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"Violent" Video Games To Be Banned In Venezuela
An anonymous reader writes "The country that has bought Sukhois, tanks and 100,000 AK-103's, is planning to build a manufacturing plant of Russian rifles, and oppresses peaceful marches has decided to ban 'violent' video games because they 'promote violence and can alter the behavior of children.' The new legislation in Venezuela says, 'The violence found in video games is translated into the real world.' This new law affects people who sell, 'use,' produce, import and distribute these games. Video games as a whole have been labeled as 'a consequence of savage capitalism' by PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela), which is the political party led by Hugo Chavez. Days before this law was approved by the National Assembly, Chavez promoted the use of traditional toys like the Yo-Yo and Trompo, and suggested that electronic toys like 'the Nintendo' be put aside because they promote 'egoism, individualism and violence.' Just today the AFP released a report showing Caracas as the second most violent city on the planet — even more violent than Baghdad. I guess all those violent gangs in Venezuela are addicted to video games."
Individualism? Oh, no!
Maybe banning violence would help to cut down on the violence in that country.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Crush the thought of dissent before they spill out into the streets. Actually shouldn't be promoting the use of violent video games to keep his citizens under control?
Om, nomnomnom...
Chavez promoted the use of traditional toys like the Yo-Yo and Trompo, and suggested that electronic toys like 'the Nintendo' be put aside because they promote 'egoism, individualism and violence.'
Because we all know what a danger Individualism is.
Those violent video games are bad for you kid! Stop playing them immediately or be flogged!
Says the Strong Man who has been undermining the constitutional order of Venezuela and dreams of creating a Castro-like cult of personality for himself.
"The country that has bought Sukhois, tanks and 100,000 AK-103's, is planning to build a manufacturing plant of Russian rifles, and oppresses peaceful marches has decided to ban 'violent' video games because they 'promote violence and can alter the behavior of children.'
What the hell does this have to do with the actually meat of the issue? NOTHING. Nice troll.
Sent from your iPad.
Maybe if there were MORE violent videogames there, there wouldn't be so much violence. In the US, the most violent places are the slums, places where the folks living there can't afford videogames.
Violent crime has dropped in the US since videogames were invented.
OTOH I played Quake with my daughters on our home network when they were teenagers, and my youngest (now 22) tried to beat the hell out of my girlfriend a couple of weeks ago. Maybe Quake is responsible? ;)
Free Martian Whores!
was never about actually reducing crime, it is about enforcing morality on others and controlling what media people are allowed to consume.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
You heard it here first!
RTFG - Read The F#$%ing Google!
The country that has bought Sukhois, tanks and 100,000 AK-103's, is planning to build a manufacturing plant of Russian rifles, and oppresses peaceful marches has decided to ban 'violent' video games because they 'promote violence and can alter the behavior of children.'
Just because a country purchases utilities of force says nothing. What they do with them says everything. If a country employs them for their own protection from genuine threats, there is nothing wrong with them building or purchasing automat kalashnikovs.
As for the video games promoting violence and altering the behavior of children, I do not believe this has been scientifically proved or disproved. And it may be hard if not impossible to do. I would recommend, when dealing with a populace, that you stick to common sense like 'acts of violence have been around long before video games' and point out that there is no statistical correlation between increased violence and increased violence in video games.
Chavez promoted the use of traditional toys like the Yo-Yo and Trompo, and suggested that electronic toys like 'the Nintendo' be put aside because they promote 'egoism, individualism and violence.'
Right, because it would be horrible if your kids got video games that made them think. We're dealing with politicians, not the populace here. I feel horrible for Venezuelan gamers but I wonder if this doesn't have to do more with the feelings that games convey to people more so than the violence. I can't help but think that CoD and other games that tell the stories of men who fought and died to stop fascists like Hitler and Mussolini must make other dictators afraid of that sense of freedom being conveyed -- and the violence to stop them being employed! It's possible this ban is more so a significance of the importance of games as a cultural medium. That might be reaching a bit far but I would guess there's some truth to it. Probably just as simple as Chavez trying to appeal to the older generations for support and using video games as a scapegoat.
