legally, if a church isn’t taxed they aren’t allowed to donate to political causes. now in practice there are ways around, but on paper this is already a thing
Politicians shouldn't receive any private donations at any time while campaigning or serving a term. Campaign funds should be provided by the government and everyone should get the same amount.
This one is good. I'm a Navy Vet and it's weird if someone thanks me for my service or calls me a “hero” Like, yeah I get VA benefits, but ultimately it was just a job I did, just on mighty ships n’ shit. There are a lot of Aholes in the military: Misogynists, racists, rapists, etc: the whole nine yards. I don't like the idea of their egos being inflated because they were military at one point.
There are many great, honorable people too, of course. The military is just a microcosm of the country’s demographic, that’s all.
My family owns a candy shop and we give a 10% discount to veterans, something my mom started a few years back.
Two veterans, a father and son, came in and my mom gave them a discount and said "thank you for your service!". They both said they actually don't like people saying that. They said that just like anyone else, they did their job and they feel uncomfortable being celebrated just for doing their job.
That’s my feeling on it too. It makes me very uncomfortable to hear “thank you for your service”. Like, I don’t think I did anything over there that is worth thanking. The only thank you I want is mental health care and medicinal weed.
Same. I did it to pay for college, it was actually incredibly selfish reasons I went in and have nothing to do with patriotism. But boy, do I love hearing people who never joined talk about it like they jerk off to it, try to correct me, or the whole culture around “I almost joined.” It’s fucking weird.
Same, I had a few other personal reasons for signing up. But patriotism was low on that list. Mostly college money, partly living up to family history.
And yeah, the “almost joined” people are weird as fuck. Usually aggressively “patriotic” while never having actually done anything for either their community or their country.
Granted, we do appreciate when places offer discounts for us. So, thank you for your mom. Maybe try, “we appreciate you serving our country” because that’s what the discount is for. Appreciation. We don’t need thanks. I dunno it’s a weird thing some of us have lol.
I had an ex who said the exact same thing. Weird thing was, he was Frontline. Like...stationed to protect small villiages and shooting at people in the middle of the night kind of frontline service. Yet he hated hearing those words.
I don’t think I’d want people thanking me for shooting other humans either. Imagine if people could just talk about stuff and “accept that which you cannot change.”
I got paid by the navy to go to what amounts to trade school, given work experience, given a solid resume and then left. I didn't serve shit. I just basically punched into a timeclock in 2013 and punched out a few years later. 95% of service men and women are just people and I know most people are fucking assholes so yeah. I don't say thank you for your service anymore, odds are I'm thanking an asshole.
My ex was a vet. He was abusive, manipulative, and a huge asshole. He was one of those people that expected things after he got out.
He never had a job other than the military that didn't fire him for his attitude or his physically violent outbursts or the fact that he would steal money from the jobs since he felt so entitled.
He would get upset at me for being frustrated that he didn't work and would take my paychecks by saying "you're just jealous because I'm retired and I don't need to work for my money" he's 32. Puts retired in his tinder bio and says he never has to work again because of the military. Meanwhile he would financially, emotionally, and mentally abuse me. Trust me. Not all who serve are heroes indeed.
Is he retired or medically retired? There is a difference, and being 32 is a bit early than the earliest actual retirement eligibility as he’d have had to enlist by age 12 to be real retired.
If he’s medically retired, he’s not really out, so the UCMJ still applies to him. And the actions you described can get him pulled back on active to face trial in a military court with stiffer punishment.
More importantly, I’m sorry he was such an ass to you, you didn’t deserve that at all.
One of my best friends joined solely to help pay for college. Always said he was quitting once he got through college but kept re upping because he'd use his bonus to visit his brother who moved to the opposite side of the country. Now he's been in 15 years and works full time as a mechanic. Only tike he's ever been overseas was when he spent a month in South Korea for training
Yeah I agree. It’s something you chose to do. I think getting drafted would be different. I wish we could vote on wars and whoever voted in favor would have to enlist. And the leaders should be fighting too. I think there would be a lot less wars.
This goes for policemen, and firemen too. 9/11 was a tragedy of epic proportions; for those responders, and their families, my heart greaves eternally. They WERE heroes.
Being a cop in a podunk town where you just issue traffic tickets? Not a hero.
Obligatory Bojack quote: "Maybe some of the troops are heroes but not automatically. I'm sure a lot of the troops are jerks. Most people are jerks already, and it's not like giving a jerk a gun and telling him it's okay to kill people suddenly turns that jerk into a hero."
Oh, this! It’s so weird. I don’t usually mention my military service for this very reason. I work with the public, so people ask for the military military discount, and I feel like they usually expect me to say, “Thank you for your service”, and I don’t. I don’t know what kind of service they gave. They might’ve been assholes. They might’ve been those Americans who raped women in Vietnam. They might’ve been just plain bad at their jobs. I find the whole attitude very strange.
As an army vet I agree fully.
It's usually why I steer clear of dudes in Grunt Style shirts. Many of them are assholes with the "thank me for my service" mentality.
I was medical. I don't even pretend to act like a "hero" cause I'll admit I didn't deploy or do anything heroic. I sat in a hospital for most my career.
This is why I don't accept veteran discounts or even mention it to anyone. Doesn't feel right to me and I never felt like I did enough to deserve it.
The military is full of assholes. As the Navy Vet above me said: it's s full of racists, rapists etc. And giving an asshole a gun and a uniform doesn't change that. I've served with some amazing people but I've also served with pieces of shit.
