2mo ago

What is a stance you hold that goes against your personal preferences but you believe is the right thing to do?

For example, I don’t use TikTok. I never have, and I never will, and I’d advise everyone else to get off the platform too. I genuinely believe it’s objectively harmful to people’s mental health and possibly even a threat to democracy. That said, I also believe people should be free to decide for themselves whether they want to use it or not, which is why I’m against the U.S. government banning it.

140 comments

I think many people on here, me included, would rather be using Reddit simply because of all the content.
- Honestly tho it's been downhill over there. I'm getting old reddit vibes here and I'm cool with never posting on reddit ever again.
  
  Reddit is still better for communities based around hobbies (at the moment at least) just due to it's shear size.
  
  Garbage is more entertaining than the same 5 political posts reposted between 40 instances and the only OC being posts that bitch about Reddit. This place is NOTHING like old reddit.
  Sorry but not sorry, this place is borderline worthless. Until sometime figures it how to keep every sub becoming a commission echo chamber this is an interesting experiment that is dead in the water.
- And some variety in the userbase as well. This is quite the echo chamber. Not that reddit wasn't but Lemmy is even worse in that sense.
- Fuck reddit for several reasons, among them that it's too big.
  
  That bigness is bad in a lot of ways, but it's great for niche content. A big platform makes big communities horrible cesspools, but it makes small obscure communities actual communities
- Reddit as a site is superior to Lemmy, but ever since all the trash have flooded that place, I decided to leave. What I’m saying is that I would pbviously choose Reddit if we’d ignore the kind of people that are frequenting it, but since you can’t really ignore them when it comes to a social media, I use this site instead.
  
  Username checks out
- This is me. But fuck Reddit.
- I use Lemmy on mobile and (old.)reddit on desktop. They both serve their purpose and I have no complex about it.
- I prefer the content, but reddit as a service is absolute garbage. I still check in on it every once in a while because there's a question or something I see the answer to after googling it and I can't stand browsing there for more than a minute or two.
  The sponsored content and ads are just everywhere and disguised like user accounts making a post or comment and it's infuriating. You can't even use reddit on your phone unless you download their app, browsing the web version is practically impossible because "they can't confirm you are over 18 for some of the content" as if they can confirm your age through the app and they don't care if you are on desktop.
  Reddit is a garbage company when it comes to their users, they quickly became one of my top most despised companies up there with nestle
- I'll be 100% transparent, should third party apps be allowed back I'd go immediately back. There just isn't much hobby related stuff here yet. I don't have the time or care to "be the change I wanna see"
  
  I mean, yeah, obviously if they change the decision that made me leave I'll go back.
- Nah. Smaller community is better. This site reminds me of old (old old old) reddit.
  I do still use reddit for porn though. Until they do away with old.reddit
- I always try to use Lemmy, but Reddit is always more attractive to me because:
  The Sync for Reddit app works way better than Sync for Lemmy (I understand there are a lot of clients for Lemmy, which is good, but my brain got so used to it that I always struggle with other apps).
  I never used Reddit to browse mainstream media (like r/all) I always browse subreddits I liked and created multi subreddits of them, some examples of them:
  Handhelds (SBCgaming, 3DS, PsVita, nds, PSP etc).
  Media (Piracy, Arr stack, Stremio add-ons, Kodi add-ons etc).
  As you can see none of those communities or similar are particularly big, so I think they have entirely enshitified... (Maybe just r/piracy lol).
- I'm here for the distinct lack of content. I can browse for a bit, hit the bedrock loop of top 6hr, and come back hours later. It's not endless here... And it shouldn't be.
  If I need info for a niche, I'll find a forum. Lemmy, reddit, etc are poor places for such things anyway.

I think all drugs should be legal. I think using most of them is a bad idea.
- I think the usage of all drugs should be legal, but I don't think the sale or the production of all drugs should be legal.
  Stop arresting people who are addicted to the stuff and just arrest the people who are spreading it around.
  And no arresting people for "intent to sell" just because they have a lot. Do some actual detective work and catch them actually selling it.
  