My work here is dung.
The country that has bought Sukhois, tanks and 100,000 AK-103's, is planning to build a manufacturing plant of Russian rifles, and oppresses peaceful marches
Venezuela's defense spending is just over $2B/year. Their oft-foe, Colombia, spends about $6B/year. And the US spends over $400B/year.
And, FYI, your "peaceful marches" involved a freaking coup.
Just today the AFP released a report showing Caracas as the second most violent city on the planet -- even more violent than Baghdad.
Didn't bother to mention that New Orleans came in right after Caracas, with only one less murder per 100,000 people, did you? Or that Caracas's murder rate fell dramatically since their last survey. Skew much?
Dear Lord: I don't want to go back to college, so please help me be sexy. Amen.
The United States should take the side of the oppressed there, not shake hands with CastroLite.
Because the United States has such a great track record of installing democracy and non-oppressive leaders in foreign nations....
Why can't we leave others alone and worry about problems in our own country?
If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
I've been to Caracas, only place where I've seen banks, car dealerships and even some nice restaurants have several armed guards with pump shotguns and automatic weapons.
they used their police force to stop crime instead of enforcing Chavez's whims the crime would go down?? But nah, blaming video games is easier...
This is probably just the beginning of a downward spiral. Soon, the government will be spouting off propaganda about how Western Civilization seems to be the country's downfall.
OR this could just be a big move to recruit more soccer players... probably not.
... how's life in beautiful war-torn Venezuela?
Quit copying Brazil!
Well, when we tried to depose him, he was democratically and legitimately in power (still is?). Maybe now that he's a dictator and thug, we can make him our ally again like all the others we support?
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
That way Fox News will be forced to calling him a socialist supporter of Hugo Chavez and close one of the last places that man can get any airtime.
Because the United States has such a great track record of installing democracy and non-oppressive leaders in foreign nations....
Ever heard of Germany or Japan?
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
Frequently; because there aren't a whole lot of other examples...
They obviously missed The substitute 2. Otherwise they would have banned those dangerous thing too.
That said I miss mine. Can anyone recommend a good brand? yotech, bumblebee, other?
The people doing this are the United Socialist Party. Hugo Chavez is a champion of workers' rights, a bane to American-style capitalist corporations, heavily influenced by Marx, and a socialist to the core.
He is also the democratically elected leader of his country.
Chavez promoted the use of traditional toys like the Yo-Yo
But the yo-yo is a weapon: Inventors of the yo-yo
In the Philippines, the yo-yo was a weapon for over 400 hundred years. Their version was large with sharp edges and studs and attached to thick twenty-foot ropes for flinging at enemies or prey.
What they do with the weapons: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/world/americas/03venez.html?_r=1&hp
What violent games do: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/02/AR2008110202392.html
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
First off, it's an editorial summary, those are simply part of slashdot. If you want non-editorial summaries, try somewhere else. Second, change for the worse should be criticized. That's the most important criticism a person can offer.
I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
Yes, they were two nations whom we actually declared war against because one of them attacked us.
Have you ever heard of Vietnam, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Argentina, Guatemala, Paraguay, etc....?
If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
That's actually pretty funny. Iraq is rapidly becoming a third example, I think, but it doesn't change your point much. We suck at supporting the "good guys" as a nation. Even if Iraq turns out to be glorious, it's merely the first of many attempts just in Iraq that worked out well. Our primary failing seems to be that we support dictators who claim to support America and democracy over actual democracy, which is pretty epic fail.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
There are plenty of other examples. Some of them have even managed to
rack up very high body counts (even by Nazi or Stalinist standards).
They're less exciting because they represent much more regional problems
and offer little if any threat to the US of A.
That said: A nutbag like Chavez is a little more interesting because you
can flee his little dictatorship on foot and end up in Arizona or Texas.
