This too. There are some really smart people arguing positions that I never see argued in the mainstream press. I have much better understanding of pro-gun people now than I used to. I still don't agree with them, but I am closer to understanding.

That's the reason I frequent r/ccw . Although I'm not from the US, I find interest in understanding the CCW culture; Their reasoning and thoughts. I've learned quite a lot from there through the years.

Indeed. /pol/'s main value is entertainment at the sheer level of batshit insanity but the number of times they've either been startlingly prescient or else had serious insider knowledge is significant. I've seen things there that took days to hit CNN. For example, claims about Peter Bright's pedophilic exploits hit /pol/ years ahead of his arrest.

This really gets to the core of my love/hate relationship with the "weird" internet. I was an Ars-poster ~20 years ago and hadn't heard any of those rumors. Never ventured into 4chan for more than 5 minutes at a time. But I did spend a lot of time in the Gawker comment section and reading things like the Crazy Days and Nights blog. It definitely gives you a different perspective on journalism. There are so many stories which exist in a different plane, completely known by mainstream journalists but unreported for decades. It's insane.

Always reminds me of the classic 1978 Johnny Rotten interview BBC interview where he calls out Jimmy Savile. (Video features a gross Piers Morgan pretending like he never heard about Savile.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4OzI9GYag0

We don't need the white supremacy, but we as a society do need the crass asshole who's not afraid to knock down the elites by a peg or two. (And the John Stewart "jesters" of the world do not count.)

Personally I blame social media. The phenomenon of linking your online presence to your real identity is a disaster. Now instead of ignoring racist garbage from xXBoner_Lord_420Xx you see it being posted by John Smith, head of Accounting for Company Inc.