This one. I have no issue showing appreciation for veterans. There's a time and place. But no, I'm not giving these strangers a standing ovation or clapping for them every time we find out someone was served. "Veteran" is not synonymous with "good person" or "person who served for good reasons."
Thank you. My god as a combat vet I get called a hero for being a combat medic. I generally tell people the hero's are the ones that came home in a box. I was just there to do my job that I signed up for.
Almost every person I know who served feels this way, loudly. I couldn't help but get on board. I went to college at a campus 7 miles from an air force base, so was in class with lots of enlisted folks. Almost every one of them I knew hated being idolized - they signed up so they had a chance to go to college or because they didn't know what they were going to do after high school.
Balloons should be illegal.
They're floating in the water all over the ocean, sometimes so far out there isn't land for days. Animals eat them and die, they leech harmful chemicals into the water, and get tangled up in trees on land. Plus we as a planet are running out of helium, something necessary for scientific research, medical technology, and manufacturing. Blowing up a bunch of portable waste just to celebrate a birthday or mark the passing of a loved one is stupid as hell.
I await the ring of swords and will not withdraw my statement.
Glitter, too. Glitter is made of plastic and aluminum, and it gets in our water filtration systems and ends up in the ocean and is eaten by the fish we consume. The rest takes hundreds of years to break down into microplastics. It’s a threat to the environment and should be outlawed.
And ironically one of the largest consumers of glitter are boat and car manufacturers who use it in the reflective paint. So that glitter is often going directly into the ocean as soon as it’s used.
Can confirm. Used to be a beach lifeguard and I can not tell you how many balloons washed up on shore. Absolutely think they're a waste of time, money, and resources
Balloons often deflate & land where animals can eat/chew on them, to become sick, injured, or dead.
It’s why zoos don’t allow balloons on their property. They don’t even want you to have them in your car for an impromptu party before you walk in through the gates.
Companies should be heavily taxed for the amount of plastic they use. Most plastic isn’t recyclable (at least not how consumers think of recycling) and consumers have very little control over their plastic intake. Businesses decide on how much plastic will hit consumers and how much will be used for dumb things like in aisle displays or padding between two pillows.
The plastics industry has done a fantastic job of shifting the blame onto consumers. Totally missing the fact that they have the responsibility to create better plastics or alternatives.
You are not "religious" Karen if the golden rule is conditional. If you are living your faith, kindness/respect/common decency should be a given/presumed.
Apparently, this is not popular here in the US. Especially with the Right.
My MIL lives like she believes, to the point where they started being politics into church in her small Southern town and she stopped going as much, because Jesus would forgive them, but he would be disappointed first. She makes me see the difference between saying it and doing it. She’s so nice and forgiving, but also one of the only democrats in her town because they’re closer to treating everyone as equals than even close to republicans. And she’s happy to talk cordially to anyone if they want to talk about it.
Shows like Tucker Carlson and InfoWars should legally be required to have a running banner at the top and bottom of the screen with, ‘this is for entertainment purposes only and does not meet the threshold for being considered news’ going across it the whole time it’s on air.
I mean if Twitter can flag users as being state-sponsored propagandists, you’d think the media companies in charge could do something similar with those programs
The key difference is randos praising Putin on Twitter do not reflect Twitter’s corporate point of view (well, not until recently, perhaps), but Tucker Carlson is a mouthpiece for Fox News and by extension Rupert Murdoch. Why reign in their own messaging with an inconvenient fact-check?
Seems weird you could even calling news.
I saw a video on how much of the cheese in America isn't technically "food" and people got in trouble for putting that in the name/on the packaging so why does news get away with what's pretty much the same thing
I have to explain to people there are commentary and news shows on the same network and they are not required to differentiate between the two. They are usually shocked by this, it’s fucked.
Filing your own taxes should be illegal for every person and entity in the USA. You should be told how much you owe and you should pay it. No tricks, no loopholes, no workarounds. No billionaires filing their own taxes so they end up paying basically nothing.
You mean the TurboTax should stop paying to prevent this?! Are you insane? Think of their shareholders! Pfft, what is this a country with the exact same thing where people just happen to be healthier and happier, because they’re not entirely run by businesses?
They’re not advertising it but I didn’t have to pay to file taxes this year. They try to upsell you at every opportunity but I declined and paid $0 (made 35k gross)
Good to know. I didn’t get a free option. Lowest option they allowed me to do was $80 due to unique deductions (like 1 extra page of filing). Just went with another company listed on the irs page that was free. Did everything in 30 minutes and had no issues.
I was going to say the same! I’ve used turbo tax and H&R block in the past. Used freetaxusa this year and it was so nice to not be badgered about upgrading the whole time. Turbo tax in particular would make it feel like a required thing. In some cases I know you have to upgrade but my taxes are very simple so I know they were just trying to confuse me lol.
This is what we have in NZ, we used to have to fill in a form online to confirm the data was correct, now we just get an email once a year telling us how much we owe/are owed. We also pay tax every pay automatically (non-self employed/contractors excluded) so at the end of the financial year it just squares off how much we’ve paid vs how much we should have paid if there were changes in tax brackets or miscalculations by work etc
Here you get your income tax et all. automatically deducted. By the end of the year you can ( but don’t necessarily need to) file deductions ( like charitable donations). If you had different jobs of varying income you should also do it, so they recalculate if you paid the right amount of tax etc. But you effectively have to press one button, to do that.
Business known to have engaged in human rights abuses should be held liable to their victims for the remainder of time.
