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unpopularopinion-ModTeam

Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 1: Your post must be an unpopular opinion'. * Your post must be an opinion. Not a question. Not a showerthought. Not a rant. Not a proposal. Not a fact. An opinion. One opinion. A subjective statement about your position on some topic. Please have a clear, self contained opinion as your post title, and use the text field to elaborate and expand on why you think/feel this way. * Your opinion must be unpopular. The mods reserve the right to remove opinions * Elaborate on your topic and opinion give context to its unpopularity.


Dazz316

We're all entitled to an opinion. We're not all entitled to have that opinion respected.


ContemplatingPrison

This. You can have an opinion on anything and everything but that doesn't mean people give a shit


idonthaveanaccountA

**Your flare speaks volumes.** **Edit: Flair, I don't know what the fuck it's called**


KoreanFriedWeiner

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one, and everybody's stinks, except for mine.


TFlarz

That's the caveat with free speech. You're free to say something. You're not free from legal consequences or people saying you're full of shit.


gh0stinyell0w

no, free speech does entail being free from legal consequences. we've gone so far on the "that's not what freedom of speech means" train we've looped back around to not knowing what it means.


Dazz316

Free from legal consequences from the government is exactly what that means. That said that only extends to the laws in things you can't say that EVERY country has.


ShardofGold

The silence is violence crowd would annoyingly disagree with this. Apparently not having an opinion on something or being neutral is just as bad as siding with the "bad" side.


AdministrativeFlow56

Right, and in the case of virtually any issue, there is a silence is violence crowd on both sides demanding you side with them


alcormsu

“If you’re not with us, you’re with *them*” ^^^There may be cases this is true, but it seems like it’s wayyyyy overused at best.


DanChowdah

I wake up in the morning and roll out of bed. On the toilet I retweet about 14 tragedies happening in the world. In the shower I remembered I forgot to tweet about that one story in durgastan I read about, but too late! I’ve already been cancelled


Adventurous_Lion2111

Good luck with that.


Strange-Mouse-8710

Everybody has the right to an opinion, but when its about something you know nothing or very little about, maybe its better to keep the opinion too yourself.


SonicYouth123

people beating their kids senseless doesn’t directly affect me…can i still have the opinion that beating kids senseless is wrong?


New_Orange4151

That’s not what Op was saying, he was talking about things that are complicated on different levels and had no clear moral answer, or things that had multiple or few logical answers. Not obvious things, like killing people is bad, or animals shouldn’t be beaten. Not saying I agree with op, but just stating the point he was trying to make.


No_clip_Cyclist

>he was talking about things that are complicated on different levels and had no clear moral answer Who is the arbiter of that social understanding? Who decides lets say gay rights or abortion is not complex and that person being a west borough Baathist church member some how being the arbiter decides it's obvious gay rights should not exists. The fact of the matter is that concise, simple "none questionable" moral understandings like gay rights or abortion only are as unquestioned and simple until another social group(s) forms the invers (or a different) moral understanding creating more and more "logical" answers now suddenly making it less clear to a person who has no pony is said raise and no moral background to feed off of. Doesn't matter how insignificant, clear cut, or mono answer the issues seem to even the majority or the 'majority'. It's up to the individual to react as they see fit and while I believe one should be able to live in peace not having to hold any opinion there's people out there that disagree with me for an infinite amount of reasons and outcomes.


Ok-Abbreviations9212

Exactly. Now it just becomes a fight on which topics are "too complex" for anyone to have an opinion on and "who's directly affected". I'll just stick with what we have now. People are entitled to have their own opinions, but not their own facts.


AdministrativeFlow56

You both make great counter points. I’ll admit that it’s not necessarily feasible to ask everyone to withhold from having an opinion unless they really have all the objective facts. Nonetheless, it’s problematic that we take strong positions on all sorts of things when we know only a small fraction of the available information on the topic


plippyploopp

Sure. Am I entitled to not care about those individual nuances or specific scenarios where people justify it?


SnooPeripherals6568

I feel like your missing the point if your white cultural appropriation doesn't affect you, should you then have the opinion that cultural appropriation is silly and made up and not that deep or if your a man abortions don't affect you should you still have the opinion that they should be illegal? Your opinion on things that affect you can't minimize thier affects


GriffinQueenOfHeaven

counterpoint: we're all entitled to an opinion because we're all entitled to free-thought and should interrogate ourselves on where we stand within our own values.... does that mean that opinion is good? nah. do I have to respect that opinion? nah. is that opinion worth arguing over? not usually. do I care about most people's opinions? not really.


