# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=250 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 251 --- ## [Where is the line drawn between oppresive cultural norms and taking resposibility for yourself?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-line-drawn-between-oppresive-cultural-norms-and-taking-resposibility-for-yourself/675471)
**Author:** [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [December 7, 2013, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-line-drawn-between-oppresive-cultural-norms-and-taking-resposibility-for-yourself/675471 "2013-12-07T09:44:09Z")
This question keeps coming back to mind again and again but I haven’t really found anything that’s really close to an answer. A lot of my politically engaged friends on Facebook like to post different videos about how wo… --- ## [Why can't I volunteer to get paid below minimum wage?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-volunteer-to-get-paid-below-minimum-wage/675262)
**Author:** [@austerity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/austerity)\ **Replies:** 232\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-volunteer-to-get-paid-below-minimum-wage/675262 "2013-12-06T22:51:38Z")
No one complains that volunteers don’t get paid a living wage. I know I can volunteer to get paid $0/hour for a job at a hospital pushing wheelchairs. But it becomes a crime against labor if I they pay me $0.01/hour sin… --- ## [What effect has the US incarceration rate had on crime?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-has-the-us-incarceration-rate-had-on-crime/675385)
**Author:** [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-has-the-us-incarceration-rate-had-on-crime/675385 "2013-12-06T22:39:45Z")
The crime rate in the U.S. has been falling ever since 1993. I believe things like mandatory minimum sentences started in the early '80s. How strong is the correlation between the two? Thanks, Rob --- ## [Canadian Dopers, Brian Mulroney.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-brian-mulroney/675565)
**Author:** [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-dopers-brian-mulroney/675565 "2013-12-06T20:42:01Z")
As a young lad, I used to enjoy watching BBC World, much to my parents horror and or amusement. When I started, it was 1993 and Canada’s PM was in the news. It seems he was a tad unpopular with the folks up there and he … --- ## [What, if anything, should be done for those who couldn't buy health care?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-should-be-done-for-those-who-couldnt-buy-health-care/675316)
**Author:** [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Replies:** 68\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2013, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-anything-should-be-done-for-those-who-couldnt-buy-health-care/675316 "2013-12-06T06:12:44Z")
November 30 has come and gone. That was the date on which the President promised to have HealthCare.gov working for “the vast majority” of users. (Well, to be precise, the second such date, since he initially told us i… --- ## [How many independent sources do we have of Jesus' life?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-independent-sources-do-we-have-of-jesus-life/674558)
**Author:** [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Replies:** 91\ **Last updated:** [December 6, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-independent-sources-do-we-have-of-jesus-life/674558 "2013-12-06T01:01:17Z")
I want to stress independent. I’m looking for a summary of scholarship, and I hope it doesn’t become a debate. First, I am drawing primarily upon a staff report, Who Wrote the Bible? In many theological discussions, i… --- ## [Polio vaccine as origin of HIV](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polio-vaccine-as-origin-of-hiv/675420)
**Author:** [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/polio-vaccine-as-origin-of-hiv/675420 "2013-12-05T22:51:26Z")
I saw a really interesting documentary the other day that described a theory which posits that polio vaccination trials which were being conducted in Africa may have been the link that transmitted SIV (the simian predece… --- ## [If Spacefligh Was Achieved in Victorian Times?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-spacefligh-was-achieved-in-victorian-times/675537)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [December 5, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-spacefligh-was-achieved-in-victorian-times/675537 "2013-12-05T21:27:41Z")
Would we now be colonizing the Moon, Mars, etc.? Suppose we had been able to launch spaceships without miniaturized electronics…would we have abandoned it by now? --- ## [Combatting Internet Sexism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combatting-internet-sexism/675374)
**Author:** [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combatting-internet-sexism/675374 "2013-12-04T21:48:41Z")
Inspired by this video by Emily Graslie of The Brain Scoop. It’s a six-minute video, but here’s a summary: A viewer asked Ms. Graslie if she had experienced sexism, or parts of her job she didn’t like. She notes that the… --- ## [Do you think there really are large numbers of discouraged workers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-there-really-are-large-numbers-of-discouraged-workers/675212)
**Author:** [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-there-really-are-large-numbers-of-discouraged-workers/675212 "2013-12-04T14:57:52Z")
For the past couple of years, whenever unemployment numbers are released, there is usually some commentary on how the actual numbers of people looking for work is decreasing. They’re the so-called ‘discouraged’ worker wh… --- ## [PISA results](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pisa-results/675364)
