Unpopular opinions you genuinely hold

[Martin Hurst]

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 41 (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.

I would suspect the Tories of the last few years being so massively incompetent contributes heavily towards this! OT, but it would just be nice to have (at least) two decent options when it comes to elections, as bad option versus bad option inevitably leads to bad outcome (see Trump vs Clinton and Bozo vs Corbyn for further details). A decent, steady centrist option for a period of stability would be a good start.

[Gavin Chipper]

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

Well in the current system you don't have to pay up front. You can take out a loan which you only start paying back when you're earning a certain amount.

The problem is it got really bad publicity when it came in because it came from the Lib Dems who campaigned on not having any university fees. So it's been viewed in that light rather than as a standalone thing.

[Callum Todd]

Some of the opposition to the whole Rwanda plan for migrants is itself somewhat racist, or at least chauvinistic.

[Callum Todd]

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

Well in the current system you don't have to pay up front. You can take out a loan which you only start paying back when you're earning a certain amount.

The problem is it got really bad publicity when it came in because it came from the Lib Dems who campaigned on not having any university fees. So it's been viewed in that light rather than as a standalone thing.

I didn't take Mark's post to mean that tuition fees should be paid all up front, he didn't say that. I understood it more as a defense of the current system of paying for tuition fees, compared to the popular alternative of "free" (i.e. state-funded) university tuition. I agree.

[Gavin Chipper]

I didn't take Mark's post to mean that tuition fees should be paid all up front

Neither did I. Or was that more to Marc?

(Also, I read your Mark as Marc when I first replied pre-edit.)

[Gavin Chipper]

Some of the opposition to the whole Rwanda plan for migrants is itself somewhat racist, or at least chauvinistic.

Can you expand?

[Matt Rutherford]

I would suspect the Tories of the last few years being so massively incompetent contributes heavily towards this! OT, but it would just be nice to have (at least) two decent options when it comes to elections, as bad option versus bad option inevitably leads to bad outcome (see Trump vs Clinton and Bozo vs Corbyn for further details). A decent, steady centrist option for a period of stability would be a good start.

I will admit, the Pandemic shifted me from a centrist/centre-right view to one which is virulently left-wing (went from just in the blue/dead centre on the Politcal Compass to way left, bit in the red).

There remains potential for that to stay with those who were politically socialized by the pandemic. We aren't forgetting that in a hurry.

[Mark Deeks]

Bacon is overrated. Sausages are just way better.

Nickelback are fine. People just pile on because people are like that.

Even the most attractive people look better clothed than naked.

Language is a powerful tool that, when well crafted, can inform and entertain like no other human construct, but to almost everyone alive, spelling and grammar shouldn't really matter as long as the general gist of it is gettable.

It is fine for a politician's views and voting record to change over time, and perhaps even encouraged.

Superhero films are dull as hell.

There is no fun to be had in cooking.

Bohemian Rhapsody is a ramshackle mess with a good solo.

Fair play to the Kardashians.

Albeit less so in the internet age, there is a haughtiness to the supposed importance of reading that I very much object to. It is A way of getting information, stimulating thought and expanding your mind, but far from THE way.

Jeans are uncomfortable and silly looking.

Collared shirts are uncomfortable and silly looking and if you ain't getting married or dead or something then I'm not wearing one.

Virgin Cola was pretty good.

Euthanasia should be legal.

[Callum Todd]

I didn't take Mark's post to mean that tuition fees should be paid all up front

Neither did I. Or was that more to Marc?

(Also, I read your Mark as Marc when I first replied pre-edit.)

It was in reference to both posts quoted talking about payment up front, although I recognise your post was itself a quote of Marc so you may have been referring more to his comments than Mark's original "unpopular opinion".

Some of the opposition to the whole Rwanda plan for migrants is itself somewhat racist, or at least chauvinistic.

Can you expand?

No, I have a very fast metabolism.

Srsly though, yeah I could be to do so in full is probably more for the politics thread and I cba getting into that. Essentially I think some of the aversion to the plan is based on an aversion to Rwanda itself and exposes a chauvinistic looking-down-upon of Rwanda, possibly because of its relatively recent history, that I find quite distasteful. Given many of these migrants have fled countries at war, etc, Rwanda is a considerable upgrade. Arsenal's football shirts even advertise Visit Rwanda, it's so nice!

