r/changemyview

CMV: Israel has committed and is still committing the crime of apartheid

In March of 2017, the United Nations released a document titled 'Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid'. The document gathered sources from several areas and utilized an examination of the the very law of Israel itself and determined that the Israeli state is guilty of the crime of apartheid against the Palestinians. Just as well, the very leaders of Israel have warned time and again about the threat of a looming apartheid regime in Israel, such as: Reuven Rivlin in 2017, David Ben Gurion after the 1967 June war, and Ehud Barak in 1999.

Apartheid is not some term to be thrown around. It has a precise, international, legal definition that comes to us from the 'Multilateral International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid'. In Article II, it says:

> (a) denial to a member or members of a racial group or groups of the right to life and liberty of person:
>
>(i) by murder of members of a racial group or groups;
>
>(ii) by the infliction upon the members of a racial group or groups of serious bodily or mental harm, by the infringement of their freedom or dignity, or by subjecting them to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
>
>(iii) by arbitrary arrest and illegal imprisonment of the members of a racial group or groups;
>
> (b) deliberate imposition on a racial group or groups of living conditions calculated to cause its or their physical destruction in whole or in part;
>
> (c) any legislative measures and other measures calculated to prevent a racial group or groups from participation in the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country and the deliberate creation of conditions preventing the full development of such a group or groups, in particular by denying to members of a racial group or groups basic human rights and freedoms, including the right to work, the right to form recognized trade unions, the right to education, the right to leave and to return to their country, the right to a nationality, the right to freedom of movement and residence, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
>
> (d) any measures, including legislative measures, designed to divide the population along racial lines by the creation of separate reserves and ghettos for the members of a racial group or groups, the prohibition of mixed marriages among members of various racial groups, the expropriation of landed property belonging to a racial group or groups or to members thereof;
>
> (e) Exploitation of the labour of the members of a racial group or groups, in particular by submitting them to forced labour;
>
> (f) Persecution of organizations and persons, by depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms, because they oppose apartheid.

In analyzing these sources, it becomes plain to see how Israel has committed the atrocious crime of apartheid. The first Annex explains the legal application to the facts on the ground on pages 58 through 62. The report also includes possible remedies to the situation and what next steps should be taken.

In analyzing this, is Israel not an apartheid state? I feel like it is. CMV.

Sources:

[https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201015/volume-1015-I-14861-English.pdf](https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201015/volume-1015-I-14861-English.pdf)

[https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/201703\_UN\_ESCWA-israeli-practices-palestinian-people-apartheid-occupation-english.pdf](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/201703_UN_ESCWA-israeli-practices-palestinian-people-apartheid-occupation-english.pdf)

[https://waronwant.org/israeli-apartheid-factsheet](https://waronwant.org/israeli-apartheid-factsheet)

https://redd.it/e053se
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CMV - There is no justification for 'privileged birth'

Hello everyone,

An example of privileged birth would be the British Royal Family, with every member being born into a unbelievable luxurious life supported by tax-money, through absolutely no merit of their own.

Ive always felt this anyway, but have been more and more agitated after the recent blunders of Prince Andrew - a clear and total scum of the Earth, who has never had to lift a finger to earn the lifestyle that he has enjoyed as an ultra-elite.

We can see, whether its the British Royals, or Saudis, or whomever else - they arent some special, ultra-virtuous, noblemen and women that media portray them to be. They are normal human beings who bleed red blood just like the rest of us.

So why is it that we, as a society, watch and allow this to happen, let alone celebrate them as though theyve somehow earned an unquestionable soft-spot in our hearts? Why do we rejoice the birth of the next ~~slave-master~~ royal? Why do we celebrate royal weddings as though they are the wedding of our own sons or daughters? Why do we continue to live a struggling, working life, barely making ends meet, while collectively paying taxes to support the lavish lifestyle of this perceived 'special' family named the Windsors?

My view is that we live in some sort of a cartoon world where for some reason, everything i described above is perceived to be normal, when in reality, its actually sincerely fucked up.