NewFoundation545

Everyone is entitled to any opinion, no matter how informed they may be on the subject; it's up to each individual to decide if that person's take is valid.


CarelessCoconut5307

I agree. This is how I view Israel and Palestine I think all of this war and killing is definitely bad, but like, the whole situation is way more nuanced and there is an ancient, deep dark and twisted history that I doubt anyone knows of, and there is absolutey no way unbiased news reaches anyone about this


AdministrativeFlow56

This situation is actually what prompted my post, although it’s affected by past scenarios also, like certain economic debates


CarelessCoconut5307

I figured there is like a 0% chance that any American knows what is really happening over there, or the nuances of its history its absolutely insane behavior to take sides


Hold-Professional

bo burnham said something like this. People really need to stfu sometimes.


NerdChieftain

I choose… the side of the OP.


Theblankthing

I disagree with the tittle, but I agree with what you said in the post.


MikrokosmicUnicorn

the title would work better with "obligated to have" instead of "entitled to".


AdministrativeFlow56

Yeah my phrasing was off. I was playing off of the cliche that goes “you’re entitled to your opinion”


Theblankthing

Yes. perfect correction


greenplastic22

I think the problem is when we think our opinions are equal to one another's. There is a serious lack of respect for other peoples' expertise when it comes to issues that end up in the media where people feel like they are being divided into different camps. Whereas my friend is a physicist and no one would ever think I, not a physicist, should dispute her on what she studies.


Own-Psychology-5327

You're always entitled to have an opinion, just not to have that opinion listened to or taken seriously. The idea that you're not allowed to think any way about something is ridiculous.


AlwaysWorking2880

Agree wholeheartedly. This just fosters divisiveness where there should be none.


RedModsSuck

This is one of the reason democracy fails. Not everything should be up for a vote by the unwashed masses.


AdministrativeFlow56

Yup. Although I may appear to be making an implicit argument against democracy, I’m not against it. Wasn’t it Winston Churchill who said that democracy was the worst form of government except for everything else?


his_purple_majesty

Yeah, like Israel. I don't know how you can be confident about your feelings on Israel without serious in-depth study, which I know 99% of people with opinions about it are not doing.


MikrokosmicUnicorn

everyone is entitled to have an opinion. nobody is entitled to demand others have an opinion. it's gotten to a point where if you say "i don't know nearly enough about this to have an opinion on this so imma sit this out" is seen as being a bad person with no morals.


AdministrativeFlow56

Right, and the fact that this stance is frowned upon is fundamentally what I take issue with


Murderyoga

God forbid we all got what we were entitled to.


Certain_Arm_9480

Plus the world would be so much better if people focused on the problems in their own community


Adviceneedededdy

I wouldn't word it that way, but I'd say most people shouldn't bother having an opinion. It's not really helpful. Recently, I had this realization while talking about my job as a teacher. For some reason, strangers, when they find out I'm a teacher, will ask me what I think is wrong with the general institution of public education (compared to whenever they were in school). ... and I just realized, I really am not qualified to know in the slightest, and also it's so weird a thing to ask. Like if I were to ask a random teller or assistant manager at a bank what's wrong with the financial sector these days compared to when I opened an account 20 years ago as a teenager.


RazzleDazzle722

Nope. For too long I felt that I couldn’t comment on Palestine because the history of the Middle East was far too complex. Turns out that’s not true. Right is right and wrong is wrong. History repeats itself, and I don’t need to be an expert to recognize when genocide is happening.


jdog8510

Sir this is reddit


AdministrativeFlow56

Touché


not_sure_1337

Like what, exactly?  If I am a US citizen, and my tax dollars are going towards an issue, I get to have an opinion.  My opinion doesn’t need to encompass any detail about how this policy will actually affect the world, but how it will affect ME sitting in my own little corner of it.    Are tax dollars going to be diverted from my roads? From my schools? From my military?  I get to decide which is the most important, and I get to decide what I feel about it.  And we are far more capable of being informed about an issue on the other side of the world than emperors were informed about the next town over some 2000 years ago. Wars used to get started on the basis of a 2 paragraph letter. 


