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The People Vs. Common Sense

Posted by Hemos on from the the-people-had-common-sense? dept.

Mogg writes "GamerGod.com has a new article up entitled "The People Vs. Common Sense, A Citizen's View at Michigan's SB-0146 Law," commenting on the new Michigan state video game law. "Have we made absolutely certain books and movies are not degrading the minds of our children and video games and all computerized representation of violent and sexual acts are the cause of an increase of depraved sociopaths??" Very nicely written piece.

17 of 580 comments (clear)

  1. Thank God... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Have we made absolutely certain books and movies are not degrading the minds of our children and ... representation of violent and sexual acts are the cause of an increase of depraved sociopaths?"

    Thank God there's nothing like that in the Holy Bible!

    1. Re:Thank God... by ThePilgrim · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For its time, this was a very enlightend attitude. It fobade rape and plunder of a city that surrendered, and ensured that the none fighting population of a city that did not where protected. Other parts of the Bible say what can and can not be done with women taken in war, and forcing them to have sex with you was forbidden.

      --
      Wouldn't it be nice if schools got all the money they wanted and the army had to hold jumble sales for guns
    2. Re:Thank God... by CosmeticLobotamy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For its time, this was a very enlightend attitude.

      And if I ever find myself a few thousand years in the past, I'll encourage people to read it. But for now, I'm going to ask that people watch the much more enlightened "Sesame Street." All the best parts of the Bible, none of that crazy crap about raping people.

  2. think about when you were a kid by tehwebguy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    my parents didn't let the government raise me. none of my friends' parents let the government raise them. if my parents deemed an R rated movie or M rated game ok for me, regardless of my age, they let me view/play it. if they deemed a PG-13 move or T rated game NOT ok, they didn't.

    --
    -- lol pwned
    1. Re:think about when you were a kid by Kombat · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That's all well and good, but the truth of the matter nowadays is that both parents want to work. Our parents did a good job raising us, telling us that if we want to make something of ourselves, we have to go to college. So we did. Both men and women. Then, in university, we met the person who would eventually become our spouse. After college, they both wanted jobs, to put this new, expensive education to work. After all, they're young, educated, enthusiastic, and unemcumbered by kids. So they both get great jobs, and buy a nice big house and each drive a BMW SUV.

      A few years later, they want kids. Being used to getting what they want, they proceed to spawn. However, neither of them want to work, being new-age, enlightened folks. "Why should I automatically have to stay home? This is 2005, for cryin' out loud," says the woman. "Well, I'm not quitting my job," says the man, "I make more than you. It makes sense for me to keep working." They crunch the numbers and realize that they both must keep working, in order to continue being able to afford gassing up their BMW SUVs and heating/cooling their 3000 sq. ft. mansion.

      Kids are inevitably born, and a minimum-wage, immigrant nanny is hired, or the kid is shipped off to daycare, where he/she learns questionable value and is largely emotionally devoid of the individual attention he/she needs and deserves. But mom and dad, still working 8 - 10 hour days, only have to deal with Junior for a few hours a day, so they don't notice that Junior is starting to resent them. Feeling guilty, they buy him whatever he wants (after all, they're still "rich" enough to do so). Junior wants a cell phone. "It'll let us reach him wherever he is," the parents reason, and buy him the phone. Junior wants a car. "It'll free us from having to shuttle him around all the time," reason the parents. Junior wants GTA3. "It'll keep him out of our hair for a few hours a day," say the parents.

      So junior, having been raised by an immigrant with poor english and questionable credentials, learns to entertain himself, and finds that he can spend a very large amount of time hanging out with his friends doing whatever, and his parents won't nag him about it. He doesn't really like (or know) his parents anyway. Eventually, they get divorced. Junior plays GTA4 with his buddies in his basement while his parents are at work, and they laugh every time they run over a hooker. Then they go out under the deck behind the house and smoke a joint. Mom and Dad won't be home for hours anyway.

      Welcome to 2005.

      --
      Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
  3. Oh Please ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Have we made absolutely certain books and movies are not degrading the minds of our children and video games and all computerized representation of violent and sexual acts are the cause of an increase of depraved sociopaths??"

