Unpopular opinions! V2: I Don't like half life edition.
17,782 replies, posted
[QUOTE=ilikecorn;46028359]It's not that we're stupid, it's just that we're apathetic as fuck. There's a difference between being plain ignorant of the candidates and their viewpoints and voting anyway, and not giving a flying fuck about the candidates, and simply not voting.
I don't even think I'd vote if it was compulsory, i'd rather pay the fine than stand in the long ass line with a bunch of other pissed off apathetic people for fucking HOURS, to vote for a candidate that ultimately only represents corporate interests in the first place. Hell, in Australia the fine's 20$, I make that in an hour, so If i worked instead of voting, i'd still come up 40$ in the green, even with paying the fine.[/QUOTE]
Something is seriously wrong with the American system if voting requires standing in line for hours. Worst I've gotten is a 5 minute wait, best is walk in walk out. Now that I think about it I've spent more time filling out my ballot paper than actually getting it on average.
Which leads me to believe that if it takes hours to get to vote, a compulsory system would necessitate vastly improved voting infrastructure. Also it would definitely get rid of all the underhanded tactics used to deny groups of people the ability to vote.
Also voting is fun and you should vote.
[QUOTE=Lonestriper;46028688][B]Something is seriously wrong with the American system if voting requires standing in line for hours. Worst I've gotten is a 5 minute wait, best is walk in walk out. Now that I think about it I've spent more time filling out my ballot paper than actually getting it on average.[/B]
Which leads me to believe that if it takes hours to get to vote, a compulsory system would necessitate vastly improved voting infrastructure. Also it would definitely get rid of all the underhanded tactics used to deny groups of people the ability to vote.
Also voting is fun and you should vote.[/QUOTE]
People seldom have to wait that long. Even if one has to, one can always just try a mail-in vote next time, pretty much zero wait for that.
[QUOTE=Lonestriper;46028182]Yeah I dont think Americans as a whole are that stupid.[/QUOTE]
Its not so much a matter of being stupid, its just that so many of us actively choose to be uninvolved in politics or are otherwise uninformed or exposed to extreme biases. Its very rare, at least in my experience, that you find people that actually form their own viewpoints on what they think of or want from the government. I knew a LOT of people that voted for Obama solely because he was black, but couldn't tell you the first thing about his plans for presidency. Most people just blindly stick to democrat or republican like they're some bullshit sports team. Others just listen to the first thing their told and believe it without looking into it themselves. Others just don't have any exposure to what's going on in our country.
Hell even I'll admit I know way less about our government than I should.
And yet the votes of the uninformed and biased carry the same weight as anyone that actually takes the time to know what they're talking about- and iny experience those people are the minority.
Its depressing how helpless you guys feel
[QUOTE=Lonestriper;46028727]Its depressing how helpless you guys feel[/QUOTE]
I dunno. I think it's fine for the apathetic to not vote. If they dislike how things are going they're more than welcome to become educated just in time for whatever elections come next. With the internet it's not hard at all.
And then they realize that they can't find a party that aligns with the conclusions they've reached. Okay helplessness is settling in on that front I guess.
[QUOTE=Lonestriper;46027308]compels people to engage with politics. A compulsory system with a turnout of 95% will always reflect the will of the people more than an optional system with a turn out of 57% (such as the US). Unless a staggering amount of people in the compulsory system are donkey-voting, this will hold true.[/QUOTE]
Except you're missing one major point. Voter apathy. I knew an Australian who, in the last election, was literally going to vote for someone because he looked funny. That was his entire reason for it, he couldn't be assed to actually learn about the candidates. Compulsory voting doesn't actually do anything to convince people to care and to learn about what they have to vote for. It just means that whether they care enough or not they're forced to vote. That doesn't represent the will of the people at all.
A non-compulsory system which goes out of its way to inform voters rather than slander each other and which forces candidates to be responsible for campaign promises would be the better system in the end. If people felt like their votes actually mattered then they would take a larger interest in bothering to vote. If they had a larger interest in voting they'd be more likely to actually look into what they're voting for. If the system made it easier for them to learn these things rather than listening to shit flinging from the candidates then it would mean a lot more well informed voters who actually want to vote.