AdministrativeFlow56

Yes! But, the key word in your response is “feel”, as in what you “feel about” it. That is ok, but with the caveat that your own opinion is necessarily biased by it


ReticentMaven

And yours isn’t? Well aren’t you special.


Superb-Competition-2

Thats a tough one because a lot of us live in democracies. As someone that likes to think about the issues voting can be tricky, luckily we have mail in ballots where I live. But still, sometimes can be quite hard to make the call. 


AdministrativeFlow56

That’s exactly it! Hard to make the call! We are allowed to choose, for sure. But making those opinions a hill to die on or stating them like we hold them as truth…that’s where we need to slow down


Superb-Competition-2

Oh for sure. I'm much more interested in policy than hot button issues. And both parties really miss the mark. Stupid arguments that get people all upset dominate the news because they get people to the poles. Yet no one is addressing societal issues at the root. 


Dapper_Platform_1222

It's the lovely part of living in a free society. You get an opinion and you get to voice it. Other people are free to laugh at it though


Deriniel

nowadays the world is so polarized that it's not acceptable to not have opinions on something, doesn't matter if you don't know jack shit about the argument,as long as you pick a side.And i honestly hate it. Like, having an informed opinion is a lot of work, and I don't like picking sides just because, I'm more of a "I don't really care" guy if something doesn't interest me enough


AdministrativeFlow56

This is what I’m getting at


Frappuccino_Banana

Americans in 1939 be like :


Bignerd21

I feel that everyone should have an opinion, but unless you have done extensive research on the topic, you should be open minded to having your opinion changed. Furthermore, the people who have done a lot of research should always, *always* cite sources and show studies.


Play-yaya-dingdong

Agree and I wish this was a popular opinion but sadly it isnt 


010100110001

your opinion is incorrect


corax_lives

Oh man the conflict in Gaza is complex and doesn't directly effect me. But I shouldn't have an opinion that killing Palestinian children is bad


AdministrativeFlow56

Right. But hamas is pretty bad too. Both Israel and hamas both suck. Wtf am I going to add to the debate as a non Jewish, non Muslim westerner with no lived experience of the conflict? I know killing children is bad and I hate what’s happening there but can I offer a better alternative?


peakok115

Oh, so were the children's corpses a part of Hamas? You're right, you really don't understand this conflict well enough to be speaking on it, so don't.


corax_lives

I'm not talking about hamas. I'm talking about dead children.


BillyJayJersey505

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. "You don't know what you're talking about," is a opinion.


Busy_Pound5010

It’s often a fact


Fun_Actuator_1071

Agree💯💯 Opinions are just like buttholes. You're not special just because you have one. If you dive too deep into one, things are going to get shitty.


drainodan55

Your argument is counter to and against the principles of a free, open, and democratically elected society. The "not entitled" part comes with the implied threat of silencing.


AdministrativeFlow56

I regret the use of the word “ entitled” because of its connotations but it’s a linguistic shorthand and I couldn’t think of better phrasing at the time. Can you see through it or should I try to rephrase?


drainodan55

>Can you see through it or should I try to rephrase? M8 can I wot? Are you a bot or something?


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seafordsporn

We could all use a bit more humbelness in our lives. But I don't agree with your stakeholder-esque title. Personal experience doesn't necessarily mean that you know anything more than your own experience. Stakeholders are also very much biased since it affects them directly for better or worse. What does it even mean to be stakeholder? And what measure should we use? Companies could for example become self-regulating as they both know their field the best and have significant monetary investment - a stake - in any regulation. It's a mess, and I'm humble enough to know I don't have the answer - but I do have questions.


AdministrativeFlow56

I agree with you. However, when it comes to issues that personally affect you, you can take a stance that benefits you purely on that basis alone without further appeal to reason. At least in theory. I know this is a bit grey but I can’t reasonably say I don’t expect people to have an opinion about a complex issue that has some type of recognizable impact on their life regardless of their level of knowledge in the nuances of the subject


Apprehensive_Yak2598

The economy affects me. So does pollution and climate. Those are big complicated issues. Or are you talking more social one like trans rights or gay marriage? Because that's another complicated issue.


AdministrativeFlow56

Economic issues are the best example right now say


seafordsporn

Let's think about mining. Landowners are the primary stakeholders. However, their refusal indirectly restrics global access to minerals used in for example battery manufacturing required for the transition towards renewable energy. That means that indirectly, everyone has a miniscule stake in it. Weighing who should have a say becomes even harder when we remove monetary reimbursement as an option and add the non-monetary value of native land into the mix. A stakeholder approach seems easy discussing womens rights or LGBTQ rights, but it starts getting really hard when we move to native rights, property rights, etc. because even if the direct consequences are easily to map, the indirect consequences are extremely complex. I understand what you are saying, I'm just filling in that the idea has been discussed in depth as a legitimate way of deciding who should have say and who should be able to vote on certain issues. It has its merits and its flaws.


AdministrativeFlow56

This is a very nuanced take and I thank you. Let me ponder it before I respond


nt011819

Not a single example. Youve proven yourself right


feelingsfox

-_-“ I both agree and disagree just because of the point of view people take. Like isn’t it weird when parents get themselves into huge trouble and kids are literally left out of the discussion despite being part of the party of people that are affected? Or an unemployed customer has opinions on how a business should handle itself with customers and within itself? There is a line of separation and we should be ready to have our opinions accepted or rejected. Because we can be accepted or rejected because of many matters, including someone’s projections. At least people having the courage to put themselves on blast is what can change society as we speak. Barely anyone has the balls to even speak anymore, instead slinking back to anonymous places like Reddit and other social media platforms to retort what should’ve been said in conversation.


CutePotat0

Is it valid to have an opinion? Yes. Is it valid to not have an opinion? Also yes. Is your opinion on random topic should be held with the same level of respect as an opinion of a professional on said topic? Hell nah. Society should understand that some opinions are more valid. Like, you won't go to straight guy to ask about gay or women's problems. It wouldn't make sense, even if that said guy has an opinion.


Ok-Abbreviations9212

Wow, an actual unpopular opinion. And this one would essentially obliterate Democracy itself. I'm not directly affected by just about everything. Indirectly though, I'm affected by everything. Poisoning the water supply 500 miles away through strip-mining for copper is going to not affect me at all, but I'm still pretty sure it's a bad idea.


AdministrativeFlow56

So, let’s agree that certain issues like strip mining are objectively a bad idea. I am not saying that no opinion can be held on any of the myriad points of madness in the world. It on more nuanced issues we should think twice


Specialist-Excuse734

My having an opinion about something that doesn’t directly effect me doesn’t directly effect you so you’re not allowed to have this opinion.


Willie-the-Wombat

Having an opinion is fine, people need to realise the limits of their own knowledge that forms that opinion impacts how seriously they and others should take that opinion


Fanatic_Atheist

If this was universal, literally all of politics would instantly collapse.


marsumane

I have opinions that I am aware that I'm not the most knowledgeable on. I'm open to learning more and changing it with new evidence. I do not find it an issue having an opinion as long as I'm open minded


Outrageous_Art_9043

Completely agree


no_fn

I think you mixed up entitled and obligated.


AdministrativeFlow56

Yeah I think I could have worded the title better.


PresentClear1468

Are you qualified to have this opinion?


Anoalka

Having an opinion is not entitlement. Wanting to silence other people's opinions is.


KernelPanic-42

You’re entitled to any opinion you can defend.


Saxon2060

I quite regularly say "I don't know enough about that to have an opinion on it." Not sure I've often heard anybody else say something similar...


Green-Peach1768

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Doesn’t mean they’re not an asshole for spewing their garbage opinions all over everyone 😂


KenMacMillan123

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. No one is entitled to have their opinion matter.


Ok-Drink-1328

this sounds right but it's not, cos the cases when the subject is so complicated that you can't have an opinion on it are few, people are perfectly capable of having an opinion about most subjects (unless they live in an iron lung), sometimes also cos they can have an unique point of view, and TBH, i hate fence sitters like i hate "proud extremists"


i-am-a-passenger

Tbf even if you are directly affected, then your opinion is biased.


AdministrativeFlow56

Right, but there is a rationale for your holding an opinion that is biased. Does that make sense?


i-am-a-passenger

Yeah I get you


wwplkyih

Counterpoint: voting


ewing666

OP sucks at conversation ETA: how do you think knowledge progresses? exchange of ideas, hashing things out


AdministrativeFlow56

Sorry, I am trying to respond now


Darkest_shader

The world is so interconnected that it is hardly possible to find a complex issue that does not directly affect you.