November 2, 2021, 5:42 am
The United States is very divided by right and left labels when it comes to politics. A lot of things have become political that really have no business being so because it’s become such a huge part of people’s identity. But this larger discourse might not be as extreme if we actually stop and ask other folks around us what they think about stuff, especially when we ask what they sympathize with when it comes to differences of opinion.
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Redditor u/Thatguywhosaydshi managed to start a conversation when they asked, “Left Wingers of Reddit, what would you say your most Right-leaning opinion is?”
The answers are very thoughtful, and it seems like conservatives and liberals probably have a lot in common on some issues. Actually, reading replies, I suspect these people who think of themselves as “left-wingers” are actually much more conservative than they realize, which is probably bad. The U.S. is far more conservative than it thinks in general.
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But some of them actually want to disconnect from the idea that you have to one or the other: nuance can still exist in politics, if we believe it.
1.
That scrutinizing every $600 transaction that enters or exits my bank account is serious government overreach!
EDIT: I’m appreciative for the folks that explained that the scrutiny is not over every transaction over $600, but for every account that does over $600 in transactions total.
Question: Does that make it any better???—RidgetopDarlin
2.
Some of our language policing is insufferable and obnoxious.
ETA: I went to bed and when I woke up this exploded. Thanks for the awards! However, I feel like I need to clarify: I am not a TERF. Fuck TERFs. I love and respect trans people. By “insufferable”, I am referring to things like the fact that we are trying to phase out words like unmanned, cockpit, or Chief executive. In other words, things that weren’t really offending anyone and did not need to be corrected. —mrsmedeiros_says_hi
3.
That Latinx is stupid. Latino is general neutral when referring to more than one person or referring to an unnamed person. Just like Chico is boy, Chica is girl, and Chicos and be kid(s). Or guy can be a male in english, or a group of people can be referred to as guys. —EscapePatient
4.
I’m tired of the American trend over the last 15 years of putting everyone in either a “left” or “right” box. Boxes in which everyone has the same viewpoint on several totally different issues. —thewizardofosmium
5.
Forgiving student loans without first reforming education is a very bad idea because it will signal to lenders, academic institutions and students that the government is handing out free money. Only two of those three are going to win long term. —Annihilicious
6.
I support the idea that you need ID to vote. But with the caveat that the government needs to automatically issue a free federal ID card to all citizens. Social Security Numbers make for an awful national registry system and we need something better. I don’t think you should need to register to vote, it should already be done.
Edit: voting days should also be a Federal holiday, and ideally use a blockchain ledger. —HektorViktorious
7.
That identity politics is killing our ability to focus on substantive changes to real problems in society like wage stagnation, global warming, strained infrastructure, poor school funding, etc. I’m not talking about ignoring privilege or keeping existing racist systems intact. But when it’s literally the only thing many people want to talk about, or when progressives cannibalize their own for using the wrong term, or make everything a purity test of knowing the right authors and phrases etc. we just shoot our selves in the foot. —Taynt42
8.
Excessive government control causes problems in a functioning society. That said excess is subjective… —n0justkoz
9.
I like guns, and own a few. I still think folks should need a background check though. —dadsrad40
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10.
Bring back lawn darts. —ranprieur
11.
We should focus on fixing our own broke shit before dumping money into fixing other people’s broke shit. —SparkWellness
12.
Nuclear power is one of the most powerful tools we have to fight global warming. —mermansushi
13.
Gentrification gets thrown around mostly as an excuse not to help urban areas. Lots of efforts to clean up litter, build better infrastructure, and get people to move into cities with vacant lots are shouted down as gentrification, when ultimately it helps to have a bigger tax base in your community. If you want to protect existing residents then rent control is the way, not getting mad that a new apartment was built on the lot that’s been derelict for 30 years. —dishonourableaccount
14.
I do think that borders need to be in a state of control and that immigration largely needs to be kept through legal channels, ideally. —BangkokMohel
15.
I really hate witch hunting and this idea of political purity that the left partakes in. Everyone has a past. Everyone changes. Something you said 9 years ago shouldn’t be punished for your current politics. People change over time. —homosapiensagenda
16.
We should focus on the fiscal health of the USA over other random countries. —godbullseye
17.
I saw a compromise proposed when talking about Universal Basic Income. The idea was that everyone would have to serve the country for 2-4 years to be eligible. Not necessarily in the military, it could be civilian service like at a hospital or school, maybe working on infrastructure, but until you served you’d be ineligible to collect. That way citizens would “earn” their UBI and build patriotism at the same time.
Sounded like a fair compromise to me. —IBlessTheRains84
18.
People we disagree with are allowed to have their opinions and silencing them does nothing but make them think they’re right —AnnamAvis
19.
Real harsh penalties for repeat offenders. —NegInk
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20.
Nobody, not even the billionaires and millionares should be taxed on unrealized capital gains for the simple fact that it doesn’t constitute a material change in wealth but as a change in the worth of their stake in the stock market.
If they have not sold the stock, you are better off taxing the actual companies they have invested into rather than try to tax the investment itself.
Taxing unrealized gains is the single biggest scam of the financial markets and the result of the biggest circlejerk and fundamental misunderstanding of how investments work. There are saner ways to tax wealth that does not fundamentally break the economy.
You can fight me on this. This issue is as dumb as the anti-nuclear sentiment anyways. —Anduin1357
21.
That local ordinances and taxes should favor small businesses rather than hinder them.
I had every approval for a business license but the property had a tax lean from the previous tenant and we couldn’t get a license. The previous tenant was a local city hall. The city wouldn’t give it to us because they literally owed themselves money.
Every year we operated we would get a city inspection, explain the reason we didn’t have a business license, watch them hang their head in shame and tell us to go about our way. —Sephus
*First Published: November 2, 2021, 5:42 am
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