# What are your most extreme, honestly held views? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649 "2012-01-16T01:43:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/361 "2012-01-21T03:20:31Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > We _almost_ have that. You need to show evidence that your kid was vaccinated or they don’t get to go to school. Since 99% of kids here go to public schools, probably 98% are vaccinated. > > (There is some sort of religious objection form you can fill out but it is pretty complicated and no one ever does.) > > Of course, we have public health care and it’s not like you have to pay for shots (it is prepaid with your tax dollars). This may vary by state, but in California the form is not complicated at all. It’s available in the school office and doesn’t require much more than a signature. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/362 "2012-01-21T03:52:32Z")
Okay, I’m not sure if this fits within the guidelines of the OP, but here goes. I have an arguably strange, and apparently contradictory, view on censorship of sex and nudity in entertainment. I think displays of sex acts and nudity should not be in TV and movies at all, unless it’s absolutely crucial to the plot. And those cases will be rare as hen’s teeth. If it doesn’t absolutely need to be in the story, write around it. However, if the scene is one where in real life nudity or sex would happen, then show it as it would be in real life. Nudity is natural, it happens in many different situations. Why hide it? But then again, if we don’t need to see it, why show it? I think titillation and erotica are exclusively for porn. Go there if you want that. While television is for entertainment and storytelling. Don’t interrupt a story with gratuitous sex just to be edgy or appeal to the prurient. No nudity, please. But if you’re going to have it, treat it realistically and naturally. If you can’t have it for ratings reasons, then just don’t. Stop sneaking it in by framing it out, or having people in their underwear. Sex is for porn. I grew up watching a lot of mostly UK TV, but usually American movies. I also used to work for a porn site. I hope I’m being clear, but as I said, it does sort of sound contradictory and potentially hypocritical. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/363 "2012-01-21T04:01:17Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Okay, I’m not sure if this fits within the guidelines of the OP, but here goes. > > I have an arguably strange, and apparently contradictory, view on censorship of sex and nudity in entertainment. > > I think displays of sex acts and nudity should not be in TV and movies at all, unless it’s absolutely crucial to the plot. And those cases will be rare as hen’s teeth. If it doesn’t absolutely need to be in the story, write around it. > > However, if the scene is one where in real life nudity or sex would happen, then show it as it would be in real life. > > Nudity is natural, it happens in many different situations. Why hide it? But then again, if we don’t need to see it, why show it? > > I think titillation and erotica are exclusively for porn. Go there if you want that. While television is for entertainment and storytelling. Don’t interrupt a story with gratuitous sex just to be edgy or appeal to the prurient. > > No nudity, please. But if you’re going to have it, treat it realistically and naturally. If you can’t have it for ratings reasons, then just don’t. Stop sneaking it in by framing it out, or having people in their underwear. Sex is for porn. > > I grew up watching a lot of mostly UK TV, but usually American movies. I also used to work for a porn site. I hope I’m being clear, but as I said, it does sort of sound contradictory and potentially hypocritical. The problem is that the purpose of entertainment is, obviously, to be to be entertaining. We, the audience, like seeing good-looking people naked and/or in sexual situations. We like watching sexy things the same way we like watching funny things or exciting things or scary things. It may not be realistic to life, but if we wanted to watch life, we wouldn’t need entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/364 "2012-01-21T04:01:17Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, food stamps, and all forms of welfare and government subsidies should end. > > snip > If you receive an entitlement check from the government, or you do not pay taxes, you should not be allowed to vote. 1. Then what should people live on when they’re out of work, down and out, or socked with big medical bills or other expenses, especially when they’re elderly? 2. If you paid into something like unemployment insurance and then collect when you need to, how is it an entitlement? Just asking. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/365 "2012-01-21T04:25:35Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The problem is that the purpose of entertainment is, obviously, to be to be entertaining. > > We, the audience, like seeing good-looking people naked and/or in sexual situations. We like watching sexy things the same way we like watching funny things or exciting things or scary things. It may not be realistic to life, but if we wanted to watch life, we wouldn’t need entertainment. Not me; I agree completely with what **GuanoLad** said. I don’t see the purpose of gratuitous nudity and sex in mainstream movies. You’re not going to pull down your pants and start jerkin’ it right there in the theater (or in front of your best bro-dogs in your living room) during the movie; you might get a momentary thrill or semi-hard, but what’s the point? I do _not_ like watching sexy things the same way as funny things, exciting things or scary things. The sexual response triggered in human beings is unique and unlike all of those other situations; it also is, under ideal circumstances, followed through with sexual activity. I always think it’s stupid whenever guys suggest, “hey, let’s go rent movie; actress gets naked in it! She’s so hot!” I can go online by myself and in thirty seconds find the same nude scene they’re talking about. What’s the purpose of watching some hot, sexy activity, while surrounded by a group of guys? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/366 "2012-01-21T05:33:27Z")
We’re social beings - we’re wired to enjoy activities even when we’re not an active participant. Look at the popularity of professional sports. Heck, look at the whole concept of show business. If we could only be entertained by participating in things, we’d have no interest in watching a movie or reading a book or listening to somebody else sing. But we like living vicariously. And our interest in sex is the most natural thing about us. It’s also wired into us by our genes. It’s perfectly logical that we find sex entertaining. The mystery is why do we find other stuff like jokes entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/367 "2012-01-21T05:33:36Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > With the people I know, they refer to sex as the biological construct and gender as the social construct. You can be of the female sex and the male gender. These are largely young, liberal, college educated females that I hear this from. This is objectively true based on external appearances, but based on what I have read it’s my understanding that the working hypothesis re people who are one physical sex and a completely different mental gender are that their brains were feminized/masculinized via some hormonal switchover in utero. It’s not that they just \*think \*they are the other gender, in many cases their brains actually have some opposite gender structural characteristics relative to their external gender presentation. Assuming this is so we’re still dealing with a physical issue, not strictly a social construct. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/368 "2012-01-21T14:32:57Z")
More money should be put into male birth control options. In fantasy land, all men will be given a reversible vasectomy like [this](http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/04/ff_vasectomy/) [warning, contains NSFW video of the procedure]. Female reproductive surgery is too invasive, and the pills have too many side effects, and this new procedure can be done in a day, reversed with a shot and, so far there [has not been a single failure or serious adverse reaction]. Men wanting to get the reversal shot would have to apply with a partner and/or willing surrogate. You would have to be 21 to apply, but a waiver can be given if you are in the military (if you can die for our country, you deserve the right to reproduce). I believe that humans are animals and that we should care about species diversity. We’re overpopulated and ought to reduce our numbers (I’m reducing my reproductive rate accordingly). Men should have no say in abortion, but we should work to develop technology to allow babies to be grown in artificial wombs. The nuclear family is destructive and places too much pressure on mothers to provide everything for their child. Children should go to daycare at least part of the time so that they can learn to socialize with other children and adults. Being a housewife/husband is a terrible goal in and of itself. If you have no ambition beyond being a wife/mom or husband/father, you’re doing something wrong with your life. Spouses staying at home to raise children should always keep their resume active and maintain part-time jobs in the event something happens to their spouse. Househusbands are just as useful/valued as housewives. Just because you’ve managed to breed (something most other animals manage!), doesn’t mean that you deserve anything that the rest of us don’t. If you have no life beyond your child, you are doing parenthood wrong. (This view may just be extreme where I live. Women over the age of 25 who haven’t popped out a baby are unusual.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/369 "2012-01-21T16:40:48Z")
> [@kimera](#): > > More money should be put into male birth control options. In fantasy land, all men will be given a reversible vasectomy like [this](http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/04/ff_vasectomy/) I think that’s the link I was referring to way upthread, although it wasn’t clear there was an incision involved in the article I read about it when it was in Phase II trials. As soon as that passes clinical trials, I’m getting it–and I wouldn’t be upset to have my (at this point entirely theoretical) son mandated to get it either. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/370 "2012-01-21T17:17:20Z")
