Unpopular opinions you genuinely hold

[Gavin Chipper]

Anyone having more than 2 children should be taxed.
Equally, tax breaks for married couples without children.
Also it should be compulsory for couples to have parenting skills classes before starting a family

But who suffers the most in these bigger families when they're taxed more? Especially the poorer families. So regardless of what you think of the parents, it's not the fault of the children.

[Marc Meakin]

Anyone having more than 2 children should be taxed.
Equally, tax breaks for married couples without children.
Also it should be compulsory for couples to have parenting skills classes before starting a family

But who suffers the most in these bigger families when they're taxed more? Especially the poorer families. So regardless of what you think of the parents, it's not the fault of the children.

OK then 2 children and anymore are taken away for adoption by childless couples.
Problem solved (slightly less drastic than forced sterilisation)

[Mark Deeks]

How exactly would you enforce parenting skills classes before starting a family for the millions and millions of children, self included, whose conception was neither planned nor anticipated?

[Marc Meakin]

How exactly would you enforce parenting skills classes before starting a family for the millions and millions of children, self included, whose conception was neither planned nor anticipated?

When a woman gets pregnant that gives most couples 4 or 5 months to get parenting classes organised.
It would be wrong to get your parenting advice from your own parents as there is a high chance they fucked up in some way.
Im using myself as an example I didn't have a clue and regret some of my parenting "skills"

[Gavin Chipper]

Certain interests in this country would like people to believe that all the UK's monetary problems are caused by the poor and uneducated (and immigrants obviously). They are not.

[Marc Meakin]

Certain interests in this country would like people to believe that all the UK's monetary problems are caused by the poor and uneducated (and immigrants obviously). They are not.

I wouldn't have said it was unpopular unless you are in the Tory party

[Gavin Chipper]

Certain interests in this country would like people to believe that all the UK's monetary problems are caused by the poor and uneducated (and immigrants obviously). They are not.

I wouldn't have said it was unpopular unless you are in the Tory party

It was a continuation of the child tax discussion rather than a standalone opinion.

[Elliott Mellor]

Anyone having more than 2 children should be taxed.
Equally, tax breaks for married couples without children.
Also it should be compulsory for couples to have parenting skills classes before starting a family

But who suffers the most in these bigger families when they're taxed more? Especially the poorer families. So regardless of what you think of the parents, it's not the fault of the children.

OK then 2 children and anymore are taken away for adoption by childless couples.
Problem solved (slightly less drastic than forced sterilisation)

What happens if someone has triplets?

I think I do understand the point you're trying to make (which is unusual) - there are too many families out there who simply cannot support the number of kids they've had. My post before (that the negatives should be taught to people) probably somewhat addresses the underlying issue without the drastic steps you're trying to impose.

[Callum Todd]

It seems impossible to enforce any limit that controls or restricts people's reproductive capacities wiothout being actively murderous. So any opinion along those lines isn't going to find any popularity with me. Education of responsibilities and ethics is all good though.

Largely agree with all the stuff in this thread about alcohol. And tea!

[Jon O'Neill]

Great thread. Some truly horrendous stuff. It's also amazing what people feel compelled to reply to.
I think it would be good to list these out and all have a vote on how appalling we all find each one so there is a winner.

[Gavin Chipper]

"Left wing" insults like "boomer" and "gammon" are just as stupid and rooted in prejudice as ones from the "right".

[Gavin Chipper]

Great thread. Some truly horrendous stuff. It's also amazing what people feel compelled to reply to.
I think it would be good to list these out and all have a vote on how appalling we all find each one so there is a winner.

Presumably the Radiohead one would win for you. Or men sitting down to pee.

[Matt Rutherford]

It seems impossible to enforce any limit that controls or restricts people's reproductive capacities wiothout being actively murderous. So any opinion along those lines isn't going to find any popularity with me. Education of responsibilities and ethics is all good though.

Largely agree with all the stuff in this thread about alcohol. And tea!