Wackos in the same neighborhood are more meaningful than ones on the other side of the planet.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
100,000 AK-103's
. . . they're planning a "violent video games for guns" exchange.
Hell, an AK-103? Where do I trade my games in?
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
And this is the most scary part
, Chavez promoted the use of traditional toys like the Yo-Yo and Trompo, and suggested that electronic toys like 'the Nintendo' be put aside because they promote 'egoism, individualism and violence.'
Because we all know how -terrible- individualism is. But really when you look at oppressive regimes you see the death of individualism as a key characteristic. This just proved what most people knew: Chavez is a power-hungry dictator.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Do violent video games make kids more violent? Well, I never used to think so until my 6 year old started playing them. Almost immediately we noticed a change in his behavior and an increase in his aggressiveness. I fought it for a long time because I have been playing violent games since Doom and Quake and I totally didn't want to believe it...plus, I had always wanted my son to be able to play those games with me. So, after many arguments with my wife, and after strict guidance from his pediatrician, I caved and we put up the games. he HATED it but, I must admit, the temper tantrums ceased and he became a much more calm and respectful kid.
I know what you are thinking: "He stopped because he was playing too many games in general". No, actually we only cut out the violent games. He still plays the games that, whoever that legal group is that decides what is ok for kids to play, say it's ok for him to play. It sucks because I never wanted to be that guy, but here I am. I guess I need to hang up my Logitech Mouseman and get a trackball because I'm certainly only months away from carpal tunnel.
FML
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What even "Red Alert III?" Say it ain't so Hugo, say it ain't so.
On the plus side, these kinds of Social Controls never work, and will ultimately lead to the collapse of the Venezualan state. It's akin to the Soviet Union outlawing "decadent Western culture," and shows Hugo Chavez to be the petty tin-plated tyrant his critics had always painted him as.
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
Isolationism DOES NOT WORK.
Utilizing the synergization of benchmark e-solutions to pre-workaround action items!
Chavez is a sick egotistical freak. I don't think he needs to be shot, per se, but he does need to be removed from power. Unfortunately, democracy is dead and the people cannot remove him with votes due to corruption.
Those people are quickly losing all their freedoms in a way that makes citizens of the United States appear to be crying about nothing. Americans are so incredibly self-absorbed that we tend to put our own problems above anyone else.
In Caracas, you can't stop at red lights at night due to the high probability of getting mugged. Friends can't stop by and talk for a few minutes in the street. You need to go behind a gate for your subdivision or apartment.
The police are corrupt. People working in any government industry are corrupt and since most industries are being socialized this is almost every industry at this point. I got ripped off $150 USD at the airport by trusting an official worker when I found myself trying to leave without the appropriate exit tax.
The saddest part is that Venezuelans are beautiful people with good hearts. To me they are ideal for the type of people I'd like to be surrounded by. They have traditional values and take care of each other. Most of them are trying to gain citizenship elsewhere.
Venezuela is not Mexico. You have to cross the Panama canal, and few other countries to get to the US from Venezuela. One even goes from South America to North America.
Loki, the sinister Nordic God, speaks with a forked tongue in these matters. Sinister people, the word denoting left handedness, are known for their shadowy presence and ability to mettle in the affairs of others without ever being brought to justice. Bugs Bunny is an excellent representation of the type. Tribal shamanism carries overtones of word magic. Word magic believes action can be engendered, spookily and at a distance, by symbol manipulation. Thus words like fuck are forbidden in certain circles. It a psychotic delusional system that stems from shame based tribal societies where shame or guilt is tied to ideation arising from spiritual pollution. If you banish the guilty and their images you rid yourself of pollution
The interesting part, that all societies seem to willfully ignore, is the part played by the wily "successful" people in modern society. We still overvalue image and presence. People, especially political leaders, who can wield powerful symbols are, ridiculously, seen as powerful. The suit and tie, the winning smile, the self effacing embrace of the world media are nearly ubiquitous by such types. The problems arise when they're able to enslave a population in a mass delusion symbolic, shamanistic war with the symbols of evil and the most animalistic and base of our instincts overcome common sense and advancement.
ideopath @ play
They have video games in Venezuela?