  The illegality of production and sale makes the drugs far more likely to be adulterated or a concentration other than advertised, which kills people. Prohibition causes black markets, which leads to people resolving disputes through violence since they can't use the courts.
  Legalization would make all of that go away, almost instantly.
- I am with you on this. Never tried any, and have absolutely no interest. And yet, the prohibition does more harm than good.
  
  I argue that prohibition would've been more successful if it wasn't radicalized and extreme. That is what it's problem was and why so many were against it and it fell apart.
  
  The number of people addicted to caffeine I have met is higher than any other drug. People openly talk about caffeine headaches around me and I'm always left wondering why they don't just stop consuming so much of it.
  Then again I also don't understand the taking Advil/Aleve/Motrin/Aspirin/Tylenol and such all the time. I can understand taking them for irregular occurrences or even regular ones like cramps, but if a doctor isn't telling you to take multiple pills daily, there is probably something else going on.

I'm not gay and I think everyone should be able to be so gay that it is in your face just to root out what is wrong with the people that don't accept it
- This. It's the easiest way to find intolerant individuals. Those individuals are very rarely just anti-LGBTQ from my experience. They're most often intolerant of everyone not like them.
  
  A lot of them are in fact queer but they're so repressed that the only way they perceive they have to keep being a part of their community is to be as homophobic as possible
- Something just clicked for me after reading this. The reason people always say things like "don't shove your gayness in my face" is that seeing gayness forces them to think about their intolerance (and of course stirs up fears about they themselves being gay).
- Well said.

Right for "criminals" to vote. Laws are some kind of consensus, if you start removing people that can have an opinion on it, it slowly ends up stop being a consensus, and are more like the opinions of the ones that managed to stay afloat during the trip.
- What? Criminals can be voted into the office, but cannot vote?
  
  In some states in the US, yes.

"If you have to ask if you're the asshole, imagine what the world would like be if everyone did it."
I firmly believe this in my core, and it applies to almost anything: standing in doorways, camping in a corner in online shooters, veering between lanes without signaling while driving, stealing, throwing trash on the ground, etc.
BUT I am far from perfect. I eat meat despite being an animal lover, I am somewhat wasteful, I can be quick to anger, I support unethical companies that I hate, and I don't keep in touch with old friends and family. Stuff like that...
- This is a very relatable comment. I think a lot of the reason I am so angry is how selfishly people act though. I think it makes me a worse person to observe that kind of shit. I'm sure the anger makes me more selfish too, ironically.
  And the fact that Donald Trump won the election in America kind of proves how pathetically selfish a huge swath of Americans are. This and 2016 and 2020 shouldn't have been anywhere near close, 10% of votes is the highest number of votes he could've gotten without making me upset. But people don't give a shit about the harm to others, as long as they think they're not being harmed...
  
  Damn, I think you distilled it better than me: selfishness.
  
  But someone needs to look out for the white male billionaires! What about THEIR struggles?!?
  
  Seems like basic "golden rule" shit.
  One of the few valuable biblical lessons, and coincidentally, one of the easiest to teach a person without needing any religion whatsoever.

I don't like abortion, I have grave qualms about it. I'm also vehemently pro-choice.
- until we live in a society where being pregnant and giving birth does not endanger your health, security, and social status, prohibiting abortion simply can't be an option.
- I just think people should go to doctors, discuss what they think is best for their life, and do what they think is best for themselves. Doctors have licenses and review boards, those boards will see what practices are occuring and make research driven decisions on whether someone is practicing medicine in a way that is improper and revoke their license. Politicians aren't licensed medical doctors, and shouldn't have any say in what you and your doctor decides is the best course for you.
  If someone wants to have an arm sewn onto their forehead, and a doctor discussed it with them and found somehow that was possibly the healthiest option for them, then who the fuck am I to say anything about it.
- The problem here is "abortion" gets conflated with "reproductive health care". There are all sorts of reasons a woman might require aborting a pregnancy that have nothing to do with birth control.
  My daughter had an ectopic pregnancy about 10 years ago. The procedure she underwent would be considered an abortion, even though there was no chance of survival. She was concerned the procedure would affect her ability to become pregnant later. But now I have 2 year old granddaughter that loves popcorn and 3d printed flexi animals and getting bopped in the head with marshmallow toys.