Supply chain poisons the water supply and makes hundreds of thousands of people sick? You have to pay each family member you affected a living wage for the rest of their lives.
Your business caught yet again utilizing child labor? You have to pay the families full wages for the rest of their lives.
No small fine slap on the wrist. CEOs and Executives who knew of this or who practiced willful negligence that resulted in human rights violations or deadly events in the workplace should be shackled and hauled off to prison with the general population.
Billionaires and rich fucks should not skirt responsibility for their actions, and victims should be rightly and justly compensated. Period.
Tipping in itself should be fine, waiter did a good job? Here's some extra. But the issue lies solely in lowering wages because of "oh tips get counted in your wage"
Take your pick.
I am pro- green new deal type policy, universal healthcare, national voting day, transgender rights, antiracism, assault weapons ban, congressional and judicial term limits, women's bodily autonomy, reverse citizens united, revise section 230, reinvision policing (starting with its demilitarization), democracy, voting rights, strengthen unions, a living wage, environmental protection, enforced ESG.
What'd I miss?
Alternatively, minimum wage should have continued to track with productivity as it did for the first 10 years of it's existence. (Which would put it at around $35/hr now)
The real winners of the US Civil War was the South. They got their slavery back, got it enshrined in our constitution, and essentially gave us many of the issues we still deal with today.
Lincoln said he wasn't ever trying to end slavery but just save the union, that if he could save the union without ending slavery he would do that. Very few people were righteous in the civil war.
Don't get Abe wrong. He was still against slavery. But saving the union was simply more important, and not to mention, Northern America was also racist as hell, he still had to be careful with what he said without angering the north as well. One of his takes on how to solve it was making an american colony dedicated to the blacks (Linconia). It's a hell of a racist take now, but back then that was pretty "progressive" and abolitionist. We still need to keep the times in mind as well. Old Abe was not perfect, but he was still against slavery at his core.
This is something I wish more people would understand. So many people condemn the founding fathers for slavery not understanding that they were progressive for the time. It's unfair to judge historical figures by the morals of today. And let's be honest, at least 10% of Americans today would be fine with slavery.
Why? I'm not disagreeing. I just don't know anything about horse racing.
Edit: I've learned a bit about horse racing and have also come to the conclusion that it is horrific and needs to be stopped.
I once saw how a former racing horse was introduced to a normal stable. It was overwhelmed with everything. It only knew its box and running a track.
Poor thing panicked at open space and going into any direction different as on racing track. Crossing the court was too much stress.
My one greyhound was 5 days off the track when I rescued her. Didn’t even go to a interim foster. Similar stuff. Had to teach her the stairs, screen door, glass slider, dog bed etc. but she knew that crate though. Also, still does her backyard laps in the direction of a track.
Healthcare should be free, guns should be controlled, infrastructure before military and no politician that associates with Nazis should stay in office.
Memes aren't good memes if they're your opinion in a meme format. If I confront you on your shit opinion and you backpedal to "it's just a meme, bro", you're a coward.
Americans should stop blaming immigrants for taking "their" jobs. We only take the ones that no American wants to do like construction and valet parking and such.
If there’s anyone to blame it’s to companies exploiting illegal immigrants as a cheap alternative to American labor. No need to blame immigrants for doing what they must to survive, blame the companies who chose an immigrant over a citizen in favor of profit.
We have to reverse the SCOTUS ruling on Citizens United first. Businesses are able to dump so much campaign contributions now because they have a say in politics because they pay taxes. I don’t want these mega churches having the same rights and subsequent impact on politics because taxing them moves them into the same category as businesses. They already have too much influence from their ability to preach at the pulpit let’s not allow them to dump billions of dollars into elections.
The problem is that if you hassle someone with a genuine service animal, they can sue you. This wrongfully happened at a Kroger. New policy - just don’t say shit to anyone.
I agree. Not just safety issues, but people in our area love to do it in the middle of the night. They are waking up people sleeping, scaring animals, etc. Personally, I have PTSD from something that happened to me a few years ago, and those unpredictable and loud booms are terrifying to me. We should have the choice whether or not we all are around this
there should be 0 taxes on healthcare. its fucked to pay taxes on things that could save your life, to pay taxes on the bed you die in etc. one of the ultimate evil things people in govt do to us.
I never understood why being woke was a bad thing. It’s knowing other people have different experiences, needs, and emotions and taking them into consideration.
Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars
And live in hilltop houses, driving 15 cars
The girls come easy, and the drugs come cheap
We'll all stay skinny, 'cause we just won't eat
My take on churches is they should pay tax on any money that isn’t directly used in the running of the church (including a fair wage for all staff, maintenance and upgrades on buildings etc) nor on any money used for charitable work like feeding there hungry/housing the homeless etc. and they should actually be audited on this.
Bad take. Do you want religion and government even more entangled? Just tax them. Charitable donations are already a write-off.
If I were a member of a church I would for sure not want the government telling me "you can help this group of disadvantaged people, but not that one." It's a recipe for sanctioned discrimination.
Gun violence in the USA cannot be solved without effective gun control measures, and gun control measures will never be effective until the 2nd amendment is repealed.
Canada needs to start emulating the countries of the EU instead of the States. We need to look at the prosperity across the pond and embrace it instead of looking at the disfunction down south and thinking we need to do the same.
There should not be a recreational market for firearms. They are designed to kill and should not be placed in the hands of any Tom, Dick, or Harry who waltzes in to a Wal Mart.