Finally, someone agrees with the tea! If you've not tried it sans milk and sugar, give it a go for a week. An acquired taste, but brilliant. Agree with not banning booze, for the US proved that didn't work. However, some changes

Various responses to the sex before marriage thing. There is of course a theological bent to my argument about what the intent of sex and marriage from that standpoint-I know for many of you, that would raise more. However, more people waiting would benefit society to an extent (in my view). A lot of society focuses on sex wayyy too much when it comes to looking for a partner. If it was more normalized to wait, then people wouldn't feel pressured to do so, and people would maybe look for other things in a partner.

Education and contraception should of course be provided in full (from what I've seen at work, current provisions in terms of both are only a net positive to society), and no one should be judged or shunned by society if they do not abstain until marriage (lessons from history, as Fiona alluded to)

(NOTE-the asexual giving his views on this topic would like you to know that yes, he is fully aware you could cut the irony attached to this statement with a knife)

[Matt Rutherford]

Whilst I'm here, some more I dreamt up

-Love Island is dangerous and encourages deeply unhealthy relationships.
-TikTok is also dangerous-the further reduction of attention spans combined with an addictive algorithm is not a good mix.
-Despite the massive upheaval it is currently causing, and the fact that nowhere near enough is being done about it, humans will cope with climate change. Things may not be rosy, more shit needs doing, and fast, but it will not be as dire as some predict
-The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas is a terrible book, as many things within it are ahistorical at best and downright false at worse. Attempts to characterize as a fable prove damaging to people's education
-Chess and Political Science should be taught on school curricula.
-It does not matter which order you put the jam and cream on with regards to scones, and they are just as nice plain (or, even better, with Marmite! Try it with anything guys, it's odd but rather delicious-which describes most of us really)

[Dan Byrom]

Picnic is the best chocolate bar

[Marc Meakin]

Great thread. Some truly horrendous stuff. It's also amazing what people feel compelled to reply to.
I think it would be good to list these out and all have a vote on how appalling we all find each one so there is a winner.

Just give me the trophy now to save time

[Marc Meakin]

Picnic is the best chocolate bar

Wouldn't call it unpopular.
Boost or Double Decker maybe


Have you tried those new mars bars with fruit in very tasty

[Marc Meakin]

The Bee Gees have better hits than the Beatles.

VAR isn't ruining football (The standard of referees
however.... )

Christmas is vastly over rated (interested in how unpopular this is)

The 1970s is the most over rated decade in pop music

Actors and comedians apologising for content that made them a lot of money and was considered acceptable at the time. If you really feel so bad donate a large chunk of your wealth to charity

[Marc Meakin]

It's probably more hygienic for a man to wash his hands before taking a piss than afterwards although preferably both.
I get my hands dirty at work so will always wash before.
I know my member is clean and I do believe urine is sterile.

[Martin Long]

I like a cup of tea and a cup of coffee at times but neither of them go with a full English cooked breakfast (which I also like). A drink of diluted juice is far more appropriate.

[Marc Meakin]

Ronnie O Sullivan is the greatest English sportsman of all time

[Marc Meakin]

Kelly Holmes double gold in Athens was the greatest British performance at a single Olympic games

[Elliott Mellor]

The whole digitisation of services has gone too far, and is really just the result of high-ups being lazy and not wanting to do any work or employ anyone. This applies to things such as car parks where you have to pay using your phone, anywhere that insists you download an app in order to use a service, or indeed businesses where you have to go through about ten different automated chats on the phone/website in order to actually access anything, and even then you're lucky if they actually help you instead of just trying to direct you elsewhere. The result is a net negative on society where not only do you have many people excluded by virtue of not having the capability to navigate these systems, you have a society that is getting progressively lazier. All the people willing to digitise everything in order to save a few seconds because it's just too inconvenient to do anything via a physical process are not only just blindly handing over their data most of the time, they're becoming more contented in just thinking a lot less and letting others/machines do it for them. A lot of people would store their house key on their phone if it were possible. I get that we're already at a stage where mass data scraping is possible behind the scenes, but I don't get why you'd voluntarily add to this for the sake of saving a few seconds.