I truly believe in Scrum, as it can make a team's work very efficient when it's done right. Been there, done that.
Now the thing is, it forces people to actively collaborate, and I'm quite an introverted person. Also, a good Scrum workflow includes regular demo sessions (perhaps even with customers), and I absolutely hate that. But I accept it, it's part of the game and I think it did contribute to my own self improvement as well.
- IMHO Scrumban is more efficient. Proper Scrum has way too many overheads.

Jury Nullification
- That goes against your personal preferences?
  
  For me as well at least a little bit. I feel like there should be another option. Doesn't really sit well with me that a handful of random people can let someone walk free even if they clearly broke the law. It's unlikely to happen successfully but what if they are all threatened or bribed?
  
  Step 1: look at the question that this thread is asking
  Step 2: look at my post and pretend that I am providing my answer to it

I think honesty is the best policy even when it sucks for me, because that's the only way to actually grow and improve myself. The real world is infinite, but lies don't lead to anything.
- I'm with you on this one. I tell the truth even when it's potentially harmful to me. However, it also holds you accountable because it prevents one from doing things they would have the urge to lie about in the future.
  Also, not lying doesn't mean radical honesty. Just that you don't say things that are untrue. I think lying is only acceptable when used to prevent violence - kind of like violence is also acceptable when defending yourself. So if there are nazies on the door asking wether you have Anne Frank on the attic, it's okay to lie.

I think that my core stance of "as long as you're not harming anyone else doing it whatever someone does in their free time is fine with me. There's times when I do question why someone would want to do something, but as is my core principle, In fine with it.

The democrats are largely controlled by corporate shills but I think if they had like 12 years in office we could wrench the country back on a reasonable path.

I'm pro choice even though I'm philosophically and morally against abortion.
To clarify I believe the woman's right and ability to choose is more important than any opinion or argument I can muster against abortion.
As in it is far worse to have a governing body adjudicate or decide what an individual can do to their own body vs. the potential for life and or what the father might want for their unborn child.
- I wish more people could differentiate between having an opinion and trying to force everyone else to live according to that opinion.

Not sure if that's a popular opinion here. But I'd say eating animals, eggs, cheese and drinking milk is an obvious one. Especially considering how these animals are generally treated. That's not ethical in my eyes. Edit: But I read your question again and missed the last part, sorry. I still do it, but I don't think it's the right thing to do. So I might have missed the point.

Best to do what you think is right ... as for Democracy, it's a good idea, I hope we'll see it show up one of these days. 'All men are created equal' ... but then someone's gotta pick the crops.

I hate postmodern "art". Like shitting in a bowl and spend hours "explaining" that it's a symbolism of the societies inability to grasp the needs of its constituents. Or some other bullshit.
But if that's your thing, go ahead!

I too crave violence, yet consider it to be the worse choice at the same time. If peaceful reasoning cannot win against violence, then we've already lost as a civilization pursuing a higher state. Because in doing as such, no matter how far we travel, that higher state can only ultimately be violence.

I have no problem with TikTok, their owners, or the company beyond my usual concerns with corporate platforms. They're as bad (maybe even a little less) as American corporate media.
I just stay away from it because I don't think short form doom scrolling videos would be good for my productivity or attention span
- Be advised TikTok is literally Chinese spyware on your phone. It's collecting all sorts of data on all it's users all the time. This is a known thing, and the initial impetus of many organizations to ban it internally
  Edit: It's not racist to point out China is currently surveilling America as hard as it can. It's doing this as part of parralel warfare. They've hacked our phones, emails, servers, businesses and even individual routers - all at the behest of the Chinese government. They are afraid and it shows.
  
