“What are your personal most controversial topics?”

<<<< Still stuck on the chocolate/vanilla thing.

“What do you think about the notion of resolution mechanisms that could be empirically examined? ”

I’m always pleased to see folks examine first and talk later.

“Will this lead to a more peaceful world?”

Not until those who profit from war find it unprofitable. Resolution is nice and fine for perfect world scenarios. But there are, I feel, other nefarious forces at play to which the Wiki folks do not account for. War does not occur merely upon the basis of people being angry with one another. War is perhaps the largest profit generator in history. War is an industry.

We should examine that, talk about it vehemently, and finally resolve it.

I am shocked Hitler and the Holocaust is such a popular subject.

Where America is headed.
Health Care.
US economy.
Wages and salaries.
Influences of big business in America.
Cultural differences and trends among groups and subgroups in America (my dad is a sociologist).
Family matters (does that count?).
Immigration (more specifically benefits illegal residents get, most recently focused on college education. Also, gang activity).
The religious right doing and saying extreme things and their influence in politics.

If I have to make a list of ten issues which are brought up more than often and reflect the nature of this question, I’ll base it on the news, and what I see regularly popping up, or what people talk about. For the latter, unless I include online, it stands to reason that it’s stuff from my province, so it may differ…but probably not by so much.

The American economy.
Racism.
What celebrities are doing.
Right now, in Québec, a certain issue with a train that went nuts and killed a lot of people; people are very pissed off at the rail system and the dude who runs it.
Terrorism.
Taxes.
Healthcare, and the lack of medical professionals in the field. (Canada)
Poverty, lack of jobs.
Stephen Harper being an asshole. (a lot of it surrounding his new deal on work insurance)
Facebook and smartphones. (seriously)

This might not be what you’re looking for here, but when it comes to controversial topics (for instance, almost anything related to politics and religion), they tend not to be matters of debate with people I feel closest to. They tend to be matters of agreement.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say I couldn’t be friends with someone who had different views from mine in such matters, but I’d say that those views tend to be part of a larger attitude or philosophy and that I’m most comfortable with people whose outlook is not radically different from mine. Isn’t that true of most people?

Relatives are a different matter. I do have immense differences in worldview from some of my relatives. And so I stay away from topics that are likely to spotlight those differences. I’m not going to enter into a debate about religion with my aged aunt or uncle.

Gas Utility CoL inflation and EPA wood fuel all one topic.

Military locally and statewide:
Economy, pollution, and the comportment violence associated with them, but support our troops.

Fishing/Mining/Hunting drilling or Industries resources vital/ to AK.

Race: This is more subculture. Natives this and that. Special rights blah blah. Minority’s grouping, stereotyping etc.

Food: Organically grown sustainability co ops food allergies and the safety of our water supply.

Drug users/poor pop/domestic violence/overcrowded jail/police enforcers
(That last bit is my own everyone generally agrees but no one rails on it like I do.)

Health health care a number of people I know work in the industry and many more frequent it.

Marijuana legalization.

Animals have gotten pretty dicey up here. All sorts of new regulations wanting to be imposed on pet owners and livestock etc.

Cigarettes I have a friend who is starting the process for spearheading the no smoking in gaming, restaurants, and bars or basically all public building left campaign.

Recycling is rearing its head again. A battle indeed. Every business wants to project an image no one wants to pay. Others say it is not eco friendly or economical to sort and ship our recycling all the way back stateside. Besides we are such big reusers…. Programs are constantly in flux.

I can’t think of all that many: parenting practices, queer theory, activism and where to put our energy, how to educate.

@JLeslie – Editing Wikipedia articles isn’t necessarily about popularity. It’s about disagreeing on the content. And it’s about using Wikipedia as a platform to further personal agendas.

@Symbeline – Interesting that you mention the lack of medical professionals in Canada. In Eastern Europe the problem is getting worse every year because medical professionals earn more in Western Europe.

@Jeruba – Isn’t that true of most people? I think it is. In Germany the saying that “opposites attract” is still very widespread, although psychologist have clearly shown that this isn’t the case, at least when it comes to successful long-term relationships. I read an interesting article about this recently.

@Unbroken – What do you mean by “Special rights blah blah” ?

@mattbrowne Natives, so called because of the different tribes etc who aren’t always friendly to one another, get the rights to quite a bit of land. They get hunting, whaling and other special priviledges that the rest of Alaskan’s are not privy to. They get free health care; even though it is diminished quality. Special opportunities to grants, scholarships and jobs. They have corporations and depending on the corporation they get sizable dividends.

Unfortunately there are quite a few with alcohol and drug problems which contributes to domestic violence. Also the nature of rural village life and the clannishness makes women more vulnerable to familial and sexual abuse. Or for instance a young drunken fun time in vil has included joy killing an entire herd of caribou.

Then to stop that they created dry or damp villages which started the smuggling of alcohol….

My conclusion being given things rights and priviledges does not compensate or help people a culture transition. It does not fix problems, it creates them. The many who have overcome these issues have done so in spite of a society that works against it.

@mattbrowne Yeah, ours all move away too because they get a better pay in other places.

@mattbrowne, yes, I think it is, but I chose to answer by speaking only for myself and not generalizing about others. I didn’t offer any claim of uniqueness. I was puzzled by the assumptions behind the question, and this was my way of saying so.

@Unbroken – I’m aware of many of the Native American’s problems. Everyone bears a share of the guilt, including the Native Americans themselves, but the rest of the society as well. Using a “blah blah” label for this, seems a bit weird.

@Jeruba – Thanks for the clarification.