-life-vs-saving-a-humans-life/715520)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 72\ **Last updated:** [March 30, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-an-animals-life-vs-saving-a-humans-life/715520 "2015-03-30T20:47:21Z")
Are there situations in which you think society should prioritize saving an animal’s life over saving a human’s life, assuming that it’s an either-or situation and that the saving of one must result in the death of the o… --- ## [What has the UN accomplished?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-un-accomplished/715974)
**Author:** [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Replies:** 56\ **Last updated:** [March 30, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-un-accomplished/715974 "2015-03-30T16:28:03Z")
I’m active on another messageboard where there’s a fellow who, whenever it comes up, declares that the UN is useless and has never accomplished anything. I’m not cynical enough to agree with him, but the first Google res… --- ## [A Modest Proposal: Absenteeism In The Public Schools](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-proposal-absenteeism-in-the-public-schools/716210)
**Author:** [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [March 29, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-modest-proposal-absenteeism-in-the-public-schools/716210 "2015-03-29T22:27:29Z")
As it is now, most places, schooling one’s children is mandatory. Kids need an education. If you have kids, you must either send them to public school, or furnish proof that you’re either sending them to private school o… --- ## [Are feedback systems superior to government regulation?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-feedback-systems-superior-to-government-regulation/716189)
**Author:** [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [March 29, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-feedback-systems-superior-to-government-regulation/716189 "2015-03-29T19:49:32Z")
For those who don’t know what I’m referring to, feedback systems are what many internet businesses use to insure that people don’t get ripped off. I first encountered it on Ebay and was struck by how foolproof it seems. … --- ## [\[British\] Unionists putting the \[British\] Union at risk](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-unionists-putting-the-british-union-at-risk/715886)
**Author:** [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Replies:** 57\ **Last updated:** [March 29, 2015, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-unionists-putting-the-british-union-at-risk/715886 "2015-03-29T10:59:18Z")
This article demonstrates how a strong unionist approach is highly likely to result in Independence. Initially it outlines a devomax approach for all four home countries in a fully federal structure, but then suggests… --- ## [No, Virginia (and the rest of you states), the media is not all that 'liberal'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-virginia-and-the-rest-of-you-states-the-media-is-not-all-that-liberal/715672)
**Author:** [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [March 28, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-virginia-and-the-rest-of-you-states-the-media-is-not-all-that-liberal/715672 "2015-03-28T17:52:20Z")
Doing a favor for Septimus. Per request, some content: I noticed, back when I was still watching ABC’s\* This Week\* (that’s the USA ABC, not the one in Oz) that this show, on a non-Fox “lamestream liberal media” channe… --- ## [Israel accused of spying on nuke talks and passing the info to US Congress.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-accused-of-spying-on-nuke-talks-and-passing-the-info-to-us-congress/715865)
**Author:** [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Replies:** 90\ **Last updated:** [March 28, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-accused-of-spying-on-nuke-talks-and-passing-the-info-to-us-congress/715865 "2015-03-28T00:04:31Z")
Apparently the original source of this is the WSJ, but their article is behind a pay-wall so all I have is a secondhand account from The Guardian. It’s no surprise that Israel spies; everyone spies. What’s troublesome… --- ## [The Wolf and The Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wolf-and-the-rabbit/715992)
**Author:** [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [March 26, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wolf-and-the-rabbit/715992 "2015-03-26T20:42:35Z")
Nature is Brutal. Think of the Wolf and the Rabbit. For every predator to live they must kill in order to live. Being eaten by a Wolf is obviously a very painful and frightening death for the Rabbit. That is the natural … --- ## [Photoshop and child porn](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-and-child-porn/431364)
**Author:** [@D\_White](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_White)\ **Replies:** 70\ **Last updated:** [March 26, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photoshop-and-child-porn/431364 "2015-03-26T01:18:00Z")
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/235213.html A former Elementary School principal was arrested on child pornography charges in Florida. It seems what he was basically doing was photoshopping the faces of chil… --- ## [Could an infectious disease (or diseases) wipe out the human race](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-an-infectious-disease-or-diseases-wipe-out-the-human-race/715819)
**Author:** [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-an-infectious-disease-or-diseases-wipe-out-the-human-race/715819 "2015-03-25T21:21:19Z")
I know that the Indians were wiped out (mostly) by a multitude of diseases hitting them at once which they had no immunity towards. Smallpox, plague, measles and probably various other diseases. I don’t recall what % die… --- ## [British America, 1833: Does the South rebel when slavery is abolished?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-america-1833-does-the-south-rebel-when-slavery-is-abolished/715770)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 26\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-america-1833-does-the-south-rebel-when-slavery-is-abolished/715770 "2015-03-25T19:42:55Z")
