# What are your most unpopular opinions? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645 "2013-04-14T00:24:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 38
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/741 "2013-11-24T23:01:34Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Valentine’s Day is a stupid, unnecessary “day” invented to pressure people to spend money on “loving” gifts that they ought to be giving, in material or non-material ways, throughout the year. How about that. Have you ever heard Tom Lehrer’s music? _On Christmas Day you can’t get sore Your fellow man you must adore There’s time to rob him all the more The other three hundred and sixty-four…_ ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/742 "2013-11-25T00:07:26Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Valentine’s Day is a stupid, unnecessary “day” invented to pressure people to spend money on “loving” gifts that they ought to be giving, in material or non-material ways, throughout the year. This is an unpopular opinion?? Pffhht. The only one worse than Valentine’s Day is Sweetest Day. The only people who get suckered into that one are high school kids. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/743 "2013-11-25T00:10:10Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > Eh, it’s my opinion. I think the US blows ass in many ways and I’m very glad I don’t live there anymore. I suppose I could start a thread in GD (“Resolved: The US is a brutal and hypocritical nation”), but to do so seems needlessly antagonistic on a US-centric message board, hence my post here in the **unpopular** opinion thread. Besides, it’s not like I _hate_ the place. Some of my best friends are Americans. 😉 So you’re just going to keep dancing around it, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/744 "2013-11-25T01:09:37Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > So you’re just going to keep dancing around it, huh? You live in a country with a per capita [income](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita) that’s 7th in the world, yet: life expectancy is [33rd](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy), [46%](http://www.gallup.com/poll/21814/evolution-creationism-intelligent-design.aspx) of the populace thinks humans were created in the last 10,000 years, and the homicide [rate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate) is approximately four times the EU average. You could start with that. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/745 "2013-11-25T07:39:15Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > This is an unpopular opinion?? Pffhht. The only one worse than Valentine’s Day is Sweetest Day. The only people who get suckered into that one are high school kids. Sweetest Day? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/746 "2013-11-25T07:44:13Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > You live in a country with a per capita [income](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita) that’s 7th in the world, yet: life expectancy is [33rd](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy), [46%](http://www.gallup.com/poll/21814/evolution-creationism-intelligent-design.aspx) of the populace thinks humans were created in the last 10,000 years, and the homicide [rate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate) is approximately four times the EU average. You could start with that. Much of that is due to American liberalism’s focus on wedge issues and identity politics rather than bread and butter issues thus resulting in the failure of the US to set up a universal welfare state that would ensure universal health care and reduce poverty. But there are also structural differences considering that the US is the only major industrialized country to contain a significant historically oppressed minority population which probably accounts for much of the US’s disproportionately high income inequality and crime rates ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/747 "2013-11-25T10:15:01Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I see what you’re getting at. On the other hand, saying “ok, you’re someone who has gotten a lot of abortions, so now we will force you to keep this one” seems like a kind of crazy policy. I concede the point. I just wish I could think of a happy medium. Maybe government-subsidized birth control. (I know: “Fine, Mr. Democrat, what new tax do you propose to cover _that_ expense?” Again, a good point, and that one beats the Hell outta me, which is one reason I’m not running for office). ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/748 "2013-11-25T13:23:30Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > … the US is the only major industrialized country to contain a significant historically oppressed minority population which probably accounts for much of the US’s disproportionately high income inequality and crime rates :dubious: I think the “historically oppressed minority populations” of [China](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#Ethnic_groups), [Mexico](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico#Demographics), [Brazil](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#Race_and_ethnicity), [Turkey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Turkey#Ethnic_groups_and_languages), [Russia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Russia#Ethnic_groups), [Germany](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Germany#Ethnic_groups), [The United Kingdom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_in_the_United_Kingdom), and [France](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_France#Ethnic_groups) might beg to differ. (There is also [South Africa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa#Demographics), only a generation removed from white rule). All nine of these nations are [G20](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G20) members. I also fail to see how “liberalism” can account for nearly half of all Americans being functional retards who believe in fairy stories regarding the origins of mankind. ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/749 "2013-11-25T14:41:06Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > But there are also structural differences considering that the US is the only major industrialized country to contain a significant historically oppressed minority population which probably accounts for much of the US’s disproportionately high income inequality and crime rates What? Come again? The only one? Every citizen in Europe is a descendant of an historically oppressed population. That’s why we had things like the French revolution. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/750 "2013-11-25T15:32:13Z")
Professional sports, no matter which, are more corrupt than the mob pre-big-money-pro-sports, and their fans don’t have two critical-thinking synapses to rub together in the entire collective. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/751 "2013-11-25T15:46:19Z")
