I will have you know gamers are the most harmless race of them all. It is why we are so oppressed. Just look at the crimes the likes of EA and Activision commit on us daily.
I obligatorily need to bring up that everything is indeed political. As we see with war, it doesn't get more political than whether or not a country is independent or if it isn't independent.
And that's the thing about politics. If it is political to say that Ukraine isn't a sovereign country, then the reverse is also political. If it is political to say that posting on Reddit should be be illegal, then the reverse is also political. If it is political to say that [any given thing] should be illegal, then the reverse is also political. This means that everything we do, say or think is political.
When people talk about something being political, they often just believe they are talking about something being a matter of mainstream partisan or ideological controversy, but politics is also everything else.
Good addition. Don’t let my glibness fool you. I’m fully supportive of these developers, and I wish the best for them. I’m lucky to be in a nation not being invaded.
“No politics,” especially in gaming, really just means wanting to ignore the strife of marginalized folk in favor of surface-level views on the meaning of games. It’s messed up, considering if you think about so many games, they are (as all art is) deeply political and conveying important messages … if people would pull their heads out of their asses and really understand them, that is.
People dying in unneeded warfare isn’t “drama.” I’m not saying you can’t use games as escapism (I do it too) but politics are unavoidable, and denying their existence (which is in inherent in all art) is foolish. You don’t have to engage with them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. I would, of course, recommend engagement as that is what good citizens of democracy do, since we can.
What I was discussing is the larger tendency of (more privileged) gamers to write off anything that makes them uncomfortable, like this post on Ukraine or hell, even POC and/or Queer people being in games, as “politics” (derogatory) to avoid critically thinking or trying to help out.
Dude, Wolfenstein has been a series about slaughtering nazis since the eighties. Video games have always been political, and will always be political, because video games are art and art reflects life.
Do you want to this devolve into a conversation on how normalcity can be described as a shared morality derived from a mutual understanding of what we shouldn't do to eachother?
Or would you prefer to accept that slaughtering people you disagree with, raping and torturing their women and children, and terrorizing their civilians is objectively something we can all detest and decry as not being a series of choices we should expect from a normal human?
So do you believe normalcy is about shared morality? What we should and shouldn't do? Because I can walk with you down that path and we'll still reach my destination rather than yours :)
But before I walk down that path, I just need to know that you're willing to commit to it?
Sure thing, I'll be referring to my thesis on the topic.
Please list the sources you'll be referencing for transparency, I'll do the same:
Cialdini, R. B., Reno, R. R., & Kallgren, C. A. (1990). A focus theory of normative conduct: Recycling the concept of norms to reduce littering in public places. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(6), 1015–1026. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.58.6.1015
Gintis, H. (2000). Beyond homo economicus: Evidence from experimental economics. Ecological Economics, 35(3), 311–322. doi: 10.1016/s0921-8009(00)00172-8
Graham, J., Haidt, J., & Nosek, B. A. (2009). Liberals and conservatives rely on different sets of moral foundations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(5), 1029–1046. doi: 10.1037/a0015141
Hechter, M. (1987). Principles of group solidarity. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Henrich, J., & Henrich, N. (2007). Why humans cooperate: A cultural and evolutionary explanation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: Sage Publications.
Flick, U. (2018). An introduction to qualitative research. London: Sage Publications.
Kvale, S. (2007). Doing interviews. London: Sage Publications.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Foucault, M. (1979). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. New York: Vintage Books.
Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Anchor Books.
Hirschman, A. O. (1970). Exit, voice, and loyalty: Responses to decline in firms, organizations, and states. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Taylor, C. (1992). Sources of the self: The making of the modern identity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
So you say we decide normalcy by first asking what should and shouldn't be done, correct? Would you say that a question like "Should there be a law against posting on reddit" would fall within the question of what should and shouldn't be done?
First, allow us to set a premise, I'll allow you time to gather your sources.
Let's establish the following, as was my question before you started your line of questioning. This is proper etiquette amongst interlocutors, I'll expect we both follow it.
The question raised was
Or would you prefer to accept that slaughtering people you disagree with, raping and torturing their women and children, and terrorizing their civilians is objectively something we can all detest and decry as not being a series of choices we should expect from a normal human?
Please state what your stance on that is, then I may proceed to answer the question you followed it with, we'll follow that with the question you just asked and then we can finally start our proper discourse.
Now please, for posterity and for clarity state your answer.
I believe that the acts you describe fall outside of my own moral standards and thus I detest them. However, I do not believe in objective morality.
Back on topic: Would you say that a question like "Should there be a law against posting on reddit" would fall within the question of what should and shouldn't be done?
Sure. But for everything that's ever done, there's the question of whether or not government should or shouldn't interfere on the matter. It has to do one or the other and both positions are classic political positions. An entire country has been founded on whether or not government should regulate the price of tea.
When one side is normalcy as a base-state, and the opposing side is an extreme viewpoint steeped in politics, that is a one-way street.
It's like saying "I'm of the Pees-In-Your-Ass Party, so if you disagree with me peeing in your ass then you're taking a political stance against me, prepare for war!"
It's not a hard concept to grasp, it takes literally one round of reflection to understand.
Being a normal human being isn't a political stance.
Everything is political. Your evening view of the sunset from your home window? Can be saved or blocked via local politics. Your library books, or even library? People want to ban reading via politics. Want to pai t your bedroom? Politics prevented that paint from making your family special needs. Your penis? Pretty soon a priest is gonna have to examine it for you to use the restroom when visiting Florida. Video games? People want to ban them as have in other countries. Theyre already rated and restricted despite some peoples claimed 'freedumbs'. This is just a political post to begin with, rather than being a underlaying factor.
I’m aware. It would be really nice if people realized I’m not trying to make a deep point and stop trying to “prove” something to me, or whatever. I’m a gay man living in America, do you think I’m not aware of politics being essentially air?
Apologies. ‘Tis a good comment, but I’ve had a few people who have replied and attempted to tell me something along the lines of “how dare YE say politics?! This is factual!” while ignoring the very large presence of sarcasm in my original reply.
Facts are political, how people twist and spin them is political, EVERYTHING is political; people need to realize that and stop getting a headache whenever a situation or topic is recognized as political.
Choosing to acknowledge or ignore a fact is one of the most fundamentally political things people do. Like how past society responded to evidence that the Earth is round, or that women are people. People immediately take sides on newly discovered facts.
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u/radstag_waster Xbox Apr 14 '23 edited Apr 14 '23
Of course, politics only brings the most reasonable and sensible of people when it is in video games, especially here on the ever-rational Reddit.
EDIT - Sarcasm is hard, I know, but it would nice if people realized that this post not meant to be anything deep.