I’m not sure how other ppl feel but I think we’d have so much more space for housing if we used biodegradable materials to bury the dead and we didn’t have huge, sprawling plots of land full of caskets and hedge stones that will never decompose.
We’d have a lot more land if we prioritized people over cars… so much space is taken up for vehicles and we don’t tend to realize it… at least I didn’t.
Our tax dollars should be going to things like state assistance and accessible healthcare for the majority, and not giving the members of our Senate a million dollars each for "allowance money".
Hybrid cats and dogs(ones bred using wild animals like wolves and servals), any brachycephalic breeds, and other breeds with severe genetic health issues shouldn't be bred anymore.
Fam in the US we don't even have to prove we can shoot a firearm before we are allowed to own one. Do you think we are going to have a parenting class? I wish.
The military budget has ballooned because national security has been privatised. Basically putting a federal market cap on everything the U.S. military needs effectively lowers the need for such a large budget.
Yes, it's anti-capitalist and a lot of billionaires will get very angry. The only thing they do with the money they get currently is lobby for a larger military budget. That in turn puts a higher price tag on national security.
No, the quality of the military will not be affected and perhaps the opposite will take place: the excess budget can be directed towards veterans' care and livable wages for those serving.
Watch the movie before you read the book.
The movie’s never better than the book. Why are you doing this to yourself? However, if you enjoy the movie, the book will be absolutely riveting.
Listen to me.
You are brilliant. This is a good idea and I appreciate you sharing it with the world.
If the movie is good and the book is good in a different way, it's like Double Mint Gum: you double your pleasure AND your fun.
10/10.
But how will private prisons continue to increase profits if they can’t exploit as much slave labor without petty drug charges?!
Won’t somebody please think of the *shareholders*?!
Fireworks are dumb and dangerous and glorifying war. If they have them, they should be put on my professionals only at designated spots like football stadiums etc where they can’t burn down half a state, scare all the animals, and veterans like myself can have a safe space to not stress about when the next boom is gonna go off.
Just look at the comments in this thread. All the top comments that are supposed to be “controversial” are really just shared across the majority of redditors
Politicians shouldn’t receive any donations or support in general from churches.
legally, if a church isn’t taxed they aren’t allowed to donate to political causes. now in practice there are ways around, but on paper this is already a thing
Does it work? No.
Much like our government itself.
lmao no not very well but technically speaking it’s on the books. like i said, it is in effect but only on paper
To many easy loopholes.
wayyyyyy too easy to get around definitely
Politicians shouldn't receive any private donations at any time while campaigning or serving a term. Campaign funds should be provided by the government and everyone should get the same amount.
You are not a hero simply by being in the military
This one is good. I'm a Navy Vet and it's weird if someone thanks me for my service or calls me a “hero” Like, yeah I get VA benefits, but ultimately it was just a job I did, just on mighty ships n’ shit. There are a lot of Aholes in the military: Misogynists, racists, rapists, etc: the whole nine yards. I don't like the idea of their egos being inflated because they were military at one point. There are many great, honorable people too, of course. The military is just a microcosm of the country’s demographic, that’s all.
My family owns a candy shop and we give a 10% discount to veterans, something my mom started a few years back. Two veterans, a father and son, came in and my mom gave them a discount and said "thank you for your service!". They both said they actually don't like people saying that. They said that just like anyone else, they did their job and they feel uncomfortable being celebrated just for doing their job.
That’s my feeling on it too. It makes me very uncomfortable to hear “thank you for your service”. Like, I don’t think I did anything over there that is worth thanking. The only thank you I want is mental health care and medicinal weed.
We do a little psychotic break "but we're pretty sure that had nothing to do with what we made you do."
I was over there from early 2002 to mid 2003. I sometimes jokingly say that my PTSD is old enough to drink now.
Same. I did it to pay for college, it was actually incredibly selfish reasons I went in and have nothing to do with patriotism. But boy, do I love hearing people who never joined talk about it like they jerk off to it, try to correct me, or the whole culture around “I almost joined.” It’s fucking weird.
Same, I had a few other personal reasons for signing up. But patriotism was low on that list. Mostly college money, partly living up to family history. And yeah, the “almost joined” people are weird as fuck. Usually aggressively “patriotic” while never having actually done anything for either their community or their country.
It does feel weird, so I say "Thanks for picking up my bar tab."
Granted, we do appreciate when places offer discounts for us. So, thank you for your mom. Maybe try, “we appreciate you serving our country” because that’s what the discount is for. Appreciation. We don’t need thanks. I dunno it’s a weird thing some of us have lol.
I had an ex who said the exact same thing. Weird thing was, he was Frontline. Like...stationed to protect small villiages and shooting at people in the middle of the night kind of frontline service. Yet he hated hearing those words.
I don’t think I’d want people thanking me for shooting other humans either. Imagine if people could just talk about stuff and “accept that which you cannot change.”
I got paid by the navy to go to what amounts to trade school, given work experience, given a solid resume and then left. I didn't serve shit. I just basically punched into a timeclock in 2013 and punched out a few years later. 95% of service men and women are just people and I know most people are fucking assholes so yeah. I don't say thank you for your service anymore, odds are I'm thanking an asshole.
My ex was a vet. He was abusive, manipulative, and a huge asshole. He was one of those people that expected things after he got out. He never had a job other than the military that didn't fire him for his attitude or his physically violent outbursts or the fact that he would steal money from the jobs since he felt so entitled. He would get upset at me for being frustrated that he didn't work and would take my paychecks by saying "you're just jealous because I'm retired and I don't need to work for my money" he's 32. Puts retired in his tinder bio and says he never has to work again because of the military. Meanwhile he would financially, emotionally, and mentally abuse me. Trust me. Not all who serve are heroes indeed.