[Phil H]

I'm going to be that guy (tbh might not have noticed if I wasn't 41 myself)

Oldest Millennials are 41 (born 1981)

[Elliott Mellor]

Crisps are too greasy and leave you with a very undesirable layer of grease on your fingers that then transfers on to surfaces. Owing to the inconvenient nature of this, it is perfectly acceptable to pour a bag of crisps in to a bowl and eat them with a spoon if in the comfort of your own home. I will avoid eating crisps in public, and on the rare occasions where it is the only snack available and I am very hungry, I will eat them with my left hand and only touch them with the very ends of my fingers.

[Phil H]

some of the aversion to the plan is based on an aversion to Rwanda itself

You (or I) might be able to find examples of this being the case if we looked hard enough, but I don't think it's a serious factor in the debate.

Before Covid happened I'd been toying with going on holiday to Rwanda in 2020 (having been to Cote d'Ivoire the previous year) during a music festival there, but its asylum process is objectively poor, to say the least. See comments on Rwanda's previous deal with Israel in the recent Supreme Court judgment, or (a bit quicker) this thread: https://twitter.com/AlasdairMack66/stat ... 5441627602

[Fiona T]

Yeah I was thinking about this recently and found this BBC article

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-61111915

[Gavin Chipper]

The generations like Gen X, millennials etc., are arbitrary, confusing and ultimately just stupid. It makes no real sense to say that you are in the same generation as someone because you fall the right side of some arbitrary boundary. You might be in a "different generation" to someone born a day after or before you. Also, most people don't know the cut-off years anyway, so it's pointless to talk about them without specifying the boundaries, and once you've done that you've negated the point of them. And in some situations you will use wider or narrower bands depending on what you're talking about. It makes far more sense to say e.g. people born in the 50s, or people born in the 50s and 60s etc.

[Graeme Cole]

The generations like Gen X, millennials etc., are arbitrary, confusing and ultimately just stupid. It makes no real sense to say that you are in the same generation as someone because you fall the right side of some arbitrary boundary. You might be in a "different generation" to someone born a day after or before you. Also, most people don't know the cut-off years anyway, so it's pointless to talk about them without specifying the boundaries, and once you've done that you've negated the point of them. And in some situations you will use wider or narrower bands depending on what you're talking about. It makes far more sense to say e.g. people born in the 50s, or people born in the 50s and 60s etc.

Generation descriptors are approximate and arbitrary, sure, but so are names for colours. Would you use this same argument to say that it's stupid to have words like "red", "orange", and "purple" to refer to loosely-defined ranges of wavelengths of light, arguing that it makes more sense to say "500-550 nanometres"?

[Marc Meakin]

Crisps are too greasy and leave you with a very undesirable layer of grease on your fingers that then transfers on to surfaces. Owing to the inconvenient nature of this, it is perfectly acceptable to pour a bag of crisps in to a bowl and eat them with a spoon if in the comfort of your own home. I will avoid eating crisps in public, and on the rare occasions where it is the only snack available and I am very hungry, I will eat them with my left hand and only touch them with the very ends of my fingers.

A glove should suffice

[Marc Meakin]

The generations like Gen X, millennials etc., are arbitrary, confusing and ultimately just stupid. It makes no real sense to say that you are in the same generation as someone because you fall the right side of some arbitrary boundary. You might be in a "different generation" to someone born a day after or before you. Also, most people don't know the cut-off years anyway, so it's pointless to talk about them without specifying the boundaries, and once you've done that you've negated the point of them. And in some situations you will use wider or narrower bands depending on what you're talking about. It makes far more sense to say e.g. people born in the 50s, or people born in the 50s and 60s etc.

OK Boomer

[Gavin Chipper]

The generations like Gen X, millennials etc., are arbitrary, confusing and ultimately just stupid. It makes no real sense to say that you are in the same generation as someone because you fall the right side of some arbitrary boundary. You might be in a "different generation" to someone born a day after or before you. Also, most people don't know the cut-off years anyway, so it's pointless to talk about them without specifying the boundaries, and once you've done that you've negated the point of them. And in some situations you will use wider or narrower bands depending on what you're talking about. It makes far more sense to say e.g. people born in the 50s, or people born in the 50s and 60s etc.

Generation descriptors are approximate and arbitrary, sure, but so are names for colours. Would you use this same argument to say that it's stupid to have words like "red", "orange", and "purple" to refer to loosely-defined ranges of wavelengths of light, arguing that it makes more sense to say "500-550 nanometres"?

Not a very good analogy. Names for colours have been around since basically forever and are an integral part of our language. These generation names fail on both counts. They seemed to gain popularity with this weird obsession with poorly defined "millennials" in the not too distant past.

