Obama is giving me deja vu.

Pretty sure he was just saying that you shouldn't spend ALL your time playing games. Advice I should take myself. ...... 'Should'.

Because if Democrats aren't losing, they're bitching about digital devices/games. I know, that was a zinger.

But if he's going to complain about that, then he might was well propose that the internet be taken down since that's the biggest distraction of all.

Maybe if life wasn't looking so bleak right now, people wouldn't be spending so much time on games, Twitter, or Facebook.

He's not the first Democrat to whine about video games (I seem to recall Mrs Clinton and Lieberman doing so), and that's not even bringing up the Republicans. Regardless of party affiliation, most people above a certain age aren't going to look at games as an ordinary source of entertainment--yet.

Oh, let's not forget Dan Quayle blaming Murphy fricken Brown for the deterioration of family values.

defcon6000 said:

Maybe if life wasn't looking so bleak right now, people wouldn't be spending so much time on games, Twitter, or Facebook.

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Yeah. It's horrible that such high technology and sophisticated communication and entertainment networks are available, so relatively cheaply, to so many.

I know it's Obama's fault that AW membership has skyrocketed.



eta: I'll go with efkelley's take on it, and if that's what was meant, I don't see the controversy.

efkelley said:

Pretty sure he was just saying that you shouldn't spend ALL your time playing games. Advice I should take myself. ...... 'Should'.

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I personally know that I only use the internet because I'm miserable, not because I really enjoy the flow of information...

Seriously, though, I'm like a pre-cyberpunk netdiver. Come on, neural implants and oppressive megacorps, arrive faster so I can do drugs and hack into mainframes while in the cyberspace and so on and so forth.

I don't know how to use any of those things either. I don't need to use them myself to see how much time my kids, coworkers and others lose to them. I've seen people, for all intents and purposes, become addicted to them. Obama condemning them without using them himself is rather like someone who's never smoked saying that tobacco is bad for you.

I totally get where he's coming from. I agree with him. I've often thought the same thing.

DeleyanLee said:

Obama condemning them without using them himself is rather like someone who's never smoked saying that tobacco is bad for you.

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Not really. The detrimental effects of tobacco are pretty well documented. But, yeah, it might be like, say, a celibate celebrant counseling a couple on how to improve their sex life.

Similar patterns of behavior are evident with any addiction, whether it be food, drugs, games, sex, or all of these. At the same time.

........

Holy crap that would be awesome!

poetinahat said:

Yeah. It's horrible that such high technology and sophisticated communication and entertainment networks are available, so relatively cheaply, to so many.

I know it's Obama's fault that AW membership has skyrocketed.

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I'm not even going to ask how you read into my comment that way - or why your sarcasm fails.

Rather, I'll explain it to you slowly in bright friendly letters to hold your attention.

Here in the US, things are not going so well. People are losing their jobs and their homes, and if you do manage to hold onto to either one of these things, you will be paying out the ass just to cover the bills. So yes, things will look bleak and digital media is a welcome to help distract people from such realty. Just like any form of escapism.

No, this doesn't apply to everyone, obviously. Not every person who roams the internet or plays games is escaping, they're just having fun. It only applies to the addicted ones (whom I'm sure were the target in the speech) who are dissatisfied with their current lot if life.

Is that clear enough for you? I can explain it ten different ways, maybe even set up a Power Point with flashy colors and sounds.

I could have been more civil in my response; I'm sorry for that, defcon.

I don't think that the economy is the cause of escapism, given that it's thrived in good times and bad. Rather, I think that as technology improves, the ability to squander time also improves; we waste time much more productively, and more people have the means to do it.

I'll pass on the PowerPoint, thanks all the same!

defcon6000 said:

Here in the US, things are not going so well. People are losing their jobs and their homes, and if you do manage to hold onto to either one of these things, you will be paying out the ass just to cover the bills. So yes, things will look bleak and digital media is a welcome to help distract people from such realty. Just like any form of escapism.

No, this doesn't apply to everyone, obviously. Not every person who roams the internet or plays games is escaping, they're just having fun. It only applies to the addicted ones (whom I'm sure were the target in the speech) who are dissatisfied with their current lot if life.

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That's what I've been holding onto as I inch closer to getting my graphic novel published (couple of fulls out there) and I see disposable income shrinking.

I keep thinking of how the movie industry throve during the Depression. People spent their precious pennies on distraction.

DeleyanLee said:

I don't know how to use any of those things either. I don't need to use them myself to see how much time my kids, coworkers and others lose to them. I've seen people, for all intents and purposes, become addicted to them. Obama condemning them without using them himself is rather like someone who's never smoked saying that tobacco is bad for you.

I totally get where he's coming from. I agree with him. I've often thought the same thing.

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You could say the same thing about television. Or books. Or *insert leisure activity here*.

I think he's just saying, "Don't let your television raise your children for you."

Even if taken in the worst possible light, it's nowhere near as bad as things done and said by Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman, and Tipper Gore.

When I first heard him say that I was like, "So what are you going to do? Regulate the video-game industry?"

Unlikely as that sounds, it could happen. I mean, Obama, his cronies, and the beraucrats have already regulated everything else in the country. What's to stop them from doing this?

You could easily say, "Yeah, good luck with that, Obama!" But if you don't watch out, gamers could end up being very, very miserable in the future.

Interesting. But I keep wondering how many people are failing to find jobs due to Call of Duty and other big releases. Not being facetious. It's demoralizing and demotivating to see how everything remains the same. There is some part of the jobless (and voting) equation which are people who gave up entirely.

Re: "Maybe if life wasn't looking so bleak right now, people wouldn't be spending so much time on games, Twitter, or Facebook." There's an opposite effect here. While the web makes us feel "connected", at the same time it proves our insignificance. Beyond a doubt. We're unbelievably commonplace and powerless. And many of these so-called connections are bogus, empty. The waste of time is staggering to contemplate.

But, instead of any real debate on the issue, we have just a sound bite. Yeah. Way to remind us how lame it all is.

Miss Plum said:

That's what I've been holding onto as I inch closer to getting my graphic novel published (couple of fulls out there) and I see disposable income shrinking.

I keep thinking of how the movie industry throve during the Depression. People spent their precious pennies on distraction.

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Maybe distraction is an important stop-gap for sanity. When the pressure of reality is relentless, our mental health breaks down. PTSD is not a hypochondriacal condition. If we don't back off, we break off. Seems to me that a few breezy comments and emoticons on Facebook or AW can stave off a world of "I had to kill him because the bastard cut me off in traffic."

LOG said:

Some people consider pro-sports to be a waste of time...

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(Raises hand)

Speaking of pro sports, how is it in any way better to sit on your ass passively watching other people playing a game than to actually participate in playing games yourself?

The difference between the girls I flirt with online and the girls I flirt with in real life is that I get to fuck the ones in real life.

Oh. And some of the ones I flirt with online, too. Well, my my, I guess there's not such a big difference, after all.

He isn't saying anything that any of the other anti gaming kooks haven't said. Remember, these people are a lot like the ones who blamed Columbine on Marylin Manson (or the NRA). They're just looking for scapegoats. Ignore them. The Constitution gives people the right to free speech., It doesn't mandate that anyone has to listen.

LOG said:

You could lace the food with drugs, and then eat it while playing a game that revolves around sexual acts.

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Yes please.

SPMiller said:

The difference between the girls I flirt with online and the girls I flirt with in real life is that I get to fuck the ones in real life.

Oh. And some of the ones I flirt with online, too. Well, my my, I guess there's not such a big difference, after all.

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Hey! Me too!