My sister, a guide leader, recently discovered that more than half of her group (many of whom are in secondary school) were completely incapable of reading an analogue clock, and in an activity that involved some basic maths (like, 12x4 level of basic), where they insisted phones were put away, a large proportion seemed totally dumbfounded at the prospect of working it out without a calculator.

[Marc Meakin]

The whole digitisation of services has gone too far, and is really just the result of high-ups being lazy and not wanting to do any work or employ anyone. This applies to things such as car parks where you have to pay using your phone, anywhere that insists you download an app in order to use a service, or indeed businesses where you have to go through about ten different automated chats on the phone/website in order to actually access anything, and even then you're lucky if they actually help you instead of just trying to direct you elsewhere. The result is a net negative on society where not only do you have many people excluded by virtue of not having the capability to navigate these systems, you have a society that is getting progressively lazier. All the people willing to digitise everything in order to save a few seconds because it's just too inconvenient to do anything via a physical process are not only just blindly handing over their data most of the time, they're becoming more contented in just thinking a lot less and letting others/machines do it for them. A lot of people would store their house key on their phone if it were possible. I get that we're already at a stage where mass data scraping is possible behind the scenes, but I don't get why you'd voluntarily add to this for the sake of saving a few seconds.

My sister, a guide leader, recently discovered that more than half of her group (many of whom are in secondary school) were completely incapable of reading an analogue clock, and in an activity that involved some basic maths (like, 12x4 level of basic), where they insisted phones were put away, a large proportion seemed totally dumbfounded at the prospect of working it out without a calculator.

I draw the line at digitised keys for cars and homes as anything digital can be hacked also when the interwebs goes down people are fucked also if you have loads of coupons etc on your phone but there is no signal at the checkout it's frustrating.

[Marc Meakin]

Although marriage is a good thing, legally at least when it comes to pensions and inheritance etc, weddings are generally an overblown mess, vastly expensive, a free for all for people you probably hardly ever see.
I'd rather get two witnesses and send FB messages from my very expensive honeymoon

[Ian Volante]

Creating more CGI and animated porn for the enjoyment of paedophiles would likely reduce offending and therefore be a good thing.

This is basically training the brains of people who in theory might watch this stuff to associate child abuse with pleasure. I doubt this is a positive outcome for society.

[Mark Deeks]

The whole digitisation of services has gone too far, and is really just the result of high-ups being lazy and not wanting to do any work or employ anyone. This applies to things such as car parks where you have to pay using your phone, anywhere that insists you download an app in order to use a service, or indeed businesses where you have to go through about ten different automated chats on the phone/website in order to actually access anything, and even then you're lucky if they actually help you instead of just trying to direct you elsewhere. The result is a net negative on society where not only do you have many people excluded by virtue of not having the capability to navigate these systems, you have a society that is getting progressively lazier. All the people willing to digitise everything in order to save a few seconds because it's just too inconvenient to do anything via a physical process are not only just blindly handing over their data most of the time, they're becoming more contented in just thinking a lot less and letting others/machines do it for them. A lot of people would store their house key on their phone if it were possible. I get that we're already at a stage where mass data scraping is possible behind the scenes, but I don't get why you'd voluntarily add to this for the sake of saving a few seconds.

My sister, a guide leader, recently discovered that more than half of her group (many of whom are in secondary school) were completely incapable of reading an analogue clock, and in an activity that involved some basic maths (like, 12x4 level of basic), where they insisted phones were put away, a large proportion seemed totally dumbfounded at the prospect of working it out without a calculator.

Sure x2, but they aren't really unpopular opinions. Maybe we also need a "things that are changing that you don't like" thread.