[Elliott Mellor]

Not a very good analogy. Names for colours have been around since basically forever and are an integral part of our language. These generation names fail on both counts. They seemed to gain popularity with this weird obsession with poorly defined "millennials" in the not too distant past.

Yeah, I am kind of with you on this. I think the idea is that they're grouped by what sort of upbringing you would have had and what would have influenced you, but I'm not really convinced that they're in any way sound. I think they also differ based on geographical location because there will be differing points for major hallmark events depending on where you grew up, but they still seem fairly arbitrary and I don't think many people could really clearly define what they were and they seem to largely just be used as insults (boomer/millennial being the favoured terms).

[David Williams]

There was a baby boom immediately after the war. There was an extra class in my school for that year. My recollection is that they were always known as baby boomers. Those people were in their 20s by the end of the 1960s, most of them probably married with children. Their early childhoods were during years of rationing. Births fell back to normal levels in the 1950s and there was another peak around 1964. Those people were five at the end of the 1960s. Their parents probably had an inside toilet, fridge, washing machine, car, TV, phone and central heating, nearly all of which were the height of luxury in the 1940s. Yet somehow these entirely different sets of people are all boomers now.

[Gavin Chipper]

There was a baby boom immediately after the war. There was an extra class in my school for that year. My recollection is that they were always known as baby boomers. Those people were in their 20s by the end of the 1960s, most of them probably married with children. Their early childhoods were during years of rationing. Births fell back to normal levels in the 1950s and there was another peak around 1964. Those people were five at the end of the 1960s. Their parents probably had an inside toilet, fridge, washing machine, car, TV, phone and central heating, nearly all of which were the height of luxury in the 1940s. Yet somehow these entirely different sets of people are all boomers now.

As well as this, as far as I understand, millennials were originally meant to be people who became adults around the turn of the millennium. People born in the 90s need not apply.

[Gavin Chipper]

Crisps are too greasy and leave you with a very undesirable layer of grease on your fingers that then transfers on to surfaces. Owing to the inconvenient nature of this, it is perfectly acceptable to pour a bag of crisps in to a bowl and eat them with a spoon if in the comfort of your own home. I will avoid eating crisps in public, and on the rare occasions where it is the only snack available and I am very hungry, I will eat them with my left hand and only touch them with the very ends of my fingers.

Hand-washing technology has advanced a lot in recent years. There's soap and everything.

[Elliott Mellor]

Crisps are too greasy and leave you with a very undesirable layer of grease on your fingers that then transfers on to surfaces. Owing to the inconvenient nature of this, it is perfectly acceptable to pour a bag of crisps in to a bowl and eat them with a spoon if in the comfort of your own home. I will avoid eating crisps in public, and on the rare occasions where it is the only snack available and I am very hungry, I will eat them with my left hand and only touch them with the very ends of my fingers.

Hand-washing technology has advanced a lot in recent years. There's soap and everything.

I am apposite of this but that generally involves a trip to the nearest bathroom, and they aren't always abundant in public. I also just don't like the feeling of the grease on my fingers, no matter the length of time it lingers before it is removed.

[Callum Todd]

I'm with Ell on the crisps thing. And with Mark on Nickelback.

[Gavin Chipper]

Buying new clothes all the time is ridiculous and if someone says something like they haven't bought any new clothes for over a year it should get massive respect.

The fashion industry is largely a joke item.

[Callum Todd]

I'm with Gavin on clothes. Either these opinions aren't unpopular enough or I'm just an unpopular kind of guy.

[Marc Meakin]

Buying new clothes all the time is ridiculous and if someone says something like they haven't bought any new clothes for over a year it should get massive respect.

The fashion industry is largely a joke item.

I guess it depends on your social life
I bought a suit for a wedding this week but I shall wear it at Christmas, when I go to see UB40 next year and if anyone dies or gets married next year I will wear it then.
But buying new clothes should be governed by whether you have outgrown your current clotheams, if you have lost or gained a size or 2

[Marc Meakin]

Bacon is overrated. Sausages are just way better.

Nickelback are fine. People just pile on because people are like that.

Even the most attractive people look better clothed than naked.

Language is a powerful tool that, when well crafted, can inform and entertain like no other human construct, but to almost everyone alive, spelling and grammar shouldn't really matter as long as the general gist of it is gettable.

It is fine for a politician's views and voting record to change over time, and perhaps even encouraged.

Superhero films are dull as hell.

There is no fun to be had in cooking.

Bohemian Rhapsody is a ramshackle mess with a good solo.