With Chavez's help, Obama is trying to do the same to Honduras.
Per the Honduran Constitution:
Article 239 - No citizen that has already served as head of the Executive Branch can be President or Vice-President.
Whoever violates this law or proposes its reform, as well as those that support such violation directly or indirectly, will immediately cease in their functions and will be unable to hold any public office for a period of 10 years.
Gee, you'd think trying to hold a referendum on removing Presidential term limits violates that? Just a tad?
Yep, because taking away their video games and weapons would JUST be to move to a civil society. Those actions would NEVER be used to oppress people's freedom.
Religion and xenophobia, often combined.
Actually, for countries that we just invade officially, our track record is damned good at 3.5 out of 4(Afghanistan is ongoing and is hampered by the conduct of our allies' troops.). It is only countries that we try to interfere with through subterfuge or 'police actions' that our record fails.
A Trompo is a toy popular in Latin America much like a top. Its name can vary between countries. In Spain it is known as "Peonza". Trompos have a pear-shaped body and are usually made of wood, although new resins and strong plastic materials have also been used.
The trompo seen in this picture is exactly like a top which has been made in Sasebo, Japan for hundreds of years. It is believed that the tops used in Mexico were brought over from Japan. In Japan the name for a top is called a Koma. Most cities in Japan have a particular design for their koma.
A trompo has a button-shaped tip on top, usually bigger than the tip on which trompo spins, and generally made of the same material as the rest of the body. This tip exists so that the trompo can spin on the metal-made tip when thrown.
from you know where
Hmm, you learn something new every day. I've been playing with tops (not the kinds you spin with your thumb and finger, but wrap a string around and chuck) for a long time and always thought that they were "tops", not trompo or koma.
The more you know! {insert rainbow graphic and chimes}
P.S. I played with tops (trompo), yo-yo's, and 'the nintendo' and I only turned out semi-egotistical, semi-individualistic, and semi-violent. Maybe there is something to this 'the nintendo' that turns kids to 'the violent'. I'm gonna go to 'the store' and possibly pick up some 'the batman' comics, then off to 'the arcade' to play 'the nintendo'. Ok, i'm having too much fun with the 'Hugo Quotes', I'll quit now.
Where else do I complain that might get a popular following except inside a story?
I guess all those violent gangs in Venezuela are addicted to video games.
Venezuela is known as a breeding ground for video game cartels and illegal video game smugglers. Some of the games you get from there aren't even pure. I've even heard that they get young girls addicted to video games and then force them into prostitution just so they can keep playing GTA 4.
If only they could be a productive, viceless South American country, like Colombia.
Dude, have you been reading too much timecube.com or something?
I mean, they ban video games that are violent and that just honks off the Pirates, Universal Petroleum and PLAV.
The people of Germany and Japan did this and succeeded DESPITE US interference, not because of it.
They wanted it to begin with and we opened the door for them. This is very different than the too many to mention examples of where the US meddled and it was not wanted and nothing changed, and in a few cases got worse.
Remember... Sadam was installed by the US as well :)
So you think installing brutal dictators like the Shah in Iran is a good idea? Please explain why.
let's see if violent crime drops.
Yes, it would only be corrollary, but interesting to note.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The cost of freedom is responsibility for ones self. The Venezuelans stopped paying and I'm afraid we are making only minimum payments ourselves. Fuck.
Sometimes at night I imagine the darkness is filled with horrible things with too many teeth, like Julia Roberts.
It's tragic. South America was always such a peaceful place before those damned video games came in!
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I'll bite despite obvious offtopicness that makes me cringe (if only because the parent -somehow- made it to score 2).
How about some credible evidence of CIA involvement in ANY public protest in Venezuela during, say, the last 10 years? Emphasis on "credible": ridiculous conspiracy theories and other random youtube bullshit about magic snipers don't quite pass the test, especially considering the very clear video footage we all saw on live TV of the Chavista thugs shooting freely down at the march from the bridge.