Slavery was, I believe, the necessary but not sufficient precondition for the American Civil War. Lincoln and the Republican Party had pledged to stop the spread of slavery to the Federal territories; Lincoln’s electi… --- ## [Is the administration playing politics with federal money?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-administration-playing-politics-with-federal-money/711185)
**Author:** [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Replies:** 52\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-administration-playing-politics-with-federal-money/711185 "2015-03-25T16:31:09Z")
Brookings isn’t exactly part of the right-wing conspiracy, neither is Reuters. I’ve got mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it’s more of the same old-school political crap from a guy who promised us change. He’ll … --- ## [Is the decline of violence beginning to wane?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-decline-of-violence-beginning-to-wane/715765)
**Author:** [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2015, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-decline-of-violence-beginning-to-wane/715765 "2015-03-25T08:35:52Z")
Steven Pinker’s “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined” puts forward the idea that the world’s violence has been dwindling for some time. The author does not claim this trend will last indefinitely. … --- ## [Does anyone oppose big money in politics?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-oppose-big-money-in-politics/715693)
**Author:** [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Replies:** 50\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-oppose-big-money-in-politics/715693 "2015-03-25T02:55:34Z")
Over here, a doper trotted out the claim that “corporations and their owners” support the Republican Party with big money donations. In fact, corporations support both the Democratic and Republican parties with big mone… --- ## [Is Hierarcy a natural Human condition?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hierarcy-a-natural-human-condition/715226)
**Author:** [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Replies:** 56\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hierarcy-a-natural-human-condition/715226 "2015-03-25T01:13:11Z")
In the animal kingdom, it has been stated that the main organisational principle is mutualism, where cooperation is complimentary towards each other, rather than competitive. If this is the case, what lessons can be draw… --- ## [Oldest living human pt2](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human-pt2/715813)
**Author:** [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [March 24, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-living-human-pt2/715813 "2015-03-24T17:31:01Z")
How can wikipedian claim that Leandra Becerra Lumbreras was the unverified oldest living person when she only purportedly lived to 127 when there are people in the bible who purportedly lived for hundreds of years? --- ## [Fear of Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-of-death/715268)
**Author:** [@MorphinePoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MorphinePoet)\ **Replies:** 38\ **Last updated:** [March 24, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fear-of-death/715268 "2015-03-24T14:59:08Z")
I’ve had what I consider to be exceptionally bad luck with death. So far, in the last eight years alone, I’ve lost my mother, sister, grandmother, uncle, three best friends and two friends. Whenever the phone rings and i… --- ## [Mandatory Voting.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-voting/640189)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 208\ **Last updated:** [March 23, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mandatory-voting/640189 "2015-03-23T19:37:32Z")
Should voting be madatory in the US? I certainly think so. Jury duty is madatory. The draft is madatory. If you’re the witness in a criminal matter, testifying can be madatory. Is voting any less important than these? (Q… --- ## [Islamic State publishes Military Officer's Reidential location and advocates revenge killings.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islamic-state-publishes-military-officers-reidential-location-and-advocates-revenge-killings/715683)
**Author:** [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Replies:** 105\ **Last updated:** [March 23, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islamic-state-publishes-military-officers-reidential-location-and-advocates-revenge-killings/715683 "2015-03-23T16:44:45Z")
Aside from the question of “us and them” how does this differ from ill guided drone attacks in Afghanistan. What is the appropriate reaction when ISIL explode a bomb under a military family christening or marriage. Can… --- ## [Belgium bans short jail sentences](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-bans-short-jail-sentences/715513)
**Author:** [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [March 22, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-bans-short-jail-sentences/715513 "2015-03-22T21:17:04Z")
At last a Government following peer reviewed criminological research that short jail sentences do not work, and in fact may increase recidivism. Do we think other jurisdictions might follow this outbreak of common sense… --- ## [Russia and the rule of law](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-and-the-rule-of-law/715084)
**Author:** [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-and-the-rule-of-law/715084 "2015-03-21T22:05:49Z")
Russia is a fascinating country, historically, culturally and politically. As has been said, it’s a riddle, wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma. It’s generally for the past few centuries been considered a European … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=199) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=201)