One of the major issues that is going on below the radar, so to speak, is the effects of media on youth. To be precise, the whole of the argument now surrounds video games. There's not much talk about movies, or music...those lobbyists did their jobs. So a lot of the focus is on gaming. And leading the pack, is Senators Lieberman and Clinton. This is very bad for us, in both the long and the short-term. And we need to come out hard, and very vocal. Because this IS a subject where we can have a big impact.
Disclaimer:I am an avid gamer. I think that most games, in fact come with pretty good moral messages. As well, I believe they're better for facilitating brain activity than just watching TV, or even reading. Yes, I said it. I believe that most books that people read has the intellectual content of your average sitcom. But this is not about that. This is about the political ramifications of this point of view.
So the question is why? And of course, like most bad political ideas, it comes from the desks of the PPI/DLC. Who would have thought it? I would have. On first reading it actually makes decent political sense. But look a bit deeper..the devil is always in the details.
This comes from a PPI paper linked at http://www.ppionline.org/... that is written by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead. It's in PDF format, so I'm going to summerize for better reading.
Married people with children favored Bush over Kerry by 59 to 40. If we close that gap, it'll give us an electoral advantage. Young people already support us by 54 to 45 margin, and they make up 17% of the vote. As well, as they get older, married, have children etc. the concerns of the older generation will become their concerns, so playing to those concerns is an electoral winner.
So what are their concerns? Affordable housing in safe neighbourhoods with safe schools. Protecting kids from crime and violence. Sexual predators on the internet. And a violent, materialistic and misogynistic culture. These are all legitimate concerns.
And from this..they need to attack video games.
This, my friends, says everything we EVER need to know about the DLC/PPI. Hell, it says everything we need to know about what the hell is going wrong with America. The rest of the PDF, to be blunt, is the gibberish of an idiot.
It talks about taking on big business..GREAT!..so what we going to do first. Increase taxes so we can run universal health care? Good increases to the minimum wage so parents can afford to spend more time with their kids. No No! I got it. Let's shorten the workweek to 30 hours, to strengthen families..more vacation time. That's a necessary one.
No. None of this. We're just going to jawbone entertainment companies and insult the culture of other generations to make ourselves feel good. We don't actually want to DO anything, afterall, censorship is bad..right? Besides. Courts will strike it down time after time. But we can talk a lot. And if you don't like the same things we do? Well you can go to hell.
Right. And these politicians expect new generations to vote for them. Right. People who stay home and not vote arn't stupid. They just don't think that it makes any difference. Because no real change is going to occur.
And let me tackle the overview of it. Talking about a violent, materialistic, misogynistic culture. Which I agree, by the way....but...
Violent:Nothing in this world right now is more violent than the war in Iraq. NOTHING.
Materialistic:Do I need to say anything about this? No? Didn't think so. If you think that soccer moms are worried about materialism, in their brand new SUVs that they trade in every 3 years, and their highly decorated homes.....I weep for you. I truly do.
Misogynistic:In THE SAME PARAGRAPH it mentions that Hillary Clinton making feelers to the misogynistic pro-life community is a good thing.
No, it's clearly obvious what the PPI/DLC are trying to do with this. They're trying to blame something else..everybody else for the problems that they've created. Why? Because they don't see the problems as being actual problems. Yet they're still there, and people are feeling angry...
So you can do what people have always done. Blame it on the kids.
So what's the solution? Simple. Talk about the ACTUAL issues. Make schools safer? More funding would be a nice start. Reducing the pressure cooker that is the modern school system would be a much better start. Reduce the lure of crime and drugs? How about starting by reducing the lure of money and power as a whole?
We need to talk about real morality. Not this made up feel-good DLC stuff. And we can't do it by insulting future generations. After all.
We need their votes just as much.