  And Facebook, X, Google apps, etc are what exactly?
  They're just as bad or worse on privacy. People throw around that "Chinese" label like it's supposed to make it worse, somehow. Seems a bit racist to me. At least "the Chinese" aren't feeding that data to government entities that have actual power over me.

Once is a hero, but serial is a super hero.

Helping humans. I genuinely think it's a terrible idea the long run and there are way way better versions of life on earth.
Do it anyway because of brainwashing.

That people should try things before they fully pass judgement. I'm not particularly pro TikTok but a lot of Lemmy's anti TilTok views are ones they've picked up from media parroting.
- Yeah same with heroin just try it once it's fun
  Now obviously TikTok isn't heroin, but it's deliberately made to be addictive and I'd find it hard to believe that a given person has never seen TikTok content outside of TikTok. So it's known garbage with known addictive properties and your question is why don't we just give it a try before we pass judgement on how fun it is to scroll through a large quantity of that same garbage.
  Also don't forget TikTok content existed before the TikTok addiction algorithm. Early YouTube was like that before the algorithm change to promote ten minute vids. Vine existed and was rejected (thank god) by my generation. Etc. it's not new content it's just a new tool
  
  Everything that is built for profit is designed for maximum retention of users i.e. addiction.
  I'm not sure I follow what you mean by "I'd find it hard to believe that a given person has never seen tiktok content outside tiktok"
  I'm not defending TikTok blindly here, it just annoys me when people pass judgement with pretty much zero knowledge on something except from what they've heard/read.
  I know TikTok is flawed yes but no more or less than any other profit driven app/site. If you don't like short form content then that's fine, personally I think there's a time and place for it.

I always had a moral rule about drinking and smoking weed. Fine, do whatever you like. Just don't fucking get me involved. I've only ever had 3 alcoholic beverages in my entire life and I've firmly decided that it's not for me. Smoking, never done that, I've been around smokers both weed and cigarette to say I want none of it.
- Just don't fucking get me involved.
  What does this even mean? Are they pinning you down and force feeding you booze through a funnel?
  Don't drink or smoke if you don't want to. I guarantee that nobody cares what you do.
  
  Just going out on a limb here... but I presume they're talking about more dogged kinds of social customs? e.g. friends, family, and depending where you live, your bosses and coworkers (Japan in the 00s I think?), can carry it as a heavy social expectation while being fine people to know otherwise.
  I'm not sure it's so black and white.
  
  They just needed to tell everyone that they've only had 3 alcoholic beverages in their entire life, because we'll all be super impressed rather than just sad for them.

I eat meat. And I eat it without thinking too much about it. But I believe I should stop normalizing it and I should be more aware of the life behind the food. Sure, I can't avoid harming any lives, but I should be able to be aware of the harm I'm doing and to reduce unnecessary harm. I am afraid how worthless my empathy actually is in the battle against the customs.
- It not hard to eat vegetables. You just put them in your mouth and chew.
  
  I guess the desire to eat less meat somehow implies that I'm eating meat everyday? But thanks, I'll keep that in mind, if I ever forget how to eat vegetables.

I would prefer to spend holidays with family but I don’t because they prefer to eat flesh and I am against animal abuse. I think it’s the right thing to do to protest this by not going but it sucks.
- My stance on eating meat is kind of the exact opposite of what I was asking here. It's one of the two things I continue doing despite not being able to morally justify it. Piracy is the other one.
  
  both are easy to justify. humans share (food, culture, stories, songs, tools, etc). piracy is natural. laws that prohibit it are immoral.
  as for eating meat, there is cost, convenience, and culture: for many people eschewing meat simply isn't reasonable given their circumstances.
- You could choose to subtly influence your relatives, but instead you "protest". Pfft. Given the vegan I knew well, what you're actually doing here is not going because you're too grossed out by it. You know not going won't inspire anyone to change, but you tell yourself that lie to justify it because being grossed out is not a high minded reason.
  
  I have been requested to not talk about it.
  You know not going won’t inspire anyone to change
  Partner stopped going and the next year all family events were fully vegan because family prefers being together over eating flesh.

140 comments

Jury Nullification