CMV

https://redd.it/e070i8
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CMV: The Conventional "Waitress Test" is Inadequate For Spotting Bad Relationship Material

If you don't know, the Waitress Test for date says that how your date treats a restaurant server (or other low-paid staff) is how he or she will treat you six months from now. Naturally this also applies to people in the usual diversity categories we all know about, too.

Sound advice, but it has a serious failure point: it focuses only on one narrow aspect of a person, namely economic status. It can't reveal whether a date mistreats people who have personal traits that have little to nothing to do with socio-economic status or diversity category. That requires taking the Waitress Test one step further - how your date treats people with certain traits widely disparaged or belittled by most of society, not because those traits reflect on that person's moral and ethical character, but simply because that person has cringe-worthy or otherwise "uncool" traits.

These traits are being any one (or even all) of the following: weak; timid; poor in social skills, thinking skills, or practical judgment; having odd or even extreme habits, dress, or ways of carrying themselves; lacking “street smarts” or bullshit spotting (i.e., “gullible”); physical or vocal unattractiveness. Probably many others I left off, but you get the idea.

If your date treats even *these* kinds of people with dignity and respect, then he or she is practically assured to treat waitresses likewise, given that the *average* waitress still lacks the unappealing personal habits that the ones I mentioned do. This is what makes my proposed test a much more accurate way to measure the character of your date than the conventional Waitress Test. As such, I think this should be adopted as the new conventional dating wisdom for the future.

https://redd.it/e03siw
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CMV: getting older sucks and whoever says otherwise is just in denial

Yes I know, it is cool that you get more wisdom(if you use your time well) and possibly more income and gather more knowledge in the years.
But at the End of time you just get less energetic and and worse looking. You get scared and those things don't just go away it kind of always stays a bit with you.
You can't enjoy the things you used to enjoy and day by day it is getting worse. There are always good things to come and you can always enjoy yourself, but overall it is just worse. Yes you might work your way to a better life but there's no guarantee and if that were not an option you'd just be worse of in the years to come.
It is, I guess, a matter of perspective, but if you look at it objectively it is just more stress, less time and more responsibilities.

https://redd.it/e04ax3
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CMV the cereal come before the milk

So when you Put the cereal in the bowl first you can see how much you can eat, you can take some out if you put too much in
and if you pour the milk in first then it’s basically guessing each and every time how much do you need, you can’t take any cereal out without it being wasteful
It’s way easier when you put the cereal in first then the other way around
Try to change my view so I at least can see why people might do that

Or maybe you even eat your cereal with a different liquid I think milk is the best so change my mind to whatever liquid you like (that sounded weird)

https://redd.it/e03osv
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CMV: Pie charts are rarely the best visualization option, and should almost never be used

I'm a business analyst, and most of my work involves getting huge stacks of data that I need to make sense of, find the "interesting" parts of it, and tell a compelling story with. This view I have started when I noticed I'd often get asked "create a pie chart showing...."

I noticed that pie charts seem to be ingrained in business culture, yet I despise them.

I said 'rarely' and 'almost never' in my title, and that applies to using pie charts in general. But if you want to try to change a 'never' type of view...I don't think 3d pie charts should ever be used, nor should two pie charts be compared side by side to show changes over time. Leaving aside your boss demanding this, those two things should NEVER be used.

Here's the general problem with pie charts though:

\- If the measures you're showing are within about 5% of each other, it's very difficult to see which one is bigger just from the chart alone. This is why pie charts require a number next to the slice of the pie. If a person is required to "decode" the visual like that, then it isn't a good visual. A bar chart is superior, since one can see the ranking of the measures even without the exact % next to it.

\- Being that they are a circular shape, they don't fit well into a dashboard. Rectangles/squares (such as treemaps or bar charts, or line charts, or...pretty much any other chart) make the best use of available space. Pie charts waste space as there are going to blank areas around the chart.

https://redd.it/e02vvq
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CMV: Celebrating Christmas in any way prior to Thanksgiving is too early.

By "celebrating Christmas", I mean anything from putting up Christmas decorations, putting up your tree, starting to listen to Christmas music... Basically anything that is typically directly associated with the holiday season (so that does NOT include generic things like drinking hot cocoa or sledding and what not).