[Graeme Cole]

The whole digitisation of services has gone too far, and is really just the result of high-ups being lazy and not wanting to do any work or employ anyone. This applies to things such as car parks where you have to pay using your phone, anywhere that insists you download an app in order to use a service, or indeed businesses where you have to go through about ten different automated chats on the phone/website in order to actually access anything, and even then you're lucky if they actually help you instead of just trying to direct you elsewhere. The result is a net negative on society where not only do you have many people excluded by virtue of not having the capability to navigate these systems, you have a society that is getting progressively lazier. All the people willing to digitise everything in order to save a few seconds because it's just too inconvenient to do anything via a physical process are not only just blindly handing over their data most of the time, they're becoming more contented in just thinking a lot less and letting others/machines do it for them. A lot of people would store their house key on their phone if it were possible. I get that we're already at a stage where mass data scraping is possible behind the scenes, but I don't get why you'd voluntarily add to this for the sake of saving a few seconds.

Perhaps predictably as a software and technology person, I don't agree with the general argument here. Nowadays most services let you do simple things for yourself on a website rather than making you call a number, wait on hold, and ask a human like the bad old days, and I much prefer this. I always go to the self-checkout machine rather than the human checkout. The increasing digitisation of our lives has plenty of benefits and I'd rather it stayed than disappeared.

However, this does not apply to the specific case of services which require you to install their app to pay, which can get directly in the bin.

The Technology Connections YouTube channel had a bit about this, referring to EV charging but the general point is the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJOfyMCEzjQ&t=2032s

Payment is a solved problem now, and has been for years. Thanks to advancing technology, we live in a world where paying for something, even at some vending machines and market stalls, is as easy as:

• Tap your card or phone on a reader.

You can't get much easier than that. However, some companies (particularly, but not exclusively, car park operators) instead want you to:

• Search in the Play Store / App Store for the correct app (beware of similarly-named phonies created to scam you)
• Install the app
• Create an account
• Give them your email address and phone number, typing them in on a phone keyboard
• Probably skip through multiple screens trying to sign you up to newsletters
• Eventually get to the payment screen, where you have to enter your card number in full, again using the phone keyboard

From a user experience point of view this is a disaster from start to finish. They may reason that "it's only one app, and once you've installed it you don't need to go through all the setup again", but that's because they live in a make-believe world where they're the only company providing that service and have no competitors. The reality is that the user ends up with half a dozen different apps on their phone, one for each company, and they've used each of them once. Even if by some unlikely flurry of co-operation they all got together and used the same app, what's the point? Contactless payment already exists.

They even want you to call the app the "convenient" option. Some charge an extra 30p "convenience" fee for using this service instead of inserting coins.

"But sometimes we can't install a payment machine! Some car parks might not have power or internet!" This is rubbish. If there used to be a machine that took coins, then there's a power supply. And again, thanks to the world's increasing digitisation, everywhere has internet now. If the car park really is in one of the increasingly-rare no-signal spots, then how do you expect the app to work? They make the "no internet" argument at the same time as expecting you to have internet in the same place.

Most technological developments are some kind of advance, but payment by app isn't. In all respects, it's worse than alternatives which already exist.

[David Williams]

Kelly Holmes double gold in Athens was the greatest British performance at a single Olympic games

I'm struggling to think of why anyone would think this opinion would be unpopular. Whether you agreed with it or not.

[David Williams]

My sister, a guide leader, recently discovered that more than half of her group (many of whom are in secondary school) were completely incapable of reading an analogue clock, and in an activity that involved some basic maths (like, 12x4 level of basic), where they insisted phones were put away, a large proportion seemed totally dumbfounded at the prospect of working it out without a calculator.

One of the first signs that you're getting old is when you start coming out with this sort of stuff!

I did think that times tables were tested at primary school, but there are things that were basic that are just not necessary any more. In the immortal words of Sam Cooke, how many people nowadays "know what a slide rule is for"? Or could use log tables? Do they still do long division? I'm sure I could, but I can't for the life of me remember the method that looked like long division you used to find square roots. Who needs it?