[QUOTE=Alice3173;46028748]Except you're missing one major point. Voter apathy. I knew an Australian who, in the last election, was literally going to vote for someone because he looked funny. That was his entire reason for it, he couldn't be assed to actually learn about the candidates. Compulsory voting doesn't actually do anything to convince people to care and to learn about what they have to vote for. It just means that whether they care enough or not they're forced to vote. That doesn't represent the will of the people at all.
A non-compulsory system which goes out of its way to inform voters rather than slander each other and which forces candidates to be responsible for campaign promises would be the better system in the end. If people felt like their votes actually mattered then they would take a larger interest in bothering to vote. If they had a larger interest in voting they'd be more likely to actually look into what they're voting for. If the system made it easier for them to learn these things rather than listening to shit flinging from the candidates then it would mean a lot more well informed voters who actually want to vote.[/QUOTE]
You could just as easily replace 'donkey-voting' with 'voter apathy' and the same result would occur. Compulsory voting creates an impetus to consider how political candidates match personal political compasses in people who would normally not vote under a non-compulsory system. It may be only a few percent more than the solid 57% of people who are going to vote come rain or shine, but even then that improves the accuracy of the results. Just because one idiot you know of voted like a moron doesn't mean that the additional ~40% of people voting are necessarily going to do the same. In fact, they probably won't.
[QUOTE=Lonestriper;46028824]You could just as easily replace 'donkey-voting' with 'voter apathy' and the same result would occur. Compulsory voting creates an impetus to consider how political candidates match personal political compasses in people who would normally not vote under a non-compulsory system. It may be only a few percent more than the solid 57% of people who are going to vote come rain or shine, but even then that improves the accuracy of the results. Just because one idiot you know of voted like a moron doesn't mean that the additional ~40% of people voting are necessarily going to do the same. In fact, they probably won't.[/QUOTE]
Except that was just one person that I personally talk to and I know that a lot of people he knows did the same shit because that's how he tried to justify it to me at first.
If voting was compulsory in this country, I'd consistently vote for the most chauvinist, racist, sexist pig just to spite everything and everyone.
We're overdue for a proper standalone Predator video game.
I've voted in every election since I turned 18, including local elections. I can understand how some people feel that their vote counts for nothing, especially if they're voting against the majority. But to me it's a right and privilege that many in the world don't have. I know a lot of immigrants who have waited years just to enter the US, then waited even longer to become a citizen, just so they could enjoy the same rights that I was born with. If voting is important to them, why shouldn't it be important to me?
There are many people in STGYM that whines about problems they could have fixed themselves
[QUOTE=Venezuelan;46025268]excluding people from electing those who will affect their lives because of a subjective judgement on who is smart enough is just as bad to be completely honest[/QUOTE]
I believe that people should take a government class before voting to provide a basic understanding of how the political process works, it's not about asking what people's ideals are at all, and if they are "right or wrong" about their ideals.
[editline]20th September 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=Venezuelan;46025865]the pros are merely that people are deluded into thinking only idiots could support any position other than their own[/QUOTE]
And this is not what Kljunas meant at all
The fact that people can say that Steam [I]isn't [/I]a flawed piece of shit confounds me.
[QUOTE=The golden;46033574]Steam's problems would be more forgivable if it wasn't the biggest digital-distributor for games in the world with a current peak of 7 MILLION users.
When you get that big you have to star getting your shit together. Unfortunately Valve is a company with absolute shit management and seemingly no real direction half the time. Quite frankly it's shocking that they've managed to be as successful as they are considering how badly they run things. They are a content-producer NOT a content-distributor, and holy shit does it show.[/QUOTE]
The way they manage things might work alright when creating creative products like games. but otherwise fuck no.
I don't dislike or hate any ~bad~ posters like Dub, Sobotnik, WhiteHusky, JtRtheRiPPeR, etc.
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;46033695]I don't dislike or hate any ~bad~ posters like Dub, Sobotnik, WhiteHusky, JtRtheRiPPeR, etc.[/QUOTE]
The way people acted when it came to Swog was fucking embarrassing. They should be ashamed of the way they behaved.