First and foremost, it overshadows Thanksgiving, which is, in its own right, a wonderful and enjoyable holiday. And if you happen to be someone who dislikes Thanksgiving because you can't stand your family or you just don't like holidays much, then I can't imagine rushing ahead to Christmas is doing you much good. Thanksgiving is a great time to just be with your family and count your blessings. And oh yeah, it SHOULD, if done properly, be the absolute best mother effing meal you eat all year. So it's worth investing time, and focusing on, how to cook some amazing food.

Second, if you start celebrating Christmas too early, it's easy to get really exhausted with the holiday by the time Christmas Day actually arrives. What really gives something value is its exclusivity. Christmas only comes around once a year, and so the month of December feels like such a magical time of year. If that gets spread too thin and takes up a large chunk of November as well, then it just takes away from the enjoyment of the actual season itself.

I think we ought to delay any sort of Christmas celebration until the day after Thanksgiving.

CMV.

Edit: I'm specifically referring to the United States here.

https://redd.it/e01o4y
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CMV: Icebreakers in a workplace is a total waste of time and money

I was applied for a job to make money and spend time working on applied tasks so that the company could still make money.

Yet somehow my boss and colleagues would enjoy these socialising events as a form of 'building cooperation relationship' like there was no contacting among different departments or coworkers in the same room, and would convince or force me to participate.

For example, at this time of the year, there will be a sports day which I was forced to participate as a stand unit. Everybody in this regard would probably have to waste practically 3 hours a day every weekday practicing the pattern until the real deal. 3 hours in office hours to be precise.

Avoiding these events might affect my bonus, promotion, and reputation as well. I tried to ignore social relations within workplace as I have no interest in anything other than coming to work and secure my position.

Why should I support these events and traditions, and what would be the most obvious, non-abstract benefits of it?

Ultimately, should I change my workplace entirely and why? And what are the chances of encountering this again?

(Reposting because this got deleted)

https://redd.it/dzyhkd
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CMV: There's nothing wrong with not liking animals.

The internet in general and Reddit in particular seem oddly fixated on animals (at least ones deemed "cute" like dogs and cats). People can get hundreds up upvotes making holocaust jokes or wisecracks about child molestation, but I have never seen anything about stomping a cat upvoted.

This all seems odd to me, as someone who doesn't like animals. Now to be clear, I don't hate animals. I currently live in a house that has a cat (my roommate's) and I will be glad to feed her etc. She is a living thing, and of course my roommate would be sad if anything happened to her. I would not be sad for the cat, I would feel empathy for my flatmate however.

People seem to be uncomfortable with the idea of someone not liking animals. I don't see anything wrong with it. I hear hunters say they love animals, and that seems to be a more acceptable view than just some guy not liking animals.

Can anyone convince me it is ethically wrong to not like animals?

https://redd.it/dzzdmx
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CMV: I hate London.

Rent expensive.
Salary low for most jobs.
Tiny shared flats.
Crowded trains in peak.
Stuffy underground.
Long commutes.
Difficult to make relationships if not from London.
Subtle/unsubtle racial discrimination.
Everyone looks miserable (especially on trains and at jobs).
If you want to do anything (eating out, activities), it’s expensive. You can only live well if you’re rich, unlike other places where you can do a lot more things even if you’re not well off.
There’s more if anyone wants to add/rebuttal.

I honestly don’t understand why anyone would want to live here...

Inb4 why are you in London then: I’m getting out of here in a year after visiting most places in Europe.

https://redd.it/dzphd7
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tars) and see how they change (I know this will take a while).

https://redd.it/dzvipu
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CMV: I think earth is roughly in the middle of the universe.

DISCLAIMER: I think earth is spheroid. Geocentrism is not the same as flat earth theory.

