[greenie_beans]

oof! these are bad and pretty mainstream. not contrarian at all. so i guess my contrarian opinion is that most ideas like this that are assumed contrarian by the idea-holder are actually widespread and mainstream. contrarians think they're contrarian yet they're generally generic.

[mydeskistoosm]

I'm extremely confident I would lose my job if I expressed any of these out loud or on a social account connected with my name. I think that speaks to some level of contrarianism. You've said yourself that they're bad. You've also claimed they're mainstream, so unless you're being redundant you meant that they were 'bad' in the sense of 'bad ideas' not 'bad examples of contrarian ideas'.

[valdiorn]

Same with me. I hate how the media has just blatantly lied about the Kyle Rittenhouse case. I donated some money to his defence. That's not something I'd be happy to mention at work.

[mydeskistoosm]

I was speaking with a close friend about how Kyle's mom drove him HOURS with a WEAPON OF WAR across STATE LINES to go HUNTING for protestors. It was made clear that there was no room to disagree.

From watching all the video closely, and checking google maps drive time (about 35 minutes) it looks more like a kid who has firearm training and went to the community he works in to help clean up graffiti, etc. after a riot. Once there, someone armed him. In the first video he's being pursued and someone throws something at him and he fires when cornered. He called the police to report himself. Then the crowd pursued him and two people who attempted to attack him with deadly weapons (skateboard, pistol) wound up getting shot, surprise. He heads to the police to turn himself in.

[greenie_beans]

no, they're bad ideas that are generally acceptable in certain parts of the mainstream, at least where i sit in the world, which isn't a liberal place at all. those are quite typical opinions for a conservative.

i'm skeptical that you would lose your job for expressing these out loud, but perhaps you're right that you would. i don't know because i don't know where you work. pretty sure that firing somebody over an opinion is illegal but i'm no lawyer? seems the line would be crossed if it interfered with work or harmed somebody, not by simply expressing them online. but i don't want to get into an argument with you about this, because i can already tell you're gonna try and pick it apart with exceptions...maybe even share a news article where this happened.

if anything, to me, these opinions indicate that you're probably toxic, not a contrarian. generally toxic people think they're contrarian and pride themselves over that.

[mydeskistoosm]

>...maybe even share a news article where this happened.

Lol, you've got me dead to rights. That's exactly what I was going to do. I'm glad you made this call because my toxicity extends to myself. I'm procrastinating on some work I told myself I'd finish hours ago.

Anyway, I live in a northeastern liberal city, and I grew up in one too. I'm aware that my opinions are popular in some cohorts, but my experience day-to-day and of the internet, all my life, has been such that I've never really thought of that cohort as being in the mainstream; more like 'those crazy idiots who believe the things they see on fox news'.

[greenie_beans]

first, sorry for implying that you might be toxic! that's toxic for me to do, you might be a lovely person and i have no idea.

my main point is: contrarian ideas are relative and subjective to whatever circles you're in. i might be considered as somebody with contrarian ideas relative to my surroundings in the american south, but i don't think of my ideas as contrarian. i think self-proclaimed contrarians suffer from something sort of dunning-kruger like condition, where they take the seemingly contrarian stance just to be different. it's similar to the idea that there are no original or novel ideas, and those who think they have an original idea are wrong.

of course, there is always an exception!

and to your points:

- "Contemporary feminism hurts most women and encourages relationship-sabotaging behavior." sounds like you've been hurt in a relationship and blame it on feminism. if that's the case, i'm genuinely sorry it turned out that way for you.

- "The narrative that the US and other Western nations' participation in white supremacy and slavery/colonialism is the main societal influence today is overblown and is likely leading to unnecessary political violence and turmoil." as a student of southern history and politics, i have to respectfully disagree. you should read the book "forever free" by eric foner to understand how reconstruction after the civil war shapes our world today. or at least seek out some understanding of the history of reconstruction in america, to see how white supremacy has been used as a source of power.

- "I don't think abortions should be banned, but generally speaking, it is incredibly easy to not get pregnant. Don't have sex. Unless you were raped, no one is 'forcing' anything on you, those were your decisions. It is baffling to me that no one says this out loud." - that's just ignorant. sex is a natural thing that everybody does, especially when they're bored.

- "There are only two genders." meh. heard this one a lot. not contrarian at all. you're getting "contrarian" mixed up with "controversial".

- "Kyle Rittenhouse acted in legitimate self-defense. The popular understanding of the case is beset with misinformation about what happened." i had to google "kyle rittenhouse" because i forgot who he is. i'd argue that you're just as influenced by media as anybody else, and your opinion on this is probably influenced by the media you consume. i don't know enough about the incident to have an informed opinion, but if i remember correctly, the dude drove out of state to be in the middle of the drama (masquerading as a vigilante), and then walked up on some protestors with an assault weapon. that screams "i'm ready to fight".

my email is in my bio if you wish to talk more. i love a healthy debate but also need to work too. i won't snitch on you with your employer!

[mydeskistoosm]

>wish to talk more

Always, but alas, I'm already behind on keeping up with people I know irl. I do have some debate left in me on those points* but you can probably imagine it, you seem like a good chum. Maybe pay close attention to the defendant's case as it develops. Anyway, good luck in your endeavors!

*except where you said I mixed up contrarian and controversial. That's an accurate call-out.

EDIT: I had to wait two hours to post this because apparently I was posting too much. What's the rate limit on HN? I've only got 5 posts on my account prior to this one.