1. Alcoholism is not a disease. 2. DUI laws are revenue enhancers for the state. Make the legal limit .20 BAC. 3. AA is a bullshit cult. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/371 "2012-01-21T18:27:15Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > 1. DUI laws are revenue enhancers for the state. Make the legal limit .20 BAC. Okay, so a friend of mine bought a breathalyzer for “keeping score” at the week-long New Years parties we used to have in our 20s. If you can drive safely at .2 BAC, you might just be from another planet. I can barely locate the bathroom in my own house safely at .23 or so, let alone use it. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/372 "2012-01-21T20:00:48Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > 1. What should people live on when they’re out of work, down and out, or socked with big medical bills or other expenses, especially when they’re elderly? Family. Charity. Churches. Community organizations. The government, IMO, should not be involved in the individual welfare business in any way. > [@vivalostwages](#): > > 1. If you paid into something like unemployment insurance and then collect when you need to, how is it an entitlement? If you paid into an insurance policy, I have no problem with you collecting on it. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/373 "2012-01-21T20:03:44Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > 1. DUI laws are revenue enhancers for the state. Make the legal limit .20 BAC. I believe driving while drunk should not be a crime in-and-of-itself. But if you get in a wreck while drunk, the penalties should be much more severe (verses if you were not drunk). ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/374 "2012-01-21T20:27:25Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > we’re all descended from the people who were determined to have and raise children no matter how bad things were. Or who were determined to have sex no matter what! ---
**Author:** ![Barrett\_Bonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@Barrett\_Bonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrett_Bonden)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/375 "2012-01-22T15:23:51Z")
I just thought of one. In a gym with a limited number of treadmills, with posted signs requesting that people not use equipment for more than twenty minutes when others are waiting [ul] [li]IF some of the treadmill users are walking (rather than running) AND[/li][li]IF there are available ellipticals[/li][/ul] I believe walkers ought to move to ellipticals rather than forcing runners to interrupt their runs. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/376 "2012-01-22T15:33:49Z")
> [@Barrett\_Bonden](#): > > I just thought of one. > > In a gym with a limited number of treadmills, with posted signs requesting that people not use equipment for more than twenty minutes when others are waiting > > [ul] > [li]IF some of the treadmill users are walking (rather than running) AND[/li][li]IF there are available ellipticals[/li][/ul] > > I believe walkers ought to move to ellipticals rather than forcing runners to interrupt their runs. I think that’s a bit too extreme, even by this thread’s standards. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/377 "2012-01-22T15:38:35Z")
> [@Barrett\_Bonden](#): > > I believe walkers ought to move to ellipticals rather than forcing runners to interrupt their runs. I agree, if it will keep them out of the streets. In my world, drivers could not be held responsible for hitting a runner who was in the roadway. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/378 "2012-01-22T21:53:12Z")
Bacon does not make everything better. Bacon just makes everything taste like bacon. Eat the bacon alone. Bacon-wrapped scallops are a particular abomination. Scallops are beautiful, delicate things and wrapping them in bacon is like pouring coke into Barbancourt. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/379 "2012-01-22T22:27:58Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Bacon does not make everything better. Bacon just makes everything taste like bacon. Eat the bacon alone. Bacon-wrapped scallops are a particular abomination. Scallops are beautiful, delicate things and wrapping them in bacon is like pouring coke into Barbancourt. One thing I see is the time/temp required to cook bacon doesn’t always make it conducive to cook together with many ingredients… a great example probably is scallops. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649/380 "2012-01-22T22:33:58Z")
Mandatory sterilization of the mentally retarded. If they cannot take care of themselves without supervision, they should not be allowed to create children who will require care. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-extreme-honestly-held-views/609649.md?page=20)