[QUOTE=Skyward;46033178]The fact that people can say that Steam [I]isn't [/I]a flawed piece of shit confounds me.[/QUOTE]
why not? some people just havent run into as many problems as compared to other people. the only problem i have with steam atm is greenlight letting garbage games onto steam, and valve needing a better refund policy. ive never needed a refund on anything besides a screw-up on my part a couple years ago so their policy isnt as big of a deal to me
[QUOTE=Furnost;46033724]why not? some people just havent run into as many problems as compared to other people. the only problem i have with steam atm is greenlight letting garbage games onto steam, and valve needing a better refund policy. ive never needed a refund on anything besides a screw-up on my part a couple years ago so their policy isnt as big of a deal to me[/QUOTE]
Just because the problems it has don't affect you specifically doesn't make it any less of an issue.
[QUOTE=Skyward;46033732]Just because the problems it has don't affect you specifically doesn't make it any less of an issue.[/QUOTE]
then that still doesnt make it weird for a person to say steam isnt a flawed piece of shit; if it doesnt affect me it isnt a flawed piece of shit to me
the most prominent problem ive heard is steam being a resource hog or offline mode not working and stuff like that, but steam is always quick to launch for me, steam is never all that intense on taking shit up and ive used offline mode in the past without a hitch
could these things be improved for other people that do actually have these problems? sure. but it doesnt happen to me so steam isnt a piece of shit for me
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;46033695]I don't dislike or hate any ~bad~ posters like Dub, Sobotnik, WhiteHusky, JtRtheRiPPeR, etc.[/QUOTE]
I never really understood what was the problem with Sobotnik. I actually kind of liked him
[QUOTE=WhyNott;46033801]I never really understood what was the problem with Sobotnik. I actually kind of liked him[/QUOTE]
I liked him quite a bit when he wasn't in SH.
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;46033610]The way they manage things might work alright when creating creative products like games. but otherwise fuck no.[/QUOTE]
They way they manage things works pretty much exclusively on a small scale. A company as humongous as Valve simply can't function the way they should without proper direction.
I hate my country's ideologies.
[QUOTE=teslacoil;46035801]I hate my country's ideologies.[/QUOTE]
which ones, all of them?
I don't hate milkandcooki with a passion.
I feel a lot of people demonize him for his view-points alone, and not the way he presents it.
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;46035870]which ones, all of them?[/QUOTE]
Probably not all of them. I hate how religion makes people cold and money makes them even colder.
I'm tired of the stereotypical I'm American! Get out of my way! attitude. For some reason, I think of this as "The Land of Hypocrisy".
I dunno, I'm just surrounded by such ignorant, self-serving people and its starting to get to me.
[QUOTE=CrucialSeBBi;46032760]There are many people in STGYM that whines about problems they could have fixed themselves[/QUOTE]
Is this actually even an unpopular opinion? From what I've seen it seems that the only people who would actually disagree with it are mostly the STGYM regulars.
[QUOTE=Alice3173;46036965]Is this actually even an unpopular opinion? From what I've seen it seems that the only people who would actually disagree with it are mostly the STGYM regulars.[/QUOTE]
To be fair, the thread title is named 'shit that gets you mad' which in general construes anything that might annoy you for whatever reason, no matter how small. I can understand why some of it might be construed as first world problems/laziness/just plain whining, but it's a thread designed to vent about your problems and things you get upset about, no matter how small or large.
[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;46038088]To be fair, the thread title is named 'shit that gets you mad' which in general construes anything that might annoy you for whatever reason, no matter how small. I can understand why some of it might be construed as first world problems/laziness/just plain whining, but it's a thread designed to vent about your problems and things you get upset about, no matter how small or large.[/QUOTE]
Well yeah but in particular I mean people like how TheFilmSlacker used to be where they were actively causing a significant part of their own problems and just wanted to whine about it and ignored all advice that tried to help at best and got hostile towards the advice giver at worst, often with the rest of the regulars coming to back them up for it. (Not meaning to pick on you or anything FilmSlacker, it was just the best example that came to mind.)
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