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Barbarians at the Gates 51
ILuvJoesMom writes "Hot on the heels of Wednesday's news story, Warcry has an editorial up with strategies for defending the video game industry from the oncoming hordes. 'If you're sick of hearing politicians kvetch about video games, make it worth their while to stand up for them by voting for them and supporting them. Given the choice between a hundred thousand overprotective moms with ballots in hand and a million gamers at their computers, I'm going 'mom vote' every time, and I imagine any politician hoping to stay a politician feels the same. This is that 'elected' thing I was talking about earlier. If you're over 18 and not a felon, then odds are you have the right to vote, and that's more powerful than a thousand 'I think Congress sucks, who's with me?' threads on the message board of your choice.'"
Yeah, I'll Vote... (Score:3, Funny)
No??!?
Nevermind then. I'm busy.
Re:HEY! (Score:1)
Power to the People (Score:5, Insightful)
It does and no vote is wasted .
If we want our views heard then we need to need to shout them out and make sure that they know we are not alone . These lobby groups have realised this , unfortunately many have also realised (as i said above) that making making people believe it doesn't is a great way to get your ideas through .
If you feel an injustice in government then you need to make your voice heard.
beat the self fulfilling prophecy .
One well voiced eloquently spoken opinion can change the course of world events for years to come , let's just make sure that the voice is of the Masses and is well informed.
Re:Ha! (Score:4, Insightful)
Remember the only way they are able to keep receiving their precious cash bribes is if they stay in power.
Lobbying does not require money only consensus.
I may be a tad antiquated in my views , but i still believe they can be very affective.
I believe In America they have a nice saying "by the people , for the people " , would be lovely if we could realise that dream.
Re:Ha! (Score:1)
Re:Power to the People (Score:2)
If you've ever known anybody who works for a political campaign, basically that is what all the interns and volunteers will do. If you had ever participated in the political process, at any level, you would know this.
Re:Power to the People (Score:1)
I've found that a lot of people don't think their one little vote will amount to anything, so why bother?
They do have a point, in that one little vote really won't change an election, but if you really care about something, then you really should campaign for it, and try to get as many votes as you can. If you work hard
Re:Power to the People (Score:1)
No Barbarians? (Score:4, Funny)
As you defend your territory and caffeine sources from governors, senators, and congressmen, you would work your way to the end level bosses: the Special Interest Groups. Concerned Parents would invade and attempt to use the 'Think of the Children' bombs to EMP blast the gaming community into the stone age.
But I guess it wasn't about that.
Public Service Announcement. (Score:5, Insightful)
If war, taxes, social security, the looming spectre of Supreme Court nominations, national defense, freedom of the press, a sense of civic duty, job creation, prison overcrowding, welfare, seperating church and state, defending your Constitutional rights, metropolitan transit, energy policies, trade policies, and being a decent human being weren't enough to make you cast your ballot, well, fuck off and don't vote.
Thanks.
Vote libertarian (Score:2)
If you've never found it worth your while to vote but the fear of video game regulations spur you to the polls...please stay home and don't vote.
Nope. If fear of regulation of anything spurs you to the polls...please vote a Libertarian [lp.org] ticket (or foreign counterparts). As for welfare and Social Security's survivor and disability programs, insurance companies in the private sector may do a better job of giving their customers a safety net.
freedom of the press [...] defending your Constitutional rights
Re:Vote libertarian (Score:2)
Private insurers demand premiums in proportion to the risks you represent. That becomes a problem when you are unemployed, elderly, chronically ill, or physically disabled.
Insurance companies are notoriously quick to retreat from such low profit, high-risk markets.
Historically, private insurance has always been organized around the nee
Re:Vote libertarian (Score:2)
Private insurers demand premiums in proportion to the risks you represent. That becomes a problem when you are unemployed ... chronically ill, or physically disabled.
That's why in a libertarian world, parents might carry insurance against the event that a child becomes unemployable in a covered way before the child becomes employable, in much the same way as health insurance.
elderly
Everybody eventually becomes elderly. Planning for retirement and medical expenses in a libertarian world is the job
Re:Vote libertarian (Score:2)
Morgan Stanley's core business is investment banking. The working poor are not its clients.
Re:Public Service Announcement. (Score:5, Funny)
If war, taxes, social security, the looming spectre of Supreme Court nominations, national defense, freedom of the press, a sense of civic duty, job creation, prison overcrowding, welfare, seperating church and state, defending your Constitutional rights, metropolitan transit, energy policies, trade policies, and being a decent human being weren't enough to make you cast your ballot, well, fuck off and don't vote.
Alternatively, go ahead and vote just to piss this guy off.
Re:Public Service Announcement. (Score:1)
Sure! There's room in this handbasket for all of us.
Here's some free clue (Score:3, Insightful)
The whole _real_ point is to elect the people who best represent _my_ interests, whatever those interests might be. If enough people thought their most important issue is having quicksave in all games, or subsidizing implants for porn stars, that's it. Democracy means they can and in fact should see to it that those issues get heard.
