Ask Lemmy

Across many platforms, I've gotten the most vitriol and heated discussion about pit bulls. It's a topic that has gotten me nastier responses than politics or other hot button issues.

It's really frustrating. I have many years of experience in rescue, shelters, veterinary medicine, and more. I've worked with more of these dogs over the years than I can count. I've also worked alongside people with much more experience than me, and I have yet to meet a single person in animal welfare that views pit bull type dogs as broadly dangerous or difficult to work with. I'm sure those people are out there, but it's not a common view.

You can discuss the wide variety of factors that lead to this sweeping characterization of bullies, ask people to talk with animal professionals in their lives about their experiences, and encourage them to volunteer to get actual experience with these dogs. It doesn't matter or seem to nudge them into considering anything other than these dogs being ticking time bombs.

I'm not saying everyone should own pitties. Spreading misinformation and continuing to demonize pit bull types can influence other people who could be a perfect home for these dogs to never consider them, though. So many dogs with wonderful temperaments are euthanized and never even given a chance just because of how they look. It's really disheartening.

That women should have the ability to give informed consent at a doctor's office.

I've had to argue for decades that birth control shouldn't be held hostage until women submit to a pap smear.

It's flat out unethical to hold a prescription until a patient does an unrelated screening, no matter how good your intentions are. It'd be like doctors withholding Viagra until a guy got his prostate checked annually. Yes, it's a good idea to do cancer screening but no one should be coerced into any medical procedure against their will, especially such an intimate and invasive one. This only happens to women.

And yet you'd think I told them they should skin their new puppy alive. The amount of vitriol and even sexual harassment I got for maintaining this was mind blowing. And it was always from other women. I was told I'm a little girl, or not a "real" woman like it's some sort of twisted right of passage.

I wasn't debating that the exam doesn't save lives or that people should stop having it done, just that women should have a choice and not be coerced - that it should be treated just like colonoscopies in that it's entirely voluntary.

It hasn't been that big of an issue in recent years. But early 2010s holyshit you'd think women didn't think that they should have bodily autonomy (and a lot of this was coming from fellow pro-choicers!).

This was a thing in the southern US. I know the North half of the country wasn't as insane.

I recently had a discussion about the bible with someone who actually took the book literally. At least the bits he considered "good".

He did not even understand simple concepts like "John the Apostle" is neither "John the Evangelist" nor "Apocalyse Fever Dream John".

People on social media get irrationally angry when I point out that all science confirms that physical punishment of children for the purpose of behavior change or discipline is a net negative. For both the development of the child and also society as a whole. And as such, any corporeal punishment of children should be considered assault and child abuse. People will desperately defend their right to exert violence on their own children.

i don't take a lot of hard stances on things so people online love to paint me as the villain their their dramatic 'you have to pick a side' way of viewing the world.

and when i do take hard stances, like say, personal choice and accountability/responsibility, that basically gets me labeled a fascist, at least, the past few years. apparently the notion folks are responsible for themselves is part of the fascist agenda, or something.

People that believe all that ghost shit on YouTube is real. It's basically boomers and religious tards with a 3rd grade education that don't understand how easy it is to edit video for the average person. They all comment "May Christ protect you" and other crap like that. While these people pump out an episode every week like clock work where they're possessed, attacked, or some other BS. Best part is when they go "we almost died" over and over, because name one person on a paranormal investigation that died that isn't an obvious natural cause.

Marxism-Leninism.

that voting blue no matter who is bullshit.

and before anyone comes to argue otherwise, that you MUST vote blue on the election or else you vote for the other side, i bid you a ‘jog on’. ESPECIALLY since you have to answer for the continuing campaign of the democratic party against their progressive candidates.

vote blue no matter who my ass. you either have a person i would eagerly vote for or i will find someone else. it is your fault we have these republicans painted blue arguing for policies slightly left of hitler.

don’t let perfect be the enemy of good, is horse shit when good is enriching and empowering corporations, and genocide.

Flat earth, lol. Or more acccurately : space, and our place in it. In retrospect, for most of these conversations I might have been really exchanging with bots. Who knows !
I value my time more these days, but back then I discussed with perhaps a couple dozen people and out of these, a single one listened to me : it was on a publication by some "space" page, and the guy did not understand how stars did not appear to move in the sky if the Earth was really moving through space at 2 million 600 thousand kilometers per day. So I proceeded to give him an idea of the scales involved : the size of the solar system, of our galactic neighbourhood, etc. I left him with a bunch of links for science communication

Btw : all of the flat earthers or otherwise flat spacers I encountered were from the US

responding to people the youtube sub how they are supporting youtubes algorithim and slop by watching it and logging in, and they were complaining about youtubers that are producing slop. i was telling them how you cant complain about people like mr beast and defend him at the same time.

and saying how right wing content gets through the feed if you are not logged in, and i wasnt going to give google more data by logging in just to curate the feed.

Meaningful never, I liked suggesting junk food/sugary drinks should be treated exactly like Cigarettes on reddit which is mostly American and watching the sparks fly.

The difference between socialism and social democracy and how most people actually advocate for the latter rather than the former due to a fundamental misunderstanding of what the definitions of those two things are.

The treatment of those with disabilities or who are just down on their luck, by the mostly apethic "I'm alright jack" public. I've had many arguments with those who thought that just because somebody needed benefits that they were milking the system.

The most disgusting and revolting thing I can read on the subject from somebody is "if I've managed to get by fine without state help and support, so can/should they"... And yes many do actually think this way, sometimes even to those who need wheelchairs or other aids.

Sometimes I've managed to convince them to care about somebody other than themleves for a change, sometimes I've caused them to go away thinking about it, and other times I've caused them to double down on their stance.

Either way, the engagements were meaningful and eye opening and I'll defend this position until the day I die because nobody has any business being that disgusting towards other human beings.

I would say it's mostly topics I'm not actually arguing about.

I tend to point out false statements or false assumptions. I do it regardless of the topic or my position on an issue, but usually it's taken as general opposition to whatever the person was saying. So they call me a shill or demand that I prove a ridiculous point of view they imagine I must hold. It's like only The Enemy is expected to care about the accuracy of what The Right Side says.