**Author:** [@dolwgan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolwgan)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [December 4, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pisa-results/675364 "2013-12-04T01:39:48Z")
OK, this article relates to the UK, but the US is lower down the table than the UK, and I’m not sure whether or where Canada are. What are folks’ views on this kind of pan-global comparison of education? Is it health… --- ## [Novel Pro-Choice Argument?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-pro-choice-argument/672490)
**Author:** [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Replies:** 62\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-pro-choice-argument/672490 "2013-12-03T13:29:40Z")
I hate to rehash this old perennial topic, but I think I might have a new argument for the pro-choice side, and one that might be a little more persuasive to libertarian-ish conservatives. If anything, I haven’t seen thi… --- ## [Proposal: No tax withholding, everyone pays quarterly](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposal-no-tax-withholding-everyone-pays-quarterly/674731)
**Author:** [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Replies:** 77\ **Last updated:** [December 3, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposal-no-tax-withholding-everyone-pays-quarterly/674731 "2013-12-03T02:38:42Z")
just like small businesses. Instead of your employer withholding federal and state income tax, and social security and Medicare taxes, every employee gets a full paycheck. Every quarter, the employee must send quarterl… --- ## [Are Chiropractors bogus?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiropractors-bogus/673653)
**Author:** [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Replies:** 67\ **Last updated:** [December 2, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiropractors-bogus/673653 "2013-12-02T22:49:06Z")
I use to see one, but I don’t anymore. And you know what? I feel the same. So are regular “adjustments” necessary for some people? --- ## [Other universes have different physics?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-universes-have-different-physics/675177)
**Author:** [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [December 2, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-universes-have-different-physics/675177 "2013-12-02T04:38:15Z")
When reading articles about the possibility of different universes, it’s often mentioned that other universes might have different physics than our own. Also, in Stephen Hawking’s miniseries episode on the beginning of t… --- ## [Taking back what the Nazis stole.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-back-what-the-nazis-stole/674786)
**Author:** [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Replies:** 54\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-back-what-the-nazis-stole/674786 "2013-12-01T19:46:39Z")
A lot of things are exclusively identified (by many people) with Hitler and his Nazis, among them are the swastika, the roman salute and the toothbrush mustache. Anyway these things have long histories predating Hitler b… --- ## [Is there some pandemic on the way that is related to the hygiene hypothesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-pandemic-on-the-way-that-is-related-to-the-hygiene-hypothesis/675114)
**Author:** [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-some-pandemic-on-the-way-that-is-related-to-the-hygiene-hypothesis/675114 "2013-12-01T16:36:23Z")
I’ve always thought of myself as a fairly good observer of people and I also enjoy interacting with and talking to them about their problems, life, etc. It seems like more and more people that I speak with either know so… --- ## [British coal mining - what's the legacy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-coal-mining-whats-the-legacy/674709)
**Author:** [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [December 1, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-coal-mining-whats-the-legacy/674709 "2013-12-01T16:27:33Z")
I was curious about how people see the legacy of coal mining in Britain today, especially the 1980s strikes and closures. I don’t know much detail about the topic and (not being a British citizen) I don’t have much emot… --- ## [Pres. Kennedy v. Pres. Johnson.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pres-kennedy-v-pres-johnson/674906)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [November 30, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pres-kennedy-v-pres-johnson/674906 "2013-11-30T16:18:06Z")
With the 50th Anniversary of the tragic death of Pres. John F. Kennedy, people are talking a lot about him and his administration. But I was recently thinking, did Kennedy really accomplish that much in office? The disas… --- ## [The incredible nerve of Walmart](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-incredible-nerve-of-walmart/674220)
**Author:** [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)\ **Replies:** 287\ **Last updated:** [November 29, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-incredible-nerve-of-walmart/674220 "2013-11-29T22:57:12Z")
I’ve read several articles like this oneabout Walmart collecting food donations for employees recently. I don’t shop at Walmart because of their history of poor treatment of their employees. When I read this, it struck… --- ## [What is the point of selling someone cocaine only to immediately bust them for possession?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-selling-someone-cocaine-only-to-immediately-bust-them-for-possession/674377)
**Author:** [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [November 29, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-selling-someone-cocaine-only-to-immediately-bust-them-for-possession/674377 "2013-11-29T17:33:22Z")
Here is a story from today’s New York Times about a man who was sold cocaine by an undercover agent in a sting operation that saw him promptly arrested for possession by other agents (he’s a congressman, actually, but th… --- ## [Vermont uses ACA to launch single-payer health care](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vermont-uses-aca-to-launch-single-payer-health-care/674762)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 272\ **Last updated:** [November 29, 2013, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vermont-uses-aca-to-launch-single-payer-health-care/674762 "2013-11-29T09:10:41Z")
Story here. So, that’s Vermont, Hawaii . . . Just 48 to go! :slight\_smile: The debate is: Will other states follow suit? --- ## [QE3](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qe3/674474)
**Author:** [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [November 29, 2013, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qe3/674474 "2013-11-29T06:28:21Z")
I am not an economist or anything close to it, but I do have some concerns about the QE3 program that seem legitimate even without deep economic expertise. I have two broad concerns, which interrelate with each other. I… --- ## [Statistically, blacks score poorly on IQ and IQ-proxy exams than whites, is black genetics to blame?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistically-blacks-score-poorly-on-iq-and-iq-proxy-exams-than-whites-is-black-genetics-to-blame/594488)
**Author:** [@OscarGold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OscarGold)\ **Replies:** 355\ **Last updated:** [November 29, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statistically-blacks-score-poorly-on-iq-and-iq-proxy-exams-than-whites-is-black-genetics-to-blame/594488 "2013-11-29T05:14:59Z")
^ Consider this story, the operating assumption is that environmental factors are the primary reasons why blacks do poorly on exams (in this case, a firefighter’s exam.) Isn’t it ridiculous that in examining why black… --- ## [Should athletes go easy on a retiring opponent?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-athletes-go-easy-on-a-retiring-opponent/674026)
**Author:** [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Replies:** 43\ **Last updated:** [November 29, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-athletes-go-easy-on-a-retiring-opponent/674026 "2013-11-29T03:22:11Z")
Sachin Tendulkar, much beloved and record-setting cricketer, recently played his last match (probably). It was hoped that he’d be able to make yet another century (scoring 100 runs/“points” for his team) to cap off his c… --- ## [No WW1 or WW2](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-ww1-or-ww2/674853)
**Author:** [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [November 28, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-ww1-or-ww2/674853 "2013-11-28T21:25:09Z")
If both of the world wars hadn’t happened, how different would the world be now? Would America still take over Europe economically? How about the UN, would it have been created or would there have seemed like no good rea… --- ## [Is blackface really offensive?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackface-really-offensive/673304)
**Author:** [@Astrid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astrid)\ **Replies:** 79\ **Last updated:** [November 28, 2013, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blackface-really-offensive/673304 "2013-11-28T09:45:10Z")
A friend of mine is getting some flak for using brownface to dress up as Pi to his wife’s Richard Parker. Is black/brownface inherently offensive if the costume itself isn’t a rude racial caricature? What makes it non of… --- ## [Google & Bing make searching for kiddy diddling harder - will it make any difference?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-bing-make-searching-for-kiddy-diddling-harder-will-it-make-any-difference/674175)
**Author:** [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Replies:** 28\ **Last updated:** [November 27, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-bing-make-searching-for-kiddy-diddling-harder-will-it-make-any-difference/674175 "2013-11-27T02:09:43Z")
These two search giants accounting for 95% of search traffic on the internet have agreed to tighten up their algorithms on searching for paedo material. "Google communications director Peter Barron said the changes, whi… --- ## [Were people in the mid-late 19th century as interested in Napoleon as modern society is with Hitler?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-people-in-the-mid-late-19th-century-as-interested-in-napoleon-as-modern-society-is-with-hitler/674791)
**Author:** [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [November 27, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-people-in-the-mid-late-19th-century-as-interested-in-napoleon-as-modern-society-is-with-hitler/674791 "2013-11-27T01:42:29Z")
Nearly 70 years after the shooting stopped in World War II, we (as the English-speaking world, at least) are still very interested in the war itself, as well as its now gold-standard bad guys, The Nazis feat. Adolf Hitle… --- ## [Had JFK lived, would he have been re-elected in 1964?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-jfk-lived-would-he-have-been-re-elected-in-1964/674524)
**Author:** [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Replies:** 49\ **Last updated:** [November 26, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/had-jfk-lived-would-he-have-been-re-elected-in-1964/674524 "2013-11-26T20:53:32Z")
He had leadership-cred to burn after the Cuban Missile Crisis. OTOH, there was already a lot of hate and backlash against him just for his cautious sympathizing with the Civil Rights movement, and JFK had not the Souther… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=249) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=251)