The whole idea in a real democrac
Re:Here's some free clue (Score:1)
Let us eat cake and sip hot coffee.
Democracy at work!
Re:Here's some free clue (Score:2)
The hard truth remains that only a handful of issues rise to the surface in any election. These may not be the questions you want to see decided, but they are the only questions which can be decided.
+1 Obvious (Score:2)
Re:+1 Obvious (Score:1)
Hate to tell you this, but you're absolutely wrong when it comes to conversion kits [bradycampaign.org]. But you don't have to take the law's word for it. Check an Internet forum. [perspectives.com]
Your point is about getting organized is perfectly valid though, but your childish proposal for intimidation is doomed to failure. No one with any sense of self-respect would tolerate intimidation. A much more mature and effective tactic wo
Re:+1 Obvious (Score:2)
Actually, I think it has more to do with the fact that the NRA - a group started by civil war veterans, not manufacturers - has millions of members. Members who make it clear to their representatives that gun rights are a voting issue. That's real power, power that well-funded but poorly-supported anti-gun groups don't have.
Ha! (Score:1, Flamebait)
One game I dont play - their's.The white collar black market my friends - kick back, relax, and enjoy!
Re:Ha! (Score:1)
Sorry Peter M.!
I've spent thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars on legitimate copies of games since then though.
NO WAY! (Score:4, Funny)
Sorry. I tried to play that game once before and there were too many glitches and crashes with it. It clearly had not gone through a proper QA cycle and I am not going to bother trying that game again until a solid patch has been released.
So who do I vote for? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:So who do I vote for? (Score:4, Informative)
Its nice how your assumption results in a world where you don't have to get off your lazy ass and vote.
Btw, here is a list of the 19 democrats and 2 republics in the house [house.gov] who voted no against H.RES.376 [loc.gov], a resolution to call upon the FTC to investigate Rockstar Games over the 'Hot Coffee' mod. Unfortunately, not any of my state's representitives voted no. :( YMMV.
That's at the federal level. Obviously, it seems that you didn't know that. Perhaps if gamers like you paid more attention to issues that concern you, we'd have less problems.
Of course, at the state and local level, you have even more power. But perhaps that would require just a tad too much effort.
Get off your ass and vote, damnit. Why are the republicans and democrats voting for legislation like this? Because the people that elected them want legislation like this.
Re:So who do I vote for? (Score:1)
Thats funny, last time I voted, that spot on the ballot where you get to type in what you want your elected representatives to do didn't show up.
Damn you Diebold! This is all your fault!
Re:So who do I vote for? (Score:2)
Write On Candidate (Score:5, Funny)
He already knows how to manage people, cities, farms, islands, ants, life, and Earth.
Re:Write On Candidate (Score:1)
Re:Write On Candidate (Score:1)
The Pro Game Platform? (Score:1)
Give it a few years (Score:2)
As the years go by, things will settle down and our generation will be in power- likely condemning the moral inadequacies of our youngers in mediums that we'll never be able to understand.
If you think video games get a bad rep these days, take a look at what rap music has had to go through over the last decade or so. It sorta pu
Some more perspective (Score:2)
If there's ever a time when I pick the lesser of two evils based on their video game opinion, I'm done with democracy.
Re:Some more perspective (Score:1)
I'm not going to cast my vote for some [neo-fascist] idiot just because his otherwise austere opponent decried some pixelated titties.
Then vote Libertarian.
Re:Give it a few years (Score:2)
It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea. -- Robert Anton Wilson
Re:Give it a few years (Score:2)
It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea. -- Robert Anton Wilson
In today's political climate I see a strong tendency towards conservatism. So the opposite might be true: It only takes 20 years for a conservative to become a liberal without changing a single idea. -- Robert Anton Wilson
20 years ago, what conservative politician would have dared to attack things like freedom of press or say a preemptive attack is good?
Re:Give it a few years (Score:2)
You're falling into the trap of thinking that thing stay the same. The Conservatives we see today in government have very little to do with the conservatives of the past. Add to that the fact that most politicians do what they must to stay re-elected, and you'll see why Bush and his Cronies are 'Neo-Conservatites.'
Slashdot party? (Score:3, Insightful)
The +5 informative department could gather things that sort of looks like facts.
The +5 Insightful & Interesting departments reinforce each other in the debates, while ruthlessly moderating the opposition down.
The +5 Funny & Offtopic departments could crack jokes if things are starting to look bad.
The +5 Flamebait & Troll departments could work together distract and smear political opponents.
Re:Slashdot party? (Score:1)
Sorry... (Score:1)
I have no statistical influence
Representative Government (Score:2)
Not exactly true. Elected representatives have staff members who monitor public opinion in many, many media venues. Sure, the newspaper editorial section is more important to them than message boards, but they are still looking at the boards.
Plus, if you vote based upon prior decisions, you're
give it ~20 years (Score:1)