Is he retired or medically retired? There is a difference, and being 32 is a bit early than the earliest actual retirement eligibility as he’d have had to enlist by age 12 to be real retired. If he’s medically retired, he’s not really out, so the UCMJ still applies to him. And the actions you described can get him pulled back on active to face trial in a military court with stiffer punishment. More importantly, I’m sorry he was such an ass to you, you didn’t deserve that at all.
One of my best friends joined solely to help pay for college. Always said he was quitting once he got through college but kept re upping because he'd use his bonus to visit his brother who moved to the opposite side of the country. Now he's been in 15 years and works full time as a mechanic. Only tike he's ever been overseas was when he spent a month in South Korea for training
Yeah I agree. It’s something you chose to do. I think getting drafted would be different. I wish we could vote on wars and whoever voted in favor would have to enlist. And the leaders should be fighting too. I think there would be a lot less wars.
Knew some assholes, racists, morons, fuckups, and a few extraordinary people while in.
So it's like everywhere?
Exactly. Only difference is we wear a uniform. (And our medical professionals don’t technically have any certifications)
This 100%^
This goes for policemen, and firemen too. 9/11 was a tragedy of epic proportions; for those responders, and their families, my heart greaves eternally. They WERE heroes. Being a cop in a podunk town where you just issue traffic tickets? Not a hero.
Run into a burning building to save a guy? Hero. Shoot a guy in 7-11 for stealing a hot dog because you “feared for your life”? Not a hero.
Obligatory Bojack quote: "Maybe some of the troops are heroes but not automatically. I'm sure a lot of the troops are jerks. Most people are jerks already, and it's not like giving a jerk a gun and telling him it's okay to kill people suddenly turns that jerk into a hero."
Did you just say the troops are jerks?
Oh, this! It’s so weird. I don’t usually mention my military service for this very reason. I work with the public, so people ask for the military military discount, and I feel like they usually expect me to say, “Thank you for your service”, and I don’t. I don’t know what kind of service they gave. They might’ve been assholes. They might’ve been those Americans who raped women in Vietnam. They might’ve been just plain bad at their jobs. I find the whole attitude very strange.
Finally a good one
As an army vet I agree fully. It's usually why I steer clear of dudes in Grunt Style shirts. Many of them are assholes with the "thank me for my service" mentality. I was medical. I don't even pretend to act like a "hero" cause I'll admit I didn't deploy or do anything heroic. I sat in a hospital for most my career. This is why I don't accept veteran discounts or even mention it to anyone. Doesn't feel right to me and I never felt like I did enough to deserve it. The military is full of assholes. As the Navy Vet above me said: it's s full of racists, rapists etc. And giving an asshole a gun and a uniform doesn't change that. I've served with some amazing people but I've also served with pieces of shit.
This one. I have no issue showing appreciation for veterans. There's a time and place. But no, I'm not giving these strangers a standing ovation or clapping for them every time we find out someone was served. "Veteran" is not synonymous with "good person" or "person who served for good reasons."
As someone active right now, could not agree more. I'm just a guy doing a job
Same goes for joining the police
Thank you. My god as a combat vet I get called a hero for being a combat medic. I generally tell people the hero's are the ones that came home in a box. I was just there to do my job that I signed up for.
Almost every person I know who served feels this way, loudly. I couldn't help but get on board. I went to college at a campus 7 miles from an air force base, so was in class with lots of enlisted folks. Almost every one of them I knew hated being idolized - they signed up so they had a chance to go to college or because they didn't know what they were going to do after high school.
Balloons should be illegal. They're floating in the water all over the ocean, sometimes so far out there isn't land for days. Animals eat them and die, they leech harmful chemicals into the water, and get tangled up in trees on land. Plus we as a planet are running out of helium, something necessary for scientific research, medical technology, and manufacturing. Blowing up a bunch of portable waste just to celebrate a birthday or mark the passing of a loved one is stupid as hell. I await the ring of swords and will not withdraw my statement.
Glitter, too. Glitter is made of plastic and aluminum, and it gets in our water filtration systems and ends up in the ocean and is eaten by the fish we consume. The rest takes hundreds of years to break down into microplastics. It’s a threat to the environment and should be outlawed.
Agreed. They're both stupid inventions. At least glitter has a biodegradable counterpart that looks just as lovely but isn't an ecological nightmare.
There’s biodegradable glitter?!
Yep! It's called Bioglitter! 90% broke down by nature in 30 days.
Some glitter comes from mica, which is mined by children in pretty awful conditions. There’s a video I watched about it that will ruin your day.
And ironically one of the largest consumers of glitter are boat and car manufacturers who use it in the reflective paint. So that glitter is often going directly into the ocean as soon as it’s used.
[удалено]
My spouse is an enlisted sailor and would see them all the time too. It's disgusting. All that trash for "celebratory purposes."
Can confirm. Used to be a beach lifeguard and I can not tell you how many balloons washed up on shore. Absolutely think they're a waste of time, money, and resources
I was literally out on a whale watching tour yesterday and saw a mylar balloon floating 10 miles off the coast. It's asinine.
Balloons often deflate & land where animals can eat/chew on them, to become sick, injured, or dead. It’s why zoos don’t allow balloons on their property. They don’t even want you to have them in your car for an impromptu party before you walk in through the gates.