[Elliott Mellor]

The whole digitisation of services has gone too far, and is really just the result of high-ups being lazy and not wanting to do any work or employ anyone. This applies to things such as car parks where you have to pay using your phone, anywhere that insists you download an app in order to use a service, or indeed businesses where you have to go through about ten different automated chats on the phone/website in order to actually access anything, and even then you're lucky if they actually help you instead of just trying to direct you elsewhere. The result is a net negative on society where not only do you have many people excluded by virtue of not having the capability to navigate these systems, you have a society that is getting progressively lazier. All the people willing to digitise everything in order to save a few seconds because it's just too inconvenient to do anything via a physical process are not only just blindly handing over their data most of the time, they're becoming more contented in just thinking a lot less and letting others/machines do it for them. A lot of people would store their house key on their phone if it were possible. I get that we're already at a stage where mass data scraping is possible behind the scenes, but I don't get why you'd voluntarily add to this for the sake of saving a few seconds.

Perhaps predictably as a software and technology person, I don't agree with the general argument here. Nowadays most services let you do simple things for yourself on a website rather than making you call a number, wait on hold, and ask a human like the bad old days, and I much prefer this. I always go to the self-checkout machine rather than the human checkout. The increasing digitisation of our lives has plenty of benefits and I'd rather it stayed than disappeared.

However, this does not apply to the specific case of services which require you to install their app to pay, which can get directly in the bin.

The Technology Connections YouTube channel had a bit about this, referring to EV charging but the general point is the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJOfyMCEzjQ&t=2032s

Payment is a solved problem now, and has been for years. Thanks to advancing technology, we live in a world where paying for something, even at some vending machines and market stalls, is as easy as:

• Tap your card or phone on a reader.

You can't get much easier than that. However, some companies (particularly, but not exclusively, car park operators) instead want you to:

• Search in the Play Store / App Store for the correct app (beware of similarly-named phonies created to scam you)
• Install the app
• Create an account
• Give them your email address and phone number, typing them in on a phone keyboard
• Probably skip through multiple screens trying to sign you up to newsletters
• Eventually get to the payment screen, where you have to enter your card number in full, again using the phone keyboard

From a user experience point of view this is a disaster from start to finish. They may reason that "it's only one app, and once you've installed it you don't need to go through all the setup again", but that's because they live in a make-believe world where they're the only company providing that service and have no competitors. The reality is that the user ends up with half a dozen different apps on their phone, one for each company, and they've used each of them once. Even if by some unlikely flurry of co-operation they all got together and used the same app, what's the point? Contactless payment already exists.

They even want you to call the app the "convenient" option. Some charge an extra 30p "convenience" fee for using this service instead of inserting coins.

"But sometimes we can't install a payment machine! Some car parks might not have power or internet!" This is rubbish. If there used to be a machine that took coins, then there's a power supply. And again, thanks to the world's increasing digitisation, everywhere has internet now. If the car park really is in one of the increasingly-rare no-signal spots, then how do you expect the app to work? They make the "no internet" argument at the same time as expecting you to have internet in the same place.

Most technological developments are some kind of advance, but payment by app isn't. In all respects, it's worse than alternatives which already exist.

Perhaps I didn't convey myself properly, and considering I'm a data analyst, I'd be without a job if tech wasn't a thing (and indeed, without quite a few of my hobbies). My whole point wasn't "technology bad" - indeed it's brought a lot of positives - it was that, taken to extremes, it is a bad thing. The whole insisting on using specific apps when there's really no need, or making processes digital when the advantages are negligible when compared to the risks is the base for what I'm saying.

[Elliott Mellor]

My sister, a guide leader, recently discovered that more than half of her group (many of whom are in secondary school) were completely incapable of reading an analogue clock, and in an activity that involved some basic maths (like, 12x4 level of basic), where they insisted phones were put away, a large proportion seemed totally dumbfounded at the prospect of working it out without a calculator.