I'm glad there are all those other countries trying to support the "good guys." you know. like cuba, russia, china, france.
I believe it is "violence found in the real world is translated into video games"
But the real-world violence that is reflected in video games is the one seen by their makers, who are mostly in developed countries (at least the designers are). Therefore it't not much of an argument against Chavez. Neither is buying guns, since when is buying guns for the army wrong? Hell, he's just doing it to show off.
Yeah. Would you choose a neurosurgeon who pokes around people's brains in his spare time? I wouldn't.
Becasue leaders like this actively work against us?
Our track record is pretty good, btw.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I assert that this is the government trying to protect itself. A citizenry that is armed, or even unarmed, and has a clue as to how to defend itself or create a revolution is a threat to a government bent on total control. Citizens playing Tetris or Solitaire wouldn't know what to do when confronted with the need to wield a weapon, but a citizen playing a first person shooter would have a leg up when it comes to weapons use. A totalitarian government cannot allow its citizens to be more than mindless automotons.
Yup, can't have people acting like individuals, now can we?
Obama's doing what he needs to do. Anything less and he'd be accused of perpetuating the terrible foreign policy of the US to Latin America that existed during the cold war. It doesn't mean the accusations are anything less than ridiculous, but there is no other politically viable course of action for Obama considering his foreign policy ideas (or, at the very least, the impression he wishes to give about his foreign policy ideas).
I didn't say it was EASY. The fact that it is very difficult doesn't keep it from happening.
Border traffic between Mexico and the US isn't just limited to Mexicans.
Plus Chavez seeks to be more influential with all the countries in between.
Although the difficulty in hitchhiking across the Western Hemisphere isn't quite the point.
That same route can be traveled by better equipped travellers.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
To make sure none of their citizenry plays "Mercenaries 2" and try to overthrow the gov't.
I put on my robe and wizard hat..
I guess all those violent gangs in Venezuela are addicted to video games.
Addicted to Grand Theft Auto?
The reaction to the situation in Honduras is mind-boggling. I disagree with Obama quite a bit, but I believe he is certainly a smart fellow. Yet there is absolutely NO way to look at the situation in Honduras and think that Zelaya should be put back in power. He has no legal claim, no moral claim, and no practical claim to retaining leadership. Yet Obama, along with nearly every other major nation's leaders, are supporting him. Thankfully, the support is fairly tentative, not military. How does one get one's viewpoint so absolute ass-backwards?
Time to scrap my plans for a Venezuela-only release of my new video game "Assassinating Hugo Chavez" and its prequel "Photographing Hugo Chavez While He Has Sex with Farm Animals"
I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
Why can't we leave others alone and worry about problems in our own country?
In the name of other /.-ers who are not US citizens or residents and my own, can you please define what you mean by "we"?
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
Mark Loyd, Obama-appointed "Diversity" Czar at the FCC thinks Chavez' media polices are necessary & essential. There's video of Loyd discussing Chavez and his control of Venezuelan media. Look for the hammer to drop on free speech in US media, particularly talk radio and political-opinion shows.
You've been warned.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Sadly, the idea that Venezuelans are beautiful people with good hearts isn't very accurate. It's certainly one of our traits to be jolly and easy-going and such, but corruption is just as fundamental a trait of our culture as our nicer hobbit bits are. You're spot-on on everything else you said, but you really don't want to be surrounded by venezuelans, at least not in positions of power. For precisely the same nice "taking care of each other" bit, we'll steal from those we count as "others" to provide for "ours". Especially if it means stealing from the state: the more people you're robbing, the less personal it feels.
What's wrong with being biased in favor of freedom?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
That would explain it.
I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
No more profits for sick, violent, fascist crime celebrating and hooliganism violence culture teaching, which destroys young people morals and character. Should the most violent country in the world, the USA, do the same? Yes it should.