Evidence in my favor:

* The redshift of all galaxies. If everything is flying away from us as it seems because of the redshift, in the absence of "theoretical expansion of metric tensors of space-time from relativity" (a.k.a expanding space-time), it simply means we are roughly in the middle. Also, if space-time metric tensors existed and expanded we would observe redshift for all stars within our own galaxy which we [do not](https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/186440/is-the-light-from-the-stars-within-our-galaxy-redshifted).
* \[The axis of evil\]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis\_of\_evil\_(cosmology)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_evil_(cosmology))) shows that one side of the universe is cooler than the other, and the imaginary plane that separates the two sides is aligned with the plane of the earth around the sun. This violates the Copernican principle that earth is not in any privileged position in the universe.
* Lack of observable aether winds on Earth. Earth can have no motion w.r.t the aether if it is roughly in the middle.
* Maxwell's equations required that all electromagnetic waves in vacuum propagate at a fixed speed, c. As this can only occur in one reference frame in Newtonian physics (see Galilean relativity), the aether was hypothesized as the absolute and unique frame of reference in which Maxwell's equations hold. That is, the aether must be "still" universally, otherwise, c would vary along with any variations that might occur in its supportive medium.

The [increasing inability of theoretical physics](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/opinion/particle-physics-large-hadron-collider.html) to explain almost everything points to the possibility that we lost our way in physics recently and may need to reconsider old ideas we threw away:

* The last 30 years of theoretical physics predictions remain unobservable in LHC, and the Tevatron before it. Although everything from string theory, supersymmetry to dark matter particles was expected to be seen in LHC \[[link](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/sep/10/large.hadron.collider)\], \[[link](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32087787)\], all we got was Higgs Boson predicted in the 1960s which we were almost certain to find because of the Standard Model of Physics.
* Lack of observable dark matter (we only observe extra centripetal force in faraway galaxies), or dark matter particles (from supersymmetry/string-theory) until LHC, shows physics is experiencing a "God of the gaps" problem by being forced to use yet more unobserved theoretical particles to fill the gaps
* Yet more "God of the gaps" problems arising from the dynamic variable nature of cosmological constant which is now called under new name "dark energy". New names to cover up mistakes in old ideas is a sure sign of reducing the explanatory power of physics.
* Fermi's paradox. We see planets everywhere in the universe, but no life yet. I know it is too early to claim this but it is possible that we are alone, and it might have something to do with being roughly in the middle of the universe without anomalous physics as we observe in the rest of the universe.

Other disclaimers:

* Stellar parallax, Focault pendulum, Coriolis forces are still possible in my framework as I think Earth can still move around the sun, or like a [Tychonic System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tychonic_system)
* GPS uses [Earth-centered inertial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth-centered_inertial) and [earth-centered, earth-fixed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECEF).
* Faster than light motion might be possible in my framework because only aether might have the c restrictions. This gives more possibility for the apparent [faster than light neutrinos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-light_neutrino_anomaly).

# How to falsify my theory (Falsifiability):

* Measure aether winds or lack of it on other planets (and other s

CMV: If your kid can't sleep, you should get them the professional help they need.

It's currently 6.24 am, and I haven't slept yet. That's not concerning; I haven't slept before 6 am and for more than 3 hours in the last three days.

I had this since I was a toddler. No kidding - I just wouldn't sleep for hours and days. I was wide awake in the middle of the night for as long as I can remember. This affected my school performance, my mood, my memory, my social life. You name it - it was affected. My mom would not even believe this. She just thought that I didn't try hard enough, that I was a "difficult kid" and that all I had to do was close my eyes and relax.

If only my parents had asked for professional help when I was a toddler, I would now enjoy a good night's sleep like a normal human being.

Please, parents of reddit, help your kids sleep.

https://redd.it/dzvx8k
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It's Fresh Topic Friday - 11/22/2019


Every Friday, posts are withheld for review by the moderators and approved if they aren't highly similar to another made in the past month.

This is to reduce topic fatigue for our regular contributors, without which the subreddit would be worse off.

[See here](https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/freshtopicfriday) for a full explanation of Fresh Topic Friday.

*Feel free to [message the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fchangemyview) if you have any questions or concerns.*

https://redd.it/dzw8ei
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CMV: Leftovers are so much worse than the original product.

Obligatory on mobile so formatting yada-yada.

Everyone tells me that leftovers are fantastic. In some cases I have been told that some leftovers are actually better than the original product. Some people have told me that day old, cold pizza is better than fresh piping hot delicious pizza straight from the oven. Sure it might be that persons specific taste, to each their own, maybe they like cold cardboard cheesy bread. However, to the general populous, it's still not better than the original product.