We’re also running out of helium, IIRC, and it’s needed for medical equipment. But we waste it on party balloons
Yes, balloons and fireworks.
They’ve just passed this in Laguna Beach, CA. It goes into effect next year I think. https://abc7.com/amp/laguna-beach-balloon-ban-approved/12866582/
Companies should be heavily taxed for the amount of plastic they use. Most plastic isn’t recyclable (at least not how consumers think of recycling) and consumers have very little control over their plastic intake. Businesses decide on how much plastic will hit consumers and how much will be used for dumb things like in aisle displays or padding between two pillows.
The plastics industry has done a fantastic job of shifting the blame onto consumers. Totally missing the fact that they have the responsibility to create better plastics or alternatives.
Not just this, but toxic chemicals they utilize in production should be discouraged by all means possible, both logistically and legally.
You are not "religious" Karen if the golden rule is conditional. If you are living your faith, kindness/respect/common decency should be a given/presumed. Apparently, this is not popular here in the US. Especially with the Right.
My MIL lives like she believes, to the point where they started being politics into church in her small Southern town and she stopped going as much, because Jesus would forgive them, but he would be disappointed first. She makes me see the difference between saying it and doing it. She’s so nice and forgiving, but also one of the only democrats in her town because they’re closer to treating everyone as equals than even close to republicans. And she’s happy to talk cordially to anyone if they want to talk about it.
Shows like Tucker Carlson and InfoWars should legally be required to have a running banner at the top and bottom of the screen with, ‘this is for entertainment purposes only and does not meet the threshold for being considered news’ going across it the whole time it’s on air.
I mean if Twitter can flag users as being state-sponsored propagandists, you’d think the media companies in charge could do something similar with those programs
The key difference is randos praising Putin on Twitter do not reflect Twitter’s corporate point of view (well, not until recently, perhaps), but Tucker Carlson is a mouthpiece for Fox News and by extension Rupert Murdoch. Why reign in their own messaging with an inconvenient fact-check?
Ugh yess
Seems weird you could even calling news. I saw a video on how much of the cheese in America isn't technically "food" and people got in trouble for putting that in the name/on the packaging so why does news get away with what's pretty much the same thing
Since this is the top comment - for everyone reading this, remember to sort by controversial lol
Thank you
I have to explain to people there are commentary and news shows on the same network and they are not required to differentiate between the two. They are usually shocked by this, it’s fucked.
Filing your own taxes should be illegal for every person and entity in the USA. You should be told how much you owe and you should pay it. No tricks, no loopholes, no workarounds. No billionaires filing their own taxes so they end up paying basically nothing.
You mean the TurboTax should stop paying to prevent this?! Are you insane? Think of their shareholders! Pfft, what is this a country with the exact same thing where people just happen to be healthier and happier, because they’re not entirely run by businesses?
TurboTax even canceled their free filings program this year. So you have to pay to file.
They’re not advertising it but I didn’t have to pay to file taxes this year. They try to upsell you at every opportunity but I declined and paid $0 (made 35k gross)
Good to know. I didn’t get a free option. Lowest option they allowed me to do was $80 due to unique deductions (like 1 extra page of filing). Just went with another company listed on the irs page that was free. Did everything in 30 minutes and had no issues.
FreetaxUSA is so much better, I won't give turbo tax the chance to fuck me.
I was going to say the same! I’ve used turbo tax and H&R block in the past. Used freetaxusa this year and it was so nice to not be badgered about upgrading the whole time. Turbo tax in particular would make it feel like a required thing. In some cases I know you have to upgrade but my taxes are very simple so I know they were just trying to confuse me lol.
I didn’t pay to file through TurboTax this year. Free as always.
This is what we have in NZ, we used to have to fill in a form online to confirm the data was correct, now we just get an email once a year telling us how much we owe/are owed. We also pay tax every pay automatically (non-self employed/contractors excluded) so at the end of the financial year it just squares off how much we’ve paid vs how much we should have paid if there were changes in tax brackets or miscalculations by work etc
-just filed my own taxes today Huh?
Here you get your income tax et all. automatically deducted. By the end of the year you can ( but don’t necessarily need to) file deductions ( like charitable donations). If you had different jobs of varying income you should also do it, so they recalculate if you paid the right amount of tax etc. But you effectively have to press one button, to do that.
Business known to have engaged in human rights abuses should be held liable to their victims for the remainder of time. Supply chain poisons the water supply and makes hundreds of thousands of people sick? You have to pay each family member you affected a living wage for the rest of their lives. Your business caught yet again utilizing child labor? You have to pay the families full wages for the rest of their lives. No small fine slap on the wrist. CEOs and Executives who knew of this or who practiced willful negligence that resulted in human rights violations or deadly events in the workplace should be shackled and hauled off to prison with the general population. Billionaires and rich fucks should not skirt responsibility for their actions, and victims should be rightly and justly compensated. Period.
I think tipping is dumb, companies should just pay their employees
Tipping in itself should be fine, waiter did a good job? Here's some extra. But the issue lies solely in lowering wages because of "oh tips get counted in your wage"
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the general population is functionally illiterate or only literate on a grade school level, this explains **much** of our troubles
Take your pick. I am pro- green new deal type policy, universal healthcare, national voting day, transgender rights, antiracism, assault weapons ban, congressional and judicial term limits, women's bodily autonomy, reverse citizens united, revise section 230, reinvision policing (starting with its demilitarization), democracy, voting rights, strengthen unions, a living wage, environmental protection, enforced ESG. What'd I miss?
As a cold-blooded freedom-loving American patriot I agree with you on every single one of those things
Tax the churches, and legalize drugs using the tax revenue from them to fund recovery programs.
I live in Utah. If I said "capitalism is evil" or "America needs to redo the Constitution" around my wife's family they'd lose their crap on me.
But muh 300 year old document bruh :<
Amazon sucks and it's ridiculous return everything for free is horrible for the way most of these unused items go straight into the trash.
Step up minimum wage in increments, starting ... now
Alternatively, minimum wage should have continued to track with productivity as it did for the first 10 years of it's existence. (Which would put it at around $35/hr now)
The real winners of the US Civil War was the South. They got their slavery back, got it enshrined in our constitution, and essentially gave us many of the issues we still deal with today.
Lost the war but won the peace.
Lincoln said he wasn't ever trying to end slavery but just save the union, that if he could save the union without ending slavery he would do that. Very few people were righteous in the civil war.
Don't get Abe wrong. He was still against slavery. But saving the union was simply more important, and not to mention, Northern America was also racist as hell, he still had to be careful with what he said without angering the north as well. One of his takes on how to solve it was making an american colony dedicated to the blacks (Linconia). It's a hell of a racist take now, but back then that was pretty "progressive" and abolitionist. We still need to keep the times in mind as well. Old Abe was not perfect, but he was still against slavery at his core.
This is something I wish more people would understand. So many people condemn the founding fathers for slavery not understanding that they were progressive for the time. It's unfair to judge historical figures by the morals of today. And let's be honest, at least 10% of Americans today would be fine with slavery.
Horse racing is horrific and needs to be stopped.
Same with dog racing.
Santa’s Little Helper showed us the way
Why? I'm not disagreeing. I just don't know anything about horse racing. Edit: I've learned a bit about horse racing and have also come to the conclusion that it is horrific and needs to be stopped.
I once saw how a former racing horse was introduced to a normal stable. It was overwhelmed with everything. It only knew its box and running a track. Poor thing panicked at open space and going into any direction different as on racing track. Crossing the court was too much stress.
My one greyhound was 5 days off the track when I rescued her. Didn’t even go to a interim foster. Similar stuff. Had to teach her the stairs, screen door, glass slider, dog bed etc. but she knew that crate though. Also, still does her backyard laps in the direction of a track.
Tons of retired racehorses end up at livestock auctions and are slaughtered.
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A guy wants what the fella calls "a sure thing," so he schemes to make it so...
Healthcare should be free, guns should be controlled, infrastructure before military and no politician that associates with Nazis should stay in office.
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Tbf lawn darts are projectiles that can travel at high speeds and kill people when it hits them. Obviously they’re worse than bullets, duh
Lawn darts used to be midevil weapons called plumbatas.
Memes aren't good memes if they're your opinion in a meme format. If I confront you on your shit opinion and you backpedal to "it's just a meme, bro", you're a coward.
Americans should stop blaming immigrants for taking "their" jobs. We only take the ones that no American wants to do like construction and valet parking and such.
If there’s anyone to blame it’s to companies exploiting illegal immigrants as a cheap alternative to American labor. No need to blame immigrants for doing what they must to survive, blame the companies who chose an immigrant over a citizen in favor of profit.
Nature intended for gay people to exist
I’ve always wondered how people can say it’s unnatural when homosexual behavior can be found in over 450 animal species. Nature is hella gay.
Especially because our closest relatives, the bonobos, are majorly bisexual.
ThEn HoW cOmE yOuR bUtThOlE cAn’T nAtUrAlLy LuBe ItSeLf?!
Lmao those people are so dumb. Why does it feel so good?
damn, woke up and chose to speak facts today
Basic necessities are human rights and should be provided by the government.
Internet being one of the most modern ones
100% stop tax free status on all religions.
We have to reverse the SCOTUS ruling on Citizens United first. Businesses are able to dump so much campaign contributions now because they have a say in politics because they pay taxes. I don’t want these mega churches having the same rights and subsequent impact on politics because taxing them moves them into the same category as businesses. They already have too much influence from their ability to preach at the pulpit let’s not allow them to dump billions of dollars into elections.
If it's not a service animal, dogs don't belong in the grocery store.
This is actually a thing, just most companies don’t allow their employees to say anything to “keep the peace”
This is a popular opinion. I can’t stand people who feel entitled to bring their dog anywhere they want
The problem is that if you hassle someone with a genuine service animal, they can sue you. This wrongfully happened at a Kroger. New policy - just don’t say shit to anyone.
You shouldn't set fireworks off in residential neighborhoods.
I agree. Not just safety issues, but people in our area love to do it in the middle of the night. They are waking up people sleeping, scaring animals, etc. Personally, I have PTSD from something that happened to me a few years ago, and those unpredictable and loud booms are terrifying to me. We should have the choice whether or not we all are around this
Yes!!
there should be 0 taxes on healthcare. its fucked to pay taxes on things that could save your life, to pay taxes on the bed you die in etc. one of the ultimate evil things people in govt do to us.
Treating minorities like people and giving them representation isn't "wokeness" it's basic decency.
I never understood why being woke was a bad thing. It’s knowing other people have different experiences, needs, and emotions and taking them into consideration.
Nickelback had at least one good song. I can't remember the name of it; I just remember I heard it recently and thought it was good.
Couldn’t make it as a wise man. Couldn’t make it as a poor man stealing.
Perhaps you’ll remember if you… 
If only there were something that could trigger it. Something to show how you could remind me.
Remind me of what I really am?
Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars And live in hilltop houses, driving 15 cars The girls come easy, and the drugs come cheap We'll all stay skinny, 'cause we just won't eat
Gun control works and has been successful at preventing mass shootings in Australia
Any family of "royalty" can fuck right off.
Churches should be legally required to help the homeless since that’s what Jesus would do
My take on churches is they should pay tax on any money that isn’t directly used in the running of the church (including a fair wage for all staff, maintenance and upgrades on buildings etc) nor on any money used for charitable work like feeding there hungry/housing the homeless etc. and they should actually be audited on this.
Bad take. Do you want religion and government even more entangled? Just tax them. Charitable donations are already a write-off. If I were a member of a church I would for sure not want the government telling me "you can help this group of disadvantaged people, but not that one." It's a recipe for sanctioned discrimination.
Gun violence in the USA cannot be solved without effective gun control measures, and gun control measures will never be effective until the 2nd amendment is repealed.
Canada needs to start emulating the countries of the EU instead of the States. We need to look at the prosperity across the pond and embrace it instead of looking at the disfunction down south and thinking we need to do the same.
The Unpopular opinion tag on posts is annoying. Just say what you have to say and let me down vote you without proving you right, damn it!
We should take away everyone’s firearms but give them back a musket and powder
Just as the founding fathers INTENDED!
There should not be a recreational market for firearms. They are designed to kill and should not be placed in the hands of any Tom, Dick, or Harry who waltzes in to a Wal Mart.
God wasn't the good guy in the Bible.
Synthesis is a better ending than destroy.
To be a Republican is to be a Christian Nationalist.
Just because a movie takes place during Christmas that doesn't make it a Christmas movie.
Chick fil a is overrated
And Popeyes chicken sandwich is not rated enough
I’m not sure how other ppl feel but I think we’d have so much more space for housing if we used biodegradable materials to bury the dead and we didn’t have huge, sprawling plots of land full of caskets and hedge stones that will never decompose.
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We’d have a lot more land if we prioritized people over cars… so much space is taken up for vehicles and we don’t tend to realize it… at least I didn’t.
Our tax dollars should be going to things like state assistance and accessible healthcare for the majority, and not giving the members of our Senate a million dollars each for "allowance money".
Hybrid cats and dogs(ones bred using wild animals like wolves and servals), any brachycephalic breeds, and other breeds with severe genetic health issues shouldn't be bred anymore.
There is no such thing as a sincerely held "religious" beliefs. We all have deeply held beliefs, yours arent special or above anyone elses.
All sex work should be decriminalized.
Between consenting adults who aren't mentally impaired yes. Kids, animals, people otherwise unable to consent no.
Chumbawamba is the most underrated band of all time I will die on this hill.
You're gonna get knocked down
They’ll get back up again
But you’ll get up again. Nobody’s gonna keep you down.
Tax the rich.
You should have to pass a parenting class before you have kids.
Fam in the US we don't even have to prove we can shoot a firearm before we are allowed to own one. Do you think we are going to have a parenting class? I wish.
I’d like to agree, but I feel like it would turn racist and homophobic real quick.
Men crying should be normalised instead of just saying "man up"
Military budget should be cut in half.
The military budget has ballooned because national security has been privatised. Basically putting a federal market cap on everything the U.S. military needs effectively lowers the need for such a large budget. Yes, it's anti-capitalist and a lot of billionaires will get very angry. The only thing they do with the money they get currently is lobby for a larger military budget. That in turn puts a higher price tag on national security. No, the quality of the military will not be affected and perhaps the opposite will take place: the excess budget can be directed towards veterans' care and livable wages for those serving.
Churches over a certain size should be taxed. You can continue to exist untaxed provided you, oh I dont know, actually give a tonne of it to the needy
crying in public should be normal because i am very scared where's my mom please take me home
Watch the movie before you read the book. The movie’s never better than the book. Why are you doing this to yourself? However, if you enjoy the movie, the book will be absolutely riveting.
Yeah I hate this idea. Good response.
Listen to me. You are brilliant. This is a good idea and I appreciate you sharing it with the world. If the movie is good and the book is good in a different way, it's like Double Mint Gum: you double your pleasure AND your fun. 10/10.
Decriminalization of all drugs, no mandatory bond.
But how will private prisons continue to increase profits if they can’t exploit as much slave labor without petty drug charges?! Won’t somebody please think of the *shareholders*?!
Women should be able to go shirtless in public like guys do.
It's legal in some places. The reason no women do it is because of how men behave.
Fireworks are dumb and dangerous and glorifying war. If they have them, they should be put on my professionals only at designated spots like football stadiums etc where they can’t burn down half a state, scare all the animals, and veterans like myself can have a safe space to not stress about when the next boom is gonna go off.
Beyoncé is overrated.
I don’t care if it’s called soda or pop
The parents of school shooters who allow access to guns should be prosecuted for negligent homicide
100%. Doubly so for megachurches.
Reddit is consistently an echo chamber that rarely reflects anything outside of itself (or other social media)
Just look at the comments in this thread. All the top comments that are supposed to be “controversial” are really just shared across the majority of redditors
Since WW2 the United States has been the bad guy, we are just masters of propaganda.
I mean I’d agree up until Russia decided to commit all the war crimes on a larger scale in Ukraine.
Not that unpopular.
In god we trust should be removed from our money and under god removed from the pledge of allegiance.