Well, you'd have to limit your statement to "countries that we invade officially, and then win the fight". The Bay of Pigs invasion didn't do so well to promote democracy over communism, nor did the "invasion" of Vietnam. Korea I guess we get a "1/2" on.
But, yeah, the stuff that the government keeps secret because the shit would hit the fan if the American people found out about it has a particularly embarassing track record. I was really hopeful when Bush was talking about making it official policy to stop doing the unofficial stuff (ha!), but everyone had stopped listening to him by then.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Hey, I don't support it. I'm glad they got rid of Zelaya; they saved themselves from having to go through what Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and several others are experiencing. Not only that, but they seem to be doing it right; Zelaya's not back yet, and it doesn't look like he'll be back. It remains to be seen whether this move will backfire come the november elections and end up producing some piece of shit politician that's even worse than Zelaya, but I give them plenty of credit for getting as far as they've gotten. I certainly wish our own military coup down here had been as successful as theirs seems to be.
If your question is why the fuck would Obama be supportive of Zelaya, I don't think it can be denied that it's consistent with his general opposition to the US meddling in regime changes and the like. It'd be counterproductive in terms of his wishes to "restore the US's standing in the world" and such. Politics, politics, politics.
Hitler was also a champion of workers' and farmers' rights and was democratically elected, undeniably influenced (negatively) by Marx, and a socialist to the core. The "S" in NSDAP stood for socialist, you know. Here's a pop quiz. Can you briefly state the difference between fascist and socialist (minus any hyperbolae)? Hint: it's a trick question.
As for "bane to American-style capitalist corporations", I simply think that Chavez simply favors his own corporations, state run or in cahoots with the state, as is the case with both socialism and fascism.
Afghanistan is ongoing and is hampered by the conduct of our allies' troops
Clarify, please. Do you mean to offend the Brits, the French, the Germans, the Canadians, or all of the nations that I've listed that are covering the ass of your troops in Afghanistan while the latter are in Iraq?
Korea I guess we get a "1/2" on.
U.S. didn't invade Korea. Korea was already split into North and South before the war, and North attacked and invaded South, prompting U.S. to defend it under UN mandate.
"Any sufficiently far-left philosophy is indistinguishable from a far-right philosophy."
That is because both philosophy is driven to its extreme by the same kind of person. Every society has a minority of people who seek power over everyone else, ultimately for their own gain. That has been true throughout human history and around the world. This minority's core psychology is to be very deeply driven to seek power over others, so they can decide for others and so gain from having such power over others.
The question then becomes why are they so driven? What is it in their psychology that makes them so driven to seek power over others?. The answer is a disproportionate number of the people who fight to the top in politics have a Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). Politics is a very competitive environment and a narcissist has a competitive advantage in such a competitive environment, so they naturally fight and manipulate their way to the top, at the expense of others. So Politics acts like a selection process filtering out non-narcissists so you end up with a dominance of narcissists. The more dominant the narcissists become in a party the worse they become. Narcissists lack empathy to others and as a result they have no problem lying to people to gets what they want. They even consider themselves better that other people for being able to con overly trusting people.
Here's two examples quotes from a deeply NPD person who has had power for many years. They are quotes from Benito Mussolini
(1) He wished to gain favor with Hitler and so when talking about his own people, he said:
"I shall require a few thousand dead soldiers in order to secure my place as a belligerent leader - later, at the conference table"
(2) When told his people were starting to stave and the ratios of food per person were getting low, he said:
"I tell you that around spring time, the ratios will be even less and this delights me, because we will finally see signs of suffering, on the faces of Italian people, which will be valuable to us around the peace table."
The thing with HPD's in such power is they don't usually want people to die. The point is they don't care if they live or die. They are thinking only about how the deaths of others affects them. How does it change their fortunes. How does it affect their position of power. How does it change how others think about them. They are thinking of themselves, how they gain. Hence they are truly and deeply Narcissistic.
