Fareinheit 451 enters the modern age

[trashcanman]

Did you know firemen used to be paid to PUT OUT fires? Crazy, right? But why bother burning books in a world where nobody reads anyway, and anyone who does read sticks exclusively to vapid pandering garbage or is socially outcast for it? We gotta git them vidya games the kids like so much! Yee-haw!

So for anyone not up on current American events, there was the horrific shooting in a kindergarten class in Connecticut that now has every kneejerk liberal coming out of the woodwork to declare that all guns must be abolished for the sake of the childrens in a country that is already marching towards a fascist version of Orwell's 1984 at an alarming rate. So basically, anyone who wanted to slaughter the innocent would have to break the law to get a firearm before carrying out his killing spree and we are confident that is a line they just wouldn't cross. Alrighty then. But seeing that the right wing is every bit as stupid as the left on it's best day they decided instead of using well-founded arguments and facts to show the foolishness of this train of thought, the NRA did this instead.

www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-obeidallah/nra-guns-dont-kill-people_b_2352060.html

Now, it's hard to directly disagree with the mantra "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." since it's pretty much factual. But how about one of the heads of the NRA declaring "It's not guns that kill people, it's video games."? Not quite the argument we were looking for. Honestly, it's hard to believe anyone would choose that course of attack without political or monetary prodding from behind the scenes for some dubious conspiracy theory shit. Got to wonder what they think that will accomplish other than alienate 66% of current voters and 91% of future voters (actual percentages for adult and child gamers). Anyways, any time something like this gets on the idiot box, idiots will make it the centerpiece of their existence so they can feel all political and involved and shit. Behold.

www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/03/connecticut-town-will-collect-destroy-violent-games

I kind of wish I lived near there. There are a lot of old games selling for $10-15 at local game stores so if I bought them all out and turned them in for the $25 gift cards, I'd make a hell of a profit in addition to the games I don't play anymore that I'd be lucky to get $5 from if I sold them to Gamestop. So basically, they'll just end up giving gamers and Gamestop a lot of money and accomplish nothing of any actual value aside from being likened to the ghosts of fascism past and dysopian science fiction prophecies of the future. Well done, Connecticut.

[Ben]

Yeah I was confused by the NRA's statement. I suppose they felt they needed to find another scapegoat to attempt to direct negative attention elsewhere, but video games? Stretch. I think there's merit to the argument that video games and violent television desensitizes people, but it doesn't motivate anyone who isn't already a psycho to murder.

I'm a gun owner myself, and I really can't stand all the BS that has ensued since the shooting (some guy was arguing with me about assault weapons the other day until I graciously revealed to him that they aren't submachine guns. The idiot's jaw nearly hit the floor), but I'm not sure why the NRA thought their press conference was up to helping their cause.

[trashcanman]

I have no interest in owning a gun personally, but any way you look at it guns are part of our culture and heritage. Also, the strides our government has made in terms of smashing our right to peaceably assemble to petition for governmental redress of grievances, allowing for American citizens to be detained as enemy combatants (which is to say they can nab us off the street and imprison us indefinitely without charges if they feel like it), and other red flags seem to go hand in hand with disarming the civilian populace and it really puts me off of the idea of taking weapons out of the hands of the citizenry. We should always have the capability to defend ourselves as a society if need be, especially the way things are going. And you know what's REALLY funny? Lookee here:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13799616

Violent crime has actually taken a steep and steady DROP since violent video games became a thing. "Doom" is considered by most to be the point where games "grew up" and took that darker turn towards the M rating. That was in 1993. Now, knowing that, take a look and see exactly when that steep drop begins. Now, I'm not saying violent games caused that drop, but it would be beyond moronic to say that violent games cause crime when their rise perfectly and clearly coincide with a massive and constant drop in violence. It took me about 30 seconds to find that. You think the politicians and news networks don't have the resources to find this shit out? So the questions become A) "If there is so much less violence, why is it reported on so goddamn much more than ever before?" and B) "When there are such clear-cut statistics debunking such widespread fraudulent claims, why does absolutely nobody in the media ever brings them up?". [exhales]

[Ben]

Couldn't agree more, Trashcanman. The last step to making sheep of all of us is disarming the populace. You hit the nail right on the head with the media too. They're partially responsible for these massacre shootings to begin with; anyone who commits one knows he's guaranteed to be immortalized by the evening news. Maybe we won't remember his name, but we'll all remember exactly what he did. The media hasn't been about hard statistics or realities for years now. I stopped paying attention to that shit long ago.

[trashcanman]

Then you aren't part of the problem, man. I can't stand to watch the news any more. It's so full of manipulative implications, misinformation, and misdirection from things that actually matter that it physically aggravates me to see it any more.

[Ben]

Preaching to the choir. I didn't watch much during the aftermath of Newtown, but a buddy of mine who also never watches the news tuned in and told me they were interviewing first graders as they fled the building and shit. Brutal violence is just a big spectacle, a product, to curs who work for news stations. While I don't think it's appropriate to wish death on anyone, a very large part of me would gladly trade a bunch of douchey reporters to have those elememtary schools kids back.