# Your favorite moral panics **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875 "2019-03-10T05:06:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/101 "2019-03-17T09:42:07Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > How about the Y2K Scare :eek: We were told to stock up on canned food and water, computers were going to crash, there would be blackouts, mail delivery would cease - pretty much the world would end. Not a “moral” panic, though. Rather, what Pere Ubu presciently (in 1978!) termed _DATAPANIK IN THE YEAR ZERO_. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/102 "2019-03-17T15:29:35Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > The moral panic around video games as “murder simulators” was funny for the time in which it first achieved prominence: The early 1990s, when the first two Doom games were popular. Do you know what kind of graphics those games had? [This is about as gory (and precisely as visually realistic) as it got! Revel in the red pixels!](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c8/Doom_gibs.png) As far as realism goes, your character can outmaneuver a rocket on foot but he can’t look up. I’m not going to be emulating someone who can run faster than an SUV but who has less neck flexibility than a dog, I don’t care how many fireball-throwing imps he gibs with his bare hands. RIP AND TEAR! And that isn’t even mentioning that he can carry a platoon’s worth of heavy weapons at once and fire a minigun (called a chaingun, as usual) at a dead run without being any less accurate than he is standing still. > > This idea got a shot in the arm when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were revealed to be Doom players. Thus it joins the ranks of such pass-times as reading (Chapman), listening to music (Manson), and cooking (Dahmer) as things only murderers engage in. I think Street Fighter also got a mention in congress IIRC. It’s all fun and games until kids everywhere are levitating around, conjuring fireballs at each other… ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/103 "2019-03-17T16:14:37Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I’d say that the current obsession with rape on college campuses [counts as a moral panic](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-01-28/moral-panics-won-t-end-campus-rape). It’s got all the signs: [fake stories](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rape_on_Campus), [innocent people railroaded](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/jul/13/ticker-judge-says-regret-root-rape-case/#), [phony statistics](https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/10/24/statistics-dont-back-up-claims-about-rape-culture), and [bad laws](https://reason.com/blog/2017/09/22/breaking-betsy-devos-withdraws-dear-coll). This is your favorite moral panic? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/104 "2019-03-17T18:03:58Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I recall talking about ‘Paul is dead’ backward masking with some friends when it first was being talked about and of course the dumb guy asks “How do you play a record backwards, is there a reverse switch?” I think someone told him there was only on the really good turntables. Years later when Spinal Tap came out and the guy talked about his amp going up to 11 I remembered this guy and all dumb things he did. We used to play that song, Number Nine, backwards, to hear “turn me on dead man”; it was very much there. I never believed Paul was dead though, and I think I was eleven or twelve at the time. Born suspicious I guess. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/105 "2019-03-17T19:53:10Z")
Backward masking? You guys are amateurs. You take the belt off a belt-driven turntable and put a 180-degree flip in in it. (Or, if you don’t want to ruin the belt, make a belt out of rubber bands.) The platter will spin backwards at the correct speed. A Stanton 681EEE cartridge was favored, as they would stand up to this a lot better than most. Just saying… ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/106 "2019-03-17T22:45:17Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I’d say that the current obsession with rape on college campuses [counts as a moral panic](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-01-28/moral-panics-won-t-end-campus-rape). It’s got all the signs: [fake stories](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rape_on_Campus), [innocent people railroaded](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/jul/13/ticker-judge-says-regret-root-rape-case/#), [phony statistics](https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/10/24/statistics-dont-back-up-claims-about-rape-culture), and [bad laws](https://reason.com/blog/2017/09/22/breaking-betsy-devos-withdraws-dear-coll). > [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > This is your favorite moral panic? Seeing many of his past posts & threads, it very much is. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/107 "2019-03-18T03:45:26Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > This is your favorite moral panic? As most people seem to have interpreted the question as meaning which one is funniest, no, I don’t think it’s funny at all. I think it’s sad that it’s ruining lives. But its the moral panic that, at this moment, most needs to be identified as a moral panic. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/108 "2019-03-18T11:38:27Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Then came TV. Watching it was going to destroy our eyes. Even worse was color TV, because it emitted ‘radiation’. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/109 "2019-03-18T14:44:17Z")
That rape is a act of sex. For centuries, women who were taped were said to be “asking for it” by sending the wrong signals, wearing tight clothes, walking alone at night, and any other reason people could think of. Even if the victim was a female child. I remember a newspaper writing “Though the woman was assaulted (Back then, “rape” was a dirty word), she was not physically hurt.” And people said making prostitution legal would stop rape. Rape is an act of violence. Plan and simple. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/110 "2019-03-19T16:48:07Z")
The current germophobic panic is outrageous. People using germicide all day long. People wearing surgical masks in public. People wiping off store’s counters before placing their items on it. Heaven forbid you should pick up a germ and develop an immune system. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/111 "2019-03-19T18:07:03Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Heaven forbid you should pick up a germ and develop an immune system. But there is often a step between picking up a germ and developing an immune system: Trying to survive a dread disease. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/112 "2019-03-19T18:45:46Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > … > I’m also glad you brought up Lee Van Cleef. I thought I was the only person who remembered _The Master_. Obligatory [Primus - Lee Van Cleef](https://youtu.be/d1WaOKlldIE) ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/113 "2019-03-19T18:52:26Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The current germophobic panic is outrageous. People using germicide all day long. People wearing surgical masks in public. People wiping off store’s counters before placing their items on it. > > Heaven forbid you should pick up a germ and develop an immune system. People wearing masks, IME, are either immuno-compromised (like my dad) or trying to prevent themselves spreading illness if they have to go out in public. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/114 "2019-03-19T23:18:31Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > People wearing masks, IME, are either immuno-compromised (like my dad) or trying to prevent themselves spreading illness if they have to go out in public. I’d seen footage of Japanese pedestrians with masks on. I was surprised to find out when I went there that it wasn’t people afraid of getting sick, it was people being considerate, making sure they didn’t pass germs (usually cold/flu) to others. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/115 "2019-03-20T00:12:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Because the devil has better music. Except his minions can’t compete with Sister Rosetta Tharpe. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/116 "2019-03-20T04:19:32Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > People wearing surgical masks in public. :dubious: People wearing masks are being \*considerate \*of others, not germophobic. It’s because they are sick and don’t want to make other people sick. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875/117 "2019-03-20T04:54:03Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > :dubious: People wearing masks are being \*considerate \*of others, not germophobic. It’s because they are sick and don’t want to make other people sick. I have one friend who wears a mask in public more than she’d like, usually because her WBC count has fluctuated, and she is protective of her new kidney\* but still needs to be at work. My “favorite” moral panic was the “Procter and Gamble is run by Satanists” thing. IIRC, P&G recently won a civil suit against some Amway shills for that mess. (And honestly, I didn’t mind that my grandmother bought into the rumor. At the time, I was a preteen and living with my grandparents, and had no say in purchasing decisions. Tide detergent makes me itch mightily, I hate the smell of Ivory soap\*\*, and I hate the taste of OG Crest toothpaste, so I was down with the few months when we used Colgate and All(?) and whatever soap Grandmother bought. The moral outrage petered out around the time my mom was able to manage life a little better, so that was a nice coincidence.) \*My friend’s kidney is named Leroy. He’s spoiled, but he works hard and deserves some pampering. \*\*You only have to get your mouth washed out once to develop a permanent aversion to a type of soap. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-moral-panics/830875.md?page=5)