One of the first signs that you're getting old is when you start coming out with this sort of stuff!

I did think that times tables were tested at primary school, but there are things that were basic that are just not necessary any more. In the immortal words of Sam Cooke, how many people nowadays "know what a slide rule is for"? Or could use log tables? Do they still do long division? I'm sure I could, but I can't for the life of me remember the method that looked like long division you used to find square roots. Who needs it?

Ability to do basic arithmetic and calculated reasoning shouldn't be something people should be happy to lose. Certainly, you'll nearly always have a phone that can do the calculation for you if you desire, but there are two reasons why I still think it's hugely important to have a basic level of skill:
- If you type something in wrong, or get given data that is wrong, you're far more likely to notice it when it might otherwise pass you by (and have consequences.)
- If you are ever in a situation where you haven't got access to a calculator, it's helpful if you're not totally lost if you do need to work something out. Admittedly this is extremely unlikely, but so are many things in life that people have contingencies for.

[Adam Gillard]

My sister, a guide leader, recently discovered that more than half of her group (many of whom are in secondary school) were completely incapable of reading an analogue clock, and in an activity that involved some basic maths (like, 12x4 level of basic), where they insisted phones were put away, a large proportion seemed totally dumbfounded at the prospect of working it out without a calculator.

One of the first signs that you're getting old is when you start coming out with this sort of stuff!

I did think that times tables were tested at primary school, but there are things that were basic that are just not necessary any more. In the immortal words of Sam Cooke, how many people nowadays "know what a slide rule is for"? Or could use log tables? Do they still do long division? I'm sure I could, but I can't for the life of me remember the method that looked like long division you used to find square roots. Who needs it?

Ability to do basic arithmetic and calculated reasoning shouldn't be something people should be happy to lose. Certainly, you'll nearly always have a phone that can do the calculation for you if you desire, but there are two reasons why I still think it's hugely important to have a basic level of skill:
- If you type something in wrong, or get given data that is wrong, you're far more likely to notice it when it might otherwise pass you by (and have consequences.)
- If you are ever in a situation where you haven't got access to a calculator, it's helpful if you're not totally lost if you do need to work something out. Admittedly this is extremely unlikely, but so are many things in life that people have contingencies for.

Every year there's an episode of The Apprentice where they have to do some costings - "so 150 units at £8 each, that'll be £400 please / that'll be £2000 please". Then the buyer bites their hand off or bites their head off depending on whether they've come in under or over cost. That's an engineered situation where they apparently can't use their phone calculators.

[Mark James]

It's fine for cyclists to break traffic lights. Don't get me wrong, I don't think you should go full pelt through them, I treat red lights like a yield sign rather than a stop sign. If it safe to do so, and you are keeping an eye out for potential pedestrians I don't think it's that big a deal to go through a red light. Sometimes it's actually in traffic's interest that cyclists move on quicker than the cars. Especially if the cars are turning and the cyclist is going straight.

[Marc Meakin]

It's fine for cyclists to break traffic lights. Don't get me wrong, I don't think you should go full pelt through them, I treat red lights like a yield sign rather than a stop sign. If it safe to do so, and you are keeping an eye out for potential pedestrians I don't think it's that big a deal to go through a red light. Sometimes it's actually in traffic's interest that cyclists move on quicker than the cars. Especially if the cars are turning and the cyclist is going straight.

I totally agree, although now I have an electric bike I use my, ahem, throttle gives me that initial boost to get out the way of traffic.

In an ideal world all traffic lights would give bikes a 5 second start but the infrastructure is not there

[Marc Meakin]

We need some kind of national structure with electric scooters.
Milton Keynes and other cities seem to embrace them, other cities ban them and that means the pavements are not safe.
Its a clean transport so a licence to use it and some mot to make sure they are legal and roadworthy and fines and confiscation for riding on payments.