Fair play to the Kardashians.

Albeit less so in the internet age, there is a haughtiness to the supposed importance of reading that I very much object to. It is A way of getting information, stimulating thought and expanding your mind, but far from THE way.

Jeans are uncomfortable and silly looking.

Collared shirts are uncomfortable and silly looking and if you ain't getting married or dead or something then I'm not wearing one.

Virgin Cola was pretty good.

Euthanasia should be legal.

I'm with you on most of these and I can add that I was in the States when the New taste of Cola came out in the early/mid eighties and I quite liked it but it didn't last

Euthanasia should not only be legal but actively encouraged if someone should get a terminal illness rather like an elective cesarian to know exactly when your child is born you should be allowed to chose the day of your death so you can properly say goodbye.

I think Jeans are definitely for the young and fit.
Old or /and overweight people should stay clear and don't get me started on Jeggings.
Nickelback are ok for 2 singles of theirs and like Big Country and Status Quo, they don't have enough variety as a band.
Probably why Bowie, Queen and Radiohead are favourites of mine.

Bohemian Rhapsody was a fantastic track in 76 through to the mid eighties but it's been played to death.
As for cooking, I agree, from a personal point of view I would rather eat out than cook from scratch but cooking is an art form like making music, I am rubbish at but I love food and listening to music.
Superhero films are generally crap unless the genre is subverted like Logan or The Joker and Watchmen

[Marc Meakin]

Crisps are too greasy and leave you with a very undesirable layer of grease on your fingers that then transfers on to surfaces. Owing to the inconvenient nature of this, it is perfectly acceptable to pour a bag of crisps in to a bowl and eat them with a spoon if in the comfort of your own home. I will avoid eating crisps in public, and on the rare occasions where it is the only snack available and I am very hungry, I will eat them with my left hand and only touch them with the very ends of my fingers.

Hand-washing technology has advanced a lot in recent years. There's soap and everything.

I am apposite of this but that generally involves a trip to the nearest bathroom, and they aren't always abundant in public. I also just don't like the feeling of the grease on my fingers, no matter the length of time it lingers before it is removed.

I'm more likely to lick my fingers in these situations.
But not just after a piss

[Elliott Mellor]

I'm with Gavin on clothes. Either these opinions aren't unpopular enough or I'm just an unpopular kind of guy.

Why not both?

I also somewhat agree with clothes - especially the "must get a new suit/dress/whatever for this event" mentality, when there are 15 others in your wardrobe that you bought for other similar occasions and haven't worn since. Massive waste of money to pay an extortionate amount for an item of clothing to then only use it once.

[Gavin Chipper]

Boris Johnson did not nearly die of COVID.

[Marc Meakin]

I'm with Gavin on clothes. Either these opinions aren't unpopular enough or I'm just an unpopular kind of guy.

Why not both?

I also somewhat agree with clothes - especially the "must get a new suit/dress/whatever for this event" mentality, when there are 15 others in your wardrobe that you bought for other similar occasions and haven't worn since. Massive waste of money to pay an extortionate amount for an item of clothing to then only use it once.

Surely the biggest waste of money is for a wedding dress, you will wear it once, why not hire it

[Elliott Mellor]

Boris Johnson did not nearly die of COVID.

Is that really an unpopular opinion?

[Marc Meakin]

Boris Johnson did not nearly die of COVID.

Are you saying he faked it?
Too many people involved for it to totally faked but 'nearly dying' may have been an exageration

[Gavin Chipper]

Boris Johnson did not nearly die of COVID.

Is that really an unpopular opinion?

Probably not but people just say he did like it's an established fact and no-one questions it.

Boris Johnson did not nearly die of COVID.

Are you saying he faked it?
Too many people involved for it to totally faked but 'nearly dying' may have been an exageration

It's the nearly dying bit. People that nearly die don't tend to be back at work like nothing ever happened a week or two later.

[Marc Meakin]

This government (since Theresa May) is the worst in living memory (I've recently turned 60) I include Thatcher in this

[Elliott Mellor]

This government (since Theresa May) is the worst in living memory (I've recently turned 60) I include Thatcher in this

I think you forgot the "un" part of this thread.

[Marc Meakin]

This government (since Theresa May) is the worst in living memory (I've recently turned 60) I include Thatcher in this

I think you forgot the "un" part of this thread.

I dont think it will universally be agreed with, on here, however

[Elliott Mellor]

This government (since Theresa May) is the worst in living memory (I've recently turned 60) I include Thatcher in this

I think you forgot the "un" part of this thread.