_“You live in a country with a per capita [income](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita) that’s 7th in the world, yet: life expectancy is [33rd](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy)”_ More accurately, the US is tied for 4th. When it comes to life expectancy, 79 vs 83 is not a huge gap that leads me to declare the US as a “brutal” place to live. _“[46%](http://www.gallup.com/poll/21814/evolution-creationism-intelligent-design.aspx) of the populace thinks humans were created in the last 10,000 years”_ I have never put much stock in creationism polls. It flies in the face of all common sense. I can’t explain why people respond to those polls the way they do, but something must be happening to screw up the numbers. _“and the homicide [rate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate) is approximately four times the EU average. You could start with that.”_ You know what, I agree, the US’s murder rate is terrible. But where does the hypocrisy come in? ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/752 "2013-11-25T16:24:54Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Professional sports, no matter which, are more corrupt than the mob pre-big-money-pro-sports Can you expand on that? By corrupt do you mean generally-venal-and-evil? Or are you talking about something like “all the games are fixed”? I can think of plenty of negatives about, say, the NFL, but they can make so much money being “honest” that I don’t see any reason for them to be corrupt. Kind of like whether big Vegas casinos would cheat. They have basically a license to print money not cheating… so what’s their incentive? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/753 "2013-11-25T20:06:26Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > **Interpersonal Relations** > > I am incensed at anyone who looks down on me because I still live at home at age 31. **One of my unpopular opinions** Unless there are extenuating circumstances- personal disability, disabled parents, temporary unemployment, etc… it’s really fucking weird if you ask me. People in their late20s and older should have their own places and live their own lives independent of their parents, and generally if they don’t, it’s some sort of loserdom related failure to launch that ought not be considered “normal” or “acceptable” by society. > [@ekedolphin](#): > > **Interpersonal Relations** > **Video Games** > > I am pretty damn frustrated by the seven-year life cycle of video game systems. I only bought a 360 three years ago, and now you want me to pluck down $500 for a next-gen system? And I can’t even play my 360 games on the XBox One?! Man, SCREW that. Clearly you don’t know what you’re talking about. Only Sony has had a consistent 6-7 year cycle, with the others like Sega and Nintendo having had more like 4 year cycles, and Microsoft having a 4 year cycle then a 7 year cycle. And those tended to be glacial compared to the PC hardware rat race between about 1988 to 2008 or so, where it was more like a 1-2 year cycle if you were lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/754 "2013-11-25T20:10:48Z")
_True_ is just a name we give to claims about which nobody wants to argue. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/755 "2013-11-25T21:12:45Z")
> [@bump](#): > > And those tended to be glacial compared to the PC hardware rat race between about 1988 to 2008 or so, where it was more like a 1-2 year cycle if you were lucky. As a PC player, I am eternally thankful that consoles became the dominant platform and ended that nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/756 "2013-11-25T23:05:50Z")
> [@bump](#): > > **One of my unpopular opinions** > > Unless there are extenuating circumstances- personal disability, disabled parents, temporary unemployment, etc… it’s really fucking weird if you ask me. People in their late20s and older should have their own places and live their own lives independent of their parents, and generally if they don’t, it’s some sort of loserdom related failure to launch that ought not be considered “normal” or “acceptable” by society. […] That is your unpopular opinion. Very well. Acknowledged. One of my opinions–how unpopular it is I haven’t the faintest idea–is that such cases should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine whether there _is_ good cause for it, as you allow for. It’s like saying, “Don’t judge me before you walk a mile in my moccasins.” You did say, “generally speaking.” ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/757 "2013-11-26T01:21:43Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > :dubious: > > I think the “historically oppressed minority populations” of [China](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#Ethnic_groups), [Mexico](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico#Demographics), [Brazil](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#Race_and_ethnicity), [Turkey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Turkey#Ethnic_groups_and_languages), [Russia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Russia#Ethnic_groups), [Germany](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Germany#Ethnic_groups), [The United Kingdom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_in_the_United_Kingdom), and [France](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_France#Ethnic_groups) might beg to differ. (There is also [South Africa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa#Demographics), only a generation removed from white rule). All nine of these nations are [G20](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G20) members. The last time I checked Mexico, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa all had worse poverty and far higher crime than the United States so this doesn’t disprove my point. And France, Britain, or Germany never had ten percent of its population enslaved for centuries before being freed only to face continuous legal and social discrimination. > [@](#): > > I also fail to see how “liberalism” can account for nearly half of all Americans being functional retards who believe in fairy stories regarding the origins of mankind. I never said that. And calling Young Earth Creationists “functional retards” isn’t going to change their minds if that’s what you actually want rather than just get fun out of mocking them. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/758 "2013-11-26T01:23:41Z")
> [@Doughbag](#): > > What? Come again? The only one? > Every citizen in Europe is a descendant of an historically oppressed population. That’s why we had things like the French revolution. By that logic you can say that every citizen of the United States had ancestors who were also historically oppressed. I’m referring to the systematic discrimination faced by blacks even after slavery ended. You genuinely don’t think this is a factor in US inequality? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/759 "2013-11-26T01:56:18Z")
> [@Subterraneanus](#): > > _True_ is just a name we give to claims about which nobody wants to argue. Sort of like the notion that no work of art is ever truly finished, only abandoned. (Also, if you look far enough – and that usually isn’t all that far! – you can usually find someone who will argue with almost any proposition! There are still Flat Earthers!) ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645/760 "2013-11-26T08:04:49Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > The last time I checked Mexico, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa all had worse poverty and far higher crime than the United States so this doesn’t disprove my point. And France, Britain, or Germany never had ten percent of its population enslaved for centuries before being freed only to face continuous legal and social discrimination. > > I never said that. And calling Young Earth Creationists “functional retards” isn’t going to change their minds if that’s what you actually want rather than just get fun out of mocking them. Now that makes sense! If someone starts off by calling people “functional retards” (not to their faces, of course), no **won** der his opinion is “unpopular.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645.md?page=37) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-most-unpopular-opinions/655645.md?page=39)