[Ian Volante]

I get my hands dirty at work so will always wash before.
I know my member is clean and I do believe urine is sterile.

So this argument boils down to it being okay to have pissy hands that smell of piss because piss is sterile?

[Gavin Chipper]

It's not actually sterile.

[Fiona T]

And I'm pretty sure a "member" that has spent its day fermenting in sweaty underwear in close proximity to a bumhole isn't quite as clean as you might imagine. (Note to self - take hand sanitiser to my next scrabble tournament)

[Conor]

- Tax here is too high, and actually given that high earners have already paid a lot of tax the marginal rates should be inverted: earnings over 125k should be taxed at 20%, whereas up to 50k should be more like 40%

- While investing in public transport should be encouraged, cycling should be banned on all public highways and should be confined to private recreational areas. It's dangerous and slows down other road users.

I have some more but will save those for my new column in the Telegraph.

[Fiona T]

Top quality stuff from Conor!

[Philip A]

Dragons’ Den is better than The Apprentice.

[Gavin Chipper]

Top quality stuff from Conor!

"genuinely"

[Marc Meakin]

And I'm pretty sure a "member" that has spent its day fermenting in sweaty underwear in close proximity to a bumhole isn't quite as clean as you might imagine. (Note to self - take hand sanitiser to my next scrabble tournament)

Who mentioned underwear

[Elliott Mellor]

And I'm pretty sure a "member" that has spent its day fermenting in sweaty underwear in close proximity to a bumhole isn't quite as clean as you might imagine. (Note to self - take hand sanitiser to my next scrabble tournament)

Who mentioned underwear

Can I claim therapy for the trauma of having to read this exchange?

[Matt Rutherford]

Sod the hand sanitizer, can I please have some mind Harpic pronto-much appreciated.

(Just wash your sodding hands people xD)

[Marc Meakin]

Sod the hand sanitizer, can I please have some mind Harpic pronto-much appreciated.

(Just wash your sodding hands people xD)

Tbf I never said I DIDNT wash my hands afterwards just that I think washing them before is just as valid.

[Mark Deeks]

It seems impossible to enforce any limit that controls or restricts people's reproductive capacities wiothout being actively murderous. So any opinion along those lines isn't going to find any popularity with me. Education of responsibilities and ethics is all good though.

Largely agree with all the stuff in this thread about alcohol. And tea!

Finally, someone agrees with the tea! If you've not tried it sans milk and sugar, give it a go for a week. An acquired taste, but brilliant. Agree with not banning booze, for the US proved that didn't work. However, some changes

Various responses to the sex before marriage thing. There is of course a theological bent to my argument about what the intent of sex and marriage from that standpoint-I know for many of you, that would raise more. However, more people waiting would benefit society to an extent (in my view). A lot of society focuses on sex wayyy too much when it comes to looking for a partner. If it was more normalized to wait, then people wouldn't feel pressured to do so, and people would maybe look for other things in a partner.

Education and contraception should of course be provided in full (from what I've seen at work, current provisions in terms of both are only a net positive to society), and no one should be judged or shunned by society if they do not abstain until marriage (lessons from history, as Fiona alluded to)

(NOTE-the asexual giving his views on this topic would like you to know that yes, he is fully aware you could cut the irony attached to this statement with a knife)

I think it's very misguided to think that removing sex from society will make society less sexual. Sex is a part of life, by design - not just societal design, but biological design. It is there, and while it can be the source of much bad in the world, it is also a means of true connection, love, acceptance, reassurance. Even when it isn't that deep and is just recreational, it still meets valid human needs.