Now I'm just like the next person, I've eaten leftovers before, I'll eat them again many times. My argument is that they aren't good / as good as the original product. My reasoning is that leftovers, no matter the food item, it will never be the same Texture, Temperature, or Taste as the item when it was fresh. I agree that sometimes depending on the reheat method (e.g. oven for baked/toasted things), if applicable, does provide a higher likelyhood to be similar to the original product, but still not quite the same.

So leftovers will always be objectively worse than the original product, and the idea that they are even remotely close to the same quality is fundamentally flawed.

Change My View.

https://redd.it/dztyoh
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lieves in God ( take your pick ) or not, but that is another topic.

\~ Please feel free to correct my view on the definition of Nihilism and critique my view against it. Is it a good belief system? CMV.

Note: I am not posting an alternative to Nihilism. I am not sure what that would be exactly, but Nihilism seems to me to be the idea to not gravitate towards. I am just posting why one should not subscribe to the ideology of it.

https://redd.it/dztyq9
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CMV: The wheel is the most important invention of all time.

There a few inventions that are used on the scale of the wheel and none are used in as many aspects of life.

The modern world wouldn't exist in any capacity if not for the wheel. Modern medicine wouldn't be as accessible. Information wouldn't be as widespread. The internet probably wouldn't exist.

I personally have a hard time thinking of anything the wheel isn't used to help with. I'm not sure if I'm at 500 characters so I'm going to list some of the best wheel things.

Transportation

Agriculture

BMX

Machinery

Internet

Computers

Chainsaws are neat

Lamps probably

Shopping carts!

Wheelbarrows would just be barrows

I would like to have my mind changed. If something is more important than the wheel we aren't talking about it enough and it should have it's own holiday/citizenship

https://redd.it/dzs1x4
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CMV : Most people should never get degrees.

My parents come from an immigrant background and to them, me getting a degree meant a lot. Me I never cared and wished I had started working at a younger age but I couldn't because employers would mostly choose the guy with the degree. This should change as it causes debt when degrees simply aren't needed for most jobs, even in professional settings. I acknowledge that university has helped me in my career but I think that's an issue because I believe I could have easily started in my role at either 16 or even 18 as an apprentice rather than someone holding a certificate that cost me £30k.

I think university is a waste of time for most that attend. Young people should be encouraged to enroll in apprenticeships and the government should force companies to take on apprentices. This is far better and not the waste of time and money that university is. You know things are messed up when so many degree holders are doing jobs like Baristas.

So many young people are attending universities and I am convinced the majority do not need to. It is like higher education has become a business and people are in ridiculous debt for something they don't need. They would be far better off getting a job after school and learning on the job. Me personally I'm working in finance but I studied a liberal arts degree. This job can easily train apprentices. Nowadays the UK government is encouraging apprenticeships and they appeared to have learned that having over half the population attend university is a bad idea.

https://redd.it/dzr6ll
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CMV: Democrat Leaders Extending the Patriot Act Shows Their Animosity Towards Trump is Mostly Rhetoric

Of course, most people are aware of the impeachment hearings against Trump. However, just yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to fund and extend the Patriot Act for an extended 3 months after December 20th.

It seems to me hypocritical to believe that Trump is unfit for office and abused his power and then proceeds to potentially give him more power--or at least extending the duration of his current powers.

Additionally, Representative Justin Amash attempted to amend the budget bill by removing the Patriot Act language but the amendment was blocked by the Democrats on the Rules Committee. Only 10 Democrats voted against the resolution, including AOC, Ilhan Omar, and Tlaib.

The Trump administration still retains authority to reinitiate the NSA call records program, the program where millions of innocent American calls had been collected, if they deem it necessary.

Given the fact that the Trump administration could potentially extend another 4 years, it seems questionable at best why Democrats would not strip him of some of the powers he could abuse when they had the opportunity to. Given this, it seems to me most of the rhetoric against Trump is just for show. When presented with something to act on, most of the Democrats chose to empower Trump, and allow his administration the power to listen and collect calls, information, and data on millions of Americans.

https://redd.it/dzpr2z
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