I dont think it will universally be agreed with, on here, however

Well, no, but it's not exactly unpopular I don't think...

[Marc Meakin]

Victoria Coren-Mitchell is the worst quiz show host since Max Bygraves

[Marc Meakin]

Cranberry sauce does not belong with Turkey.
Im ok with Bread Sauce.
Brussel sprouts are the Devils testes.
Mince pies should be available all year round (not sure if this is unpopular or not)

[Mark James]

It's been 15 years since that guy threw his shoes at George W. Bush and time to admit that Bush dodged those shoes like a boss and is probably one of the coolest things an American president ever did.

[Mark Deeks]

There's no denying Bush had some swag about him.

[Callum Todd]

There's no denying Bush had some swag about him.

https://youtu.be/TCm9788Tb5g?si=M2cm3_iDopAMtmRV

[Gavin Chipper]

There's no denying Bush had some swag about him.

https://youtu.be/TCm9788Tb5g?si=M2cm3_iDopAMtmRV

Top comment is "This is how the Golf War started."

[Fiona T]

Dunno if it's unpopular, but definitely un-PC

I find Rosie Jones very hard work to listen to - she makes me turn the telly off.

[Johnny Canuck]

Copyright on media franchises that are made by big corporations should be way way waaaaay shorter. Maybe 30 or 40 years. We all have that game or movie that came out in our childhood that we loved but never got expanded on and can now never be followed up on again in our lifetimes.

(Media made by individuals or small indie companies get a pass, since at that point they "belong" to just one or a few people and will be specifically close to their hearts. I bet though that a lot of people who work to produce Star Trek aren't even Star Trek fans.)

[Marc Meakin]

Dunno if it's unpopular, but definitely un-PC

I find Rosie Jones very hard work to listen to - she makes me turn the telly off.

Me too, not because of her cerebral palsy, she just isn't funny.

[Marc Meakin]

It's time to end the commonwealth.
I think when the queen died the need for a commonwealth died too.
We are living in an age where talk of the British Empire is embarrassing at best and shameful at worst and The Commonwealth is a reflexion of this history.

[Martin Hurst]

On Mastermind, those with the most passes should be classified above those with fewer passes. No answer is better than a wrong answer.

[Marc Meakin]

On Mastermind, those with the most passes should be classified above those with fewer passes. No answer is better than a wrong answer.

Given that passing has no benefit to the contestant I'm shocked they don't guess every time they are not sure

[Gavin Chipper]

Passing saves time. It's the cheap way out. That's the advantage. So getting the same number right without the passes is better in that sense.

[Conor]

"genuinely"

You've changed

Perhaps this is how it starts, you start saying right wing opinions when at a party as a 'joke' and then 10 years later you're a racist.

To actually offer something genuine:
- Everything Everywhere All at Once might be the worst film I've ever seen. Crazy how many awards it won.
- Inheritance tax should theoretically be 100%, but in its current implementation it punishes those (or the relatives of those) who die young and suddenly excessively so.

[Marc Meakin]

"genuinely"

You've changed

Perhaps this is how it starts, you start saying right wing opinions when at a party as a 'joke' and then 10 years later you're a racist.

To actually offer something genuine:
- Everything Everywhere All at Once might be the worst film I've ever seen. Crazy how many awards it won.
- Inheritance tax should theoretically be 100%, but in its current implementation it punishes those (or the relatives of those) who die young and suddenly excessively so.

Over rated for sure, Banshees of Inisherin was miles better but EEAAO had its merits. I do like The Daniels and raved about Swiss Army Man when it came, telling a story about mental illness in a quirky way the way that EEAAO is about mother daughter relationships in a quirky way.
Worst film to win best film must be Crash btw

[Gavin Chipper]

Not only do we not need a monarchy, we don't need a head of state.

[Marc Meakin]

"Blood is thicker than water"
What a crock of shit.
Porridge is thicker than blood, so go figure.!
I have figured throughout my life that the people you choose to be with are far more important than those who share your DNA.
I say this with an air of sadness, however

[Marc Meakin]

The apostrophe and the hyphen are really not needed

Those that get hung up on punctuation are no better than those who want their news presenters to speak in the King's English

[Marc Meakin]

Die Hard is not a Christmas movie.
If its on the basis of it happening Christmas Eve, you may as well call Eyes Wide Shut a Christmas Movie amongst others

[Mark Deeks]

Women, generally, are worse drivers.

[Fiona T]

Women, generally, are worse drivers.

Yeah that must be why they have cheaper insurance...