[Jon O'Neill]

- Tax here is too high, and actually given that high earners have already paid a lot of tax the marginal rates should be inverted: earnings over 125k should be taxed at 20%, whereas up to 50k should be more like 40%

You've changed

[Ian Volante]

given that high earners have already paid a lot of tax

God love em

[Elliott Mellor]

- Tax here is too high, and actually given that high earners have already paid a lot of tax the marginal rates should be inverted: earnings over 125k should be taxed at 20%, whereas up to 50k should be more like 40%

It's an interesting idea, but how are you going to finance the foodbanks for all the many more people that will need them if you have less taxpayer money coming in?

[Gavin Chipper]

People often complain about how rich/posh people get to go to Oxford and Cambridge more than other people. Well, I think it's stupid that there even are these universities that are considered on a higher plane from the others. Degrees should be more standardised and it shouldn't matter where you get your degree from.

[Gavin Chipper]

- Tax here is too high, and actually given that high earners have already paid a lot of tax the marginal rates should be inverted: earnings over 125k should be taxed at 20%, whereas up to 50k should be more like 40%

It's an interesting idea, but how are you going to finance the foodbanks for all the many more people that will need them if you have less taxpayer money coming in?

He addresses that in today's Telegraph.

[Martin Hurst]

- Tax here is too high, and actually given that high earners have already paid a lot of tax the marginal rates should be inverted: earnings over 125k should be taxed at 20%, whereas up to 50k should be more like 40%

You've changed

Not directed specifically at CT, but across the population the older you get, the more political views can change......



Makes sense I suppose that when you are young you tend to not have much and therefore want the wealth shared, but when you are old and have accrued your wealth, you want to keep it!

[Jon O'Neill]

- Tax here is too high, and actually given that high earners have already paid a lot of tax the marginal rates should be inverted: earnings over 125k should be taxed at 20%, whereas up to 50k should be more like 40%

You've changed

Not directed specifically at CT, but across the population the older you get, the more political views can change......



Makes sense I suppose that when you are young you tend to not have much and therefore want the wealth shared, but when you are old and have accrued your wealth, you want to keep it!

Yeah I remember getting hit with this information when I was young by older economically right-wing people, who wrongly predicted that I would change. To be fair at the time it was news to me that the country wasn't as a whole moving left. I guess when you are young it's easy to feel like part of a movement but at that time I was only really engaging with people who shared my views.

What I will say is that I have softened somewhat and now no longer think right-wing people are inherently evil - just deluded and wrong.

Anyway, unpopular opinion: 100% inheritance tax (and close all loopholes).

[Fiona T]

I think if anything I've become more left leaning as I've got older. But I do abhor wasted money (stereotypical Scot!) and the public sector (as well as much of the private sector) has massive inefficiencies. You wouldn't need to raise taxes if you took a holistic co-ordinated view and stopped pouring eyewatering sums propping up broken systems.

Unpopular opinion - spend more money on sorting out processes. Fewer extra nurses needed if patients discharged in a timely manner!

[Matt Rutherford]

- Tax here is too high, and actually given that high earners have already paid a lot of tax the marginal rates should be inverted: earnings over 125k should be taxed at 20%, whereas up to 50k should be more like 40%

You've changed

Not directed specifically at CT, but across the population the older you get, the more political views can change......



Makes sense I suppose that when you are young you tend to not have much and therefore want the wealth shared, but when you are old and have accrued your wealth, you want to keep it!

https://www.ft.com/content/c361e372-769 ... c0a7767cf4
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... g-with-age

Millennials and Gen Z aren't exactly following that old chestnut it seems. Oldest Millennials are 42 (born 1981), oldest Gen Z are 26 (born 1997), so we're not past the critical age when you start blaming foreigners for everything-but the data shows otherwise. It seems.

[Mark Deeks]

You should have to pay university tuition fees.

[Gavin Chipper]

When more men or women go into a particular sphere, it's possible that it's not entirely down to societal biases.

[Marc Meakin]

You should have to pay university tuition fees.

If you had to pay upfront then Universities would be elites and only a privilege for rich people.
I think like sport, universities should be available for all.
However, there should be a better way to pay as presumably you should get a well payed job afterwards