Opinions on Ben Shapiro?

[Vincent]

Hello, I lurk more than I post but I'd like to hear thoughts on this. If this is the wrong place to put this please forgive me -

I used to consider myself a liberal until the left moved way too far to the left for my liking. Somewhere between the social justice uprising and the anti-Trump hysteria and protests I became disillusioned with that side of the political spectrum, but still maintained many of my left-leaning stances. 

However, recently I have been watching speeches and public debates with Ben Shapiro. If you have not heard of him I suggest typing his name into YouTube or google. He is very much a conservative and many of his viewpoints I disagree with, but he uses what seems to be quite sharp and reasonable logic. I have yet to see someone stump him on any of his points. I'm interested in seeing what other democrats/liberals (who appear to be the majority on the forum) think about him.

[Faith No More]

From what little I've seen, he's a right-wing hack that I would never put in the same sentence as "logic" unless there was a qualifier between like "doesn't understand." Just another conservative pundit that has to warp the facts to push their agenda. Pro tip: anyone that has ever worked at Breitbart should be dismissed as a crackpot bullshitter.

In fact, the only reason I'd ever even heard of him is that he had a nasty break up with Breitbart in which lots of racial epitaphs were used. The alt-right doesn't take kindly to Jews.

Also, if you stopped being a liberal just because some liberals went too PC, I have to question how well thought out your political stances were. I despise the ultra-PC movement, but that doesn't stop most liberal positions from being right. In fact, liberalism is supposed to champion free speech, so the PC people are actually being less liberal. By moving away from the term just for that, you're letting them hijack it.

[surreptitious57]

I recently watched a video on You Tube where social justice warriors lined up at the front of the class and stopped him from speaking because they had declared
the campus a safe space. Eventually they left of their own free will and Shapiro was able to continue.  I do not agree with him politically or ideologically but he is
definitely someone worth listening to. I find him sharp too as well and calm and open. He is possibly the best voice on the American right at this moment in time

[Vincent]

I believe my political stances were well thought-out. I have just been examining views of the opposing side and when I hear something that contradicts my beliefs but it actually makes sense, then I am compelled to consider it. I do lean to the left in many areas (abortion, gay rights, regultion of big business, etc.) but I feel that labeling myself "liberal" now comes with certain unwanted connotations (i.e. Islam apologist, feminist, believing there's more than two genders, believing that everything that comes out of Bernie Sanders mouth is gospel truth), and leads people to assume that I don't agree with any conservative values, which I do (i.e. I don't like the idea of making college free, or raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, or making everyone's tax rates as high as places like Denmark). I felt this was because the popular center of the left has shifted too far to an extreme position that I'd prefer to call myself a moderate. 

While I am distrustful of Breitbart and the individuals who work there, I believe it is an ad hominem to dismiss someone on the basis of their employment rather than their talking points. And as I said, though I disagree with some of his stances I think he often uses sound logic to defend them. At least from what I've seen.

[Minimalist]

Never heard of him.

[Vincent]

Never heard of him.

Neither had I until I saw a video on YouTube with him talking at a college campus. I suggest you watch what he has to say. He seems to be a conservative with a head on his shoulders.

[TheRealJoeFish]

Yeah, Ben Shapiro parrots right-wing talking points. Stuff like "SJWs are running to their safe spaces after the trans-agenda is EXPOSED in three sentences with simple LOGIC." It's noise, an endless animal bleat (to quote Andrew Ryan). *DISCLAIMER: BLAH BLAH YES GODDAMMIT THERE ARE PEOPLE LIKE THIS ON THE LEFT TOO.*

Ben Shapiro's occasionally good for a laugh when he says something ridiculous but then realizes that most of the people who agree with his ridiculous statement also consider him part of the international banking cartel responsible for 9/11

[Alex K]

While I am distrustful of Breitbart and the individuals who work there, I believe it is an ad hominem to dismiss someone on the basis of their employment rather than their talking points. And as I said, though I disagree with some of his stances I think he often uses sound logic to defend them. At least from what I've seen.

Well... If someone works for Breitbart, that's indeed not proof that everything he says is a lie, but it is proof that he has zero moral intellectual standards.

[Catholic_Lady]

Hello, I lurk more than I post but I'd like to hear thoughts on this. If this is the wrong place to put this please forgive me -

I used to consider myself a liberal until the left moved way too far to the left for my liking. Somewhere between the social justice uprising and the anti-Trump hysteria and protests I became disillusioned with that side of the political spectrum, but still maintained many of my left-leaning stances. 

However, recently I have been watching speeches and public debates with Ben Shapiro. If you have not heard of him I suggest typing his name into YouTube or google. He is very much a conservative and many of his viewpoints I disagree with, but he uses what seems to be quite sharp and reasonable logic. I have yet to see someone stump him on any of his points. I'm interested in seeing what other democrats/liberals (who appear to be the majority on the forum) think about him.

Never heard of him, but just wanted to say good on you for putting logic and your own principles above any political party, and wanting to consider both sides. 

I think more and more people seem to take the liberal or conservative approach to every issue without considering the other side, simply because they identify as a liberal/conservative and so automatically take that side on everything. Personally I agree with some issues that are right leaning and some that are left leaning. 

The point is to look at each issue individually and form your opinion on that issue based on what makes the most logical sense.

[TheRealJoeFish]

I mean, for instance, consider this article that Shapiro published yesterday called "The Insanity of the Left's Child Gender-Confusion Agenda.

There's nothing in it that could be called "sharp" or "reasonable logic." Sure, it's an opinion piece. But everything he writes is an opinion piece. He's a person who gets paid to have opinions, and to express those opinions in a way that other people who already have those opinions will agree with. I can think of few professions that are less noble.

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Hello, I lurk more than I post but I'd like to hear thoughts on this. If this is the wrong place to put this please forgive me -

I used to consider myself a liberal until the left moved way too far to the left for my liking. Somewhere between the social justice uprising and the anti-Trump hysteria and protests I became disillusioned with that side of the political spectrum, but still maintained many of my left-leaning stances. 

However, recently I have been watching speeches and public debates with Ben Shapiro. If you have not heard of him I suggest typing his name into YouTube or google. He is very much a conservative and many of his viewpoints I disagree with, but he uses what seems to be quite sharp and reasonable logic. I have yet to see someone stump him on any of his points. I'm interested in seeing what other democrats/liberals (who appear to be the majority on the forum) think about him.

Never heard of him, but just wanted to say good on you for putting logic and your own principles above any political party, and wanting to consider both sides. 

I think more and more people seem to take the liberal or conservative approach to every issue without considering the other side, simply because they identify as a liberal/conservative and so automatically take that side on everything. Personally I agree with some issues that are right leaning and some that are left leaning. 

The point is to look at each issue individually and form your opinion on that issue based on what makes the most logical sense.

Unfortunately, the bolded describes Shapiro perfectly