A Narcissistic is created by an intense desire to never again be dominated by others the way they were dominated and dictated to when they were a child. They are ultimately driven by that fear, but they would never admit that fear. Most would give any excuse other than admit their fear, because by admitting their fear, they fear they show weakness, which risks (they think) that others will exploit that sign of weakness to try to dominate them again. Its why politicians alway feel compelled to talk of strength yet behind so much of what they do, they actually show signs they are driven to defend against the fear of someone else gaining power over them.
This is also why banning violent video games will not work. The violence in society is created by NPD's (and the even more extreme ASPD's, who thankfully (for us all) they are usually self destructive people so they don't (often) gain positions of power. ASPD people are too busy being angry at the world and having no empathy towards others. They can be thought of as extreme NPD's caused by the most extreme forms of abuse. They have gone beyond NPD into being ASPD).
Once you learn to see its NPD and ASPD behavior behind violence in society, its easy to explain the violence. For example, imagine trying to tell an NPD to their face and in from of others that they are a coward. Imagine the hostility of their reaction as they seek to prove to you they are not a coward ... as they most likely try to beat you senseless. Of course, politicians have gained such po
That's the most propagandistic summary I have seen in a while. Chávez has been democratically elected and Venezuela has a freer press than Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan and other US allies, including puppet governments like Iraq and Afghanistan where the US could simply tell the leaders to enact laws and impose freedom of the press by decree. Not only that, TV stations actively collaborated with a coup d'état against Chávez, and instead of rounding up the criminals and sending them to jail or to the firing squad, he left them in place, and waited for the licence of one station to expire.
I've spent the better part of this afternoon commenting here and there in this article and I'm exhausted, so I'll be brief, although I'd certainly prefer to reply more extensively.
I don't know anything, to be honest, about the situation regarding press freedoms in Colombia, Pakistan and Mexico. However, it's ridiculous to imply journalism is just fine* and dandy down here.
Furthermore, I'm curious: how, exactly, does a TV station collaborate with a military coup?
* you have to select "Venezuela" in the combo box here to get the listing.
In America," Obama says, "we have this strong bias toward individual action. You know, we idolize the John Wayne hero who comes in to correct things with both guns blazing. But individual actions, individual dreams, are not sufficient. We must unite in collective action, build collective institutions and organizations."
- Barack Obama,
Interview with the Chicago Reader, 1995
I suppose Hugo Chavez was a big gamer and wants to protect his people from his youthful mistakes...
"You Fragged FREEDOM!"
-- "To ask a question is to show ignorance; Not to ask a question means you'll remain ignorant."
It would be way better if USA stopped meddling with other countries affairs.
USA doesn't have such good example of government to begin with. Wrecking a country and forcing it to follow "the American way" do little if any good, and leaves a scar.
Stop boasting how good US government is for "liberating" other nations, because if anything went right is because of the efforts of the invaded nation's people.
Way to go "Nation of Freedom".
The good, the evil and the vacuum tubes.
Vietnam wasn't official? 0_o
Not to diss your main point, which I assume is "when there is a plan and some investment and some followthrough it goes better" which is perfectly sensible
Hitler was also a champion of...
Godwin says you have lost the argument!
So, your solution is ? Have Russia invade Venezuela and then US nuke em?
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
Hugo is Lost.
The underlying problem is that property, which is an essential concept in capitalism, requires government enforcement to exist. That means any capitalistic society needs a very strong government in order to work. This is why the US needs such a large, powerful government. Of course, individualism suffers as a result.
The government has to write laws to define property and liability, and put in-place a police force, and a judiciary to settle all the disputes and take the appropriate people to jail. And in the end, the government is corruptible, so property and liability are defined unfairly. If this goes on long enough, you get a situation where most property was obtained unfairly, but it's all obtained legally. You have more than one in a hundred people in jail and a huge military force engaged in insuring that overseas assets are protected.
In the end, any government will expand and become corrupted, destroying individualism and morality. Capitalism really is a form of government, and it is not exempt from this rule.
You forgot Poland.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
Again, as an Australian, clarify please.
Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
Furthermore, I'm curious: