I mean seriously... 12 step programs for irresponsible gamers?
(SALEM, Ore.) - Lately the hue and cry is rising again to restrict, control or ban video games. There are the claims that the games foster violence in those who play them. There are those who consider the games 'addictive'. Hogwash!
There is nothing addictive to video games any more than anything else. Weak-willed folks who have other serious character flaws like (but not limited to) immaturity or irresponsibility may lack the personal control ability to play games (or do anything else for that matter) in moderation. But that does not make video games 'addictive'.
I mean seriously... 12 step programs for irresponsible gamers?
Anti-gaming crusader Jack Thompson and his motley crew of censor-happy zealots stop at nothing to achieve their goals of censorship. Lying, misrepresenting and fabrication are their stock in trade. If the facts do not support them they make up a line of sophistry to do the trick.
They point to some kids who exhibit violent tendencies who play games ignoring the far greater number who play the same games and do not exhibit such tendencies.
And if they are wanting violence they should just keep angering the tens of millions of gamers who are getting sick and tired of these mindless censors spewing their ignorant pap.
They are GAMES. They are for entertainment. They are not, as some nitwits have claimed, serial killer trainers.
And they can even train useful real skills. The military and other aspects of the government and the private sector have realized this. Not every game is a shooter... a lot force you to think, to analyze, to interact with others and so on.
Games today are a lot more complex than Twister. And that is a good thing. As for shooters and the like there is a cathartic aspect to blowing the crap out of things in a safe environment. But that does not mean we plan to get an Uzi and shoot up the neighborhood.
Freedom, even in Salem, Oregon, is defined not by what is restricted but what is allowed. And the price of freedom, as Thomas Jefferson said, is eternal vigilance. We forget that at the peril of our losing that very freedom in the future.
The lying hucksters of the anti-gaming crusader model make one outlandish claim after another, each one disproven more easily than the one before. It would be laughable if it were not so dangerous.
Censorship attempts in all venues are rampant. Libraries and book stores are constantly hounded by narrow-minded zealots to ban this book or that book from their shelves. Anti-gaming crusaders want to ban anything more controversial than Jenga. Even in online forums those who cannot make cogent arguments seek to ban those they disagree with.
Me? I don't want to ban anyone or restrict any speech or expression that is not libelous or slanderous or inherently incitatory. Those are pretty much the only limits the first amendment allows, and even more so the Oregon Constitution which has the strongest and broadest free speech and expression protections in the nation.
Some consider this a bad thing. People like Kevin Mannix who every few years try and rape our State's Constitution so they can implement their plans for censorship.
Leave the games and gamers alone and stop giving those with clear character flaws that they really need to work on an out that they can use to blame games or anything or anyone but themselves for their own choices and the consequences, for good or ill, of those choices they make.
People need to grow up. Coddling them, kids or adults, does not help anyone grow up. It just perpetuates their immaturity.
And who, other than the pop psych cottage industry, benefits from that?
Video Games and FreedomSalem-News.com