    I have been an avid video gamer for 30 years and it has not ... [just a sec] ... Sorry, my mom just came in my room with my breakfast, I tell her to knock but she just doesn't listen

    ... anyway back to what I was saying, I've been playing video games religiously for 30 years and it has not affected my social development in the least

  4. Thesaurus whore by OnoTadaki · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "visualize the poignant tide of human thought", "While endeavoring to bequeath our exclusive equities unto the world, we are often chagrined by remonstrations..." It's sad when someone has to turn to looking up every second word in a thesaurus to sound like they have an intelligent arguement.

  5. Re:It's a political game by Kombat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Almost all polticians are out to appease the voters, not solve problems.

    Is that the fault of the politicians appeasing their consituents, or the voters who value style over substance? You can't blame the politicians for playing the game. They have to work within the system the people have constructed, or they won't be rewarded with subsequent terms.

    --
    Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
  6. Re:Video Games = Child brain rot by Intron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers. -- Attributed to Socrates by Plato

    --
    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  7. Low hanging fruit... by faloi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In the 80's, it was the PMRC under Tipper Gore that was leading children away from the path of suicide and darkness brought on by music. Easy target, musicians don't tend to contribute as much to political campaigns as Hollywood types. Life was good. Then the "extreme" music of the day became more normal, and all we've got is some warning labels. Aside from Lieberman during the 2000 elections, I don't know of any politicians really speaking out on it these days.

    New target possibilities? Lessee... Video games. They're easy. P2P technologies... That has the bonus of getting your Hollywood and corporate buddies to apprieciate you more AND gives you something that doesn't require a lot of money or work on your part. Ain't politics grand?

    --
    "It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." -Albert Einstein
  8. The Real Question... by zev1983 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The real question to ask is if there actually has been an increase of "depraved sociopaths", or if it is meerly percieved to be so because news coverage now picks out these rare incidents wherever and whenever they happen and sensationalize it and parade it around for weeks to get rating. Scaring people enhances news ratings.

  9. State of Michigan by magarity · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From TFA:
     
      Allow me to present Michigan SB-0416, the latest attempt by the American government
     
    The Michigan state government is not the same as "the American government" which would be the label for the Federal government. This is a good example of something that individual states *do* have the ability to regulate even if a lot of us think it's silly. All the people in Michigan who don't like it should direct complaints to their state legislator and not blame a vague "American government". All people who *don't* live in Michigan should direct comments to their respective state legislators insisting that our state should not enact similar.

  10. This just in... by ShoobieRat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A new study concludes that parents should parent their ****ing kids!

    If you have kids, they're your responsibility, parent them. If you don't want to do that, don't have kids. It's not society's fault if your kid is a mindless twit who's never been brought up correctly.

    Stop punishing the rest of us for the faults of dumbasses who can't teach their kids right from wrong. Decent society does not come from rules and restrictions. It comes from doing yer damn job as a parent.

  11. Re:Very nicely written... by Articuno · · Score: 5, Funny

    He used two "?" and you want *more* punctuation ?

    --
    So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!
  12. When we kill then, we're good and holy. by khasim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When they kill us, they're sinning heathens.

    The critical point is ... don't define the action as "good" or "bad" ... define the actors.

    A "good" man is NOT one who does not kill.

    A "good" man is one who believes in "god" and kills according to his belief as to whom "god" wants killed (as long as the rest of the winning society believes the same).

    A "psychotic" man is one who believes in "god" and kills according to his belief as to whom "god" wants killed (but the rest of the winning society does not believe the same).

    A "bad" man is one who refuses to kill as "god" dictates OR who kills the "good" people because he is fighting for the wrong "god".

    Witness wars and executions for real world examples of the above.

  13. Re:Right - you're smart, and we're simple-minded by ifwm · · Score: 5, Funny

    "people of faith as simple-minded peons who have no understanding of logic and who rapidly embrace hypocrisy"

    Ah, I see you've met them.

  14. Re:Very nicely written... NOT by briareus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Thankfully, the pretentious writing slacks off after the first two paragraphs or so. It would be nice if people would bother to learn that:

    1. Media is the plural form of medium.
    2. Effect and affect are not interchangeable.
    3. Use spell check! How hard is this?
    4. ...and cut it out with the pretentious writing. You're not fooling anyone when your writing is chock-full of grammatical and spelling errors -- even if you try to throw in a fistful of PSAT words.