# This meme says the opposite of what you think. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 7, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588 "2020-02-07T15:20:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/1 "2020-02-07T15:20:06Z")
I guess this thread is about memes that seem to mean the opposite of what the person sharing them think they mean. I came across this one that was posted by a Trumper [minor spelling corrections, and removal of hashtag]: > [@](#): > > I am sick of hearing how we have no money for such things as a cost of living raise for our seniors or money to help our homeless while we continue to see billions of dollars sent yearly to countries who hate us… I say let them hate us for free… It’s time we put America First. > The Voice of the People > “Like” and “Share” if you agree. It seems to me that most of the money that goes to ‘countries that hate us’ tends to support our military-industrial complex and petroleum industry. Not to minimise the strategic importance of pouring money into certain countries and regions, but a lot of money is being made by weapons manufacturers and oil companies. Isn’t that Capitalism? And isn’t helping our seniors and homeless (and veterans, and others) Socialism? No doubt people will say that memes like this don’t mean what I don’t think they mean. That’s why it’s in IMHO. But I do see a lot of Trump supporters complaining that the government isn’t giving them enough money. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/2 "2020-02-07T15:21:21Z")
You keep posting that meme. I do not think it means what you think it means. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/3 "2020-02-07T16:26:29Z")
My favorite in this category is the frequent rant complaining about Social Security being called an “entitlement.” This seems to cause a lot of umbrage. When in fact, Social Security is by definition an entitlement, that being a legal term for the sort of government program that it is. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/4 "2020-02-07T16:57:29Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > My favorite in this category is the frequent rant complaining about Social Security being called an “entitlement.” This seems to cause a lot of umbrage. When in fact, Social Security is by definition an entitlement, that being a legal term for the sort of government program that it is. Yeah, that one annoys me. From the [US Senate webpages](https://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/entitlement.htm): > [@](#): > > entitlement - A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans’ compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/5 "2020-02-07T17:37:09Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > You keep posting that meme. I do not think it means what you think it means. didn’t you say that in a movie once?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/6 "2020-02-07T18:28:40Z")
Not sure if this fits the OP’s criteria, but a few years ago there was a gun-control activist holding up a sign: [“In the USA it is illegal to hunt geese with more than 3 shells in a shotgun. It is also illegal to hunt migratory birds with a machine gun. Geese have more protection under US law than schoolchildren. NeverAgain”](https://www.reddit.com/r/shitguncontrollerssay/comments/8a71f4/geese_have_more_protection_than_schoolchildren/) He didn’t seem to grasp that it is illegal to hunt schoolchildren with \*\*\*any \*\*\*firearm. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/7 "2020-02-07T18:34:04Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > You keep posting that meme. I do not think it means what you think it means. This post made my day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/8 "2020-02-07T18:37:36Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > He didn’t seem to grasp that it is illegal to hunt schoolchildren with \*\*\*any \*\*\*firearm. Can you use arrows/bolts? Or are you limited to clubs? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/9 "2020-02-07T21:25:28Z")
DANG GUMMINT Keep Yer Hands Off My MEDICARE ! ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/10 "2020-02-07T21:35:11Z")
Social Security and Medicare are entitlements for those eligible. Eligibility usually means having paid into the system. Killing such programs steals what I’ve paid, so DON’T DO IT. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Can you use arrows/bolts? Or are you limited to clubs? Don’t dare to kill-em with kindness. Newly-mandated school lunches should do the trick. For a self-defeating meme, try **Make America Great Again**. If the US isn’t great now, what’s greater? China? That’s a nice stable republic with no pretense of any crap like “democracy.” Since America isn’t great now, China is the obvious model. But how many MAGA hat wearers have moved to that ideological paradise where the hats are made? And for the US to match Chinese greatness, we need our own viral pandemic. Sure, the “Spanish” flu may have started in Kansas. But let’s have Dakota Dick-Rot! Or Delaware Dick-Rot, blamed on the Bidens. Make Americans the great disease vectors! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/11 "2020-02-07T22:08:53Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Social Security and Medicare are entitlements for those eligible. Eligibility usually means having paid into the system. Killing such programs steals what I’ve paid, so DON’T DO IT. When you pay into Social Security, the money is immediately distributed to beneficiaries. It’s not like people have their own piggy banks. This is the very definition of Socialism! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/12 "2020-02-07T22:49:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > When you pay into Social Security, the money is immediately distributed to beneficiaries. It’s not like people have their own piggy banks. This is the very definition of Socialism! 🙂 I thought the US military exemplified communism. Everything controlled and supplied by the government. From each, by their ability; to each, for their need; but limit personal possessions to what you can carry. Follow orders or else. Hail the Leader! Oh, another goof: the “Army of One” campaign. Total oxymoron. Replaced with “Be All You Can Be,” which is fine unless you can’t be very much. Are you best at spreading lime in field latrines? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/13 "2020-02-07T23:21:37Z")
My Trump loving cousin posted several memes in remembrance of Kobe Bryant’s untimely death. One was particularly poignant, as it showed a gymnasium full of parents and kids all taking a knee. Overlaid onto the picture was a message about the mass “showing of respect” all these players and coaches were paying in tribute to the recently deceased. Except I thought…I mean, for years now you’ve posted…I mean, isn’t Colin Kaepernick the most detestable human being in the history of the planet because of all of the kneeling he did?? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2020, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/14 "2020-02-07T23:50:12Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > My Trump loving cousin posted several memes in remembrance of Kobe Bryant’s untimely death. > > One was particularly poignant, as it showed a gymnasium full of parents and kids all taking a knee. Overlaid onto the picture was a message about the mass “showing of respect” all these players and coaches were paying in tribute to the recently deceased. > > Except I thought…I mean, for years now you’ve posted…I mean, isn’t Colin Kaepernick the most detestable human being in the history of the planet because of all of the kneeling he did?? I’m not a religious conservative, but I believe the idea is “Stand for the flag, kneel at the cross,” which I have also seen in meme form. The idea is that you show pride in your country but humble yourself before God. FWIW, I support Kaepernick. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/15 "2020-02-08T00:16:20Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > I thought the US military exemplified communism. Everything controlled and supplied by the government. From each, by their ability; to each, for their need; but limit personal possessions to what you can carry. Follow orders or else. Hail the Leader! > > Oh, another goof: the “Army of One” campaign. Total oxymoron. Replaced with “Be All You Can Be,” which is fine unless you can’t be very much. Are you best at spreading lime in field latrines? The US military can’t exemplify Communism because they have both ranks and clear distinction in classes. In fact the Soviets and Red Chinese tried to have a true “classless” military but quickly realized how impractical it was when nobody really understood who exactly was in charge in combat situations. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/16 "2020-02-08T01:05:03Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > The US military can’t exemplify Communism because they have both ranks and clear distinction in classes. > **[Opinion | Our Lefty Military (Published 2011)](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/opinion/16kristof.html)** > > As we look for a model of liberal values, such as investing in people and guaranteeing them health care, how about turning to the United States military? > [@](#): > > “It’s the purest application of socialism there is,” Wesley Clark, the retired four-star general and former supreme allied commander of NATO forces in Europe, told me. And he was only partly joking. > > “It’s a really fair system, and a lot of thought has been put into it, and people respond to it really well,” he added. The country can learn from that sense of mission, he said, from that emphasis on long-term strategic thinking. > > The military is innately hierarchical, yet it nurtures a camaraderie in part because the military looks after its employees. This is a rare enclave of single-payer universal health care, and it continues with a veterans’ health care system that has much lower costs than the American system as a whole. > > Perhaps the most impressive achievement of the American military isn’t its aircraft carriers, stunning as they are. Rather, it’s the military day care system for working parents. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/17 "2020-02-08T02:31:52Z")
The US is about the stingiest country in the world, giving 15 cents out of every $100 to foreign aid. The only developed countries that give less are Spain, Portugal, Greece and Korea. > **[List of development aid sovereign state donors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_development_aid_country_donors)** > > International development aid is given by many non-private donors. The first table is based on official development assistance (ODA) figures published by the OECD for members of its Development Assistance Committee (DAC). Non-DAC members included in the OECD's publishing are listed separately. > Luxembourg made the largest contribution as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) at 1.05% and the United Nations’ ODA target of 0.7% of GNI was also exceeded by Norway (1.02%), Sweden (0.99%) and D... ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/18 "2020-02-08T02:39:52Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Oh, another goof: the “Army of One” campaign. Total oxymoron. Replaced with “Be All You Can Be,” which is fine unless you can’t be very much. Are you best at spreading lime in field latrines? Well, Army Of Me was already taken (and has a bitchin theme song). But who wants to see Bjork in a military uniform. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/19 "2020-02-08T02:51:01Z")
Have you ever reflected on the idea that if somebody hates you, it might have something to do with how YOU have behaved in the past? The two top recipients of US aid are Afghanistan and Iraq. How have we been treating them in the past 20 years? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588/20 "2020-02-08T03:09:18Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > It is also illegal to hunt migratory birds with a machine gun. That doesn’t seem very sporting: wouldn’t it be more fair to let the birds arm themselves? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-meme-says-the-opposite-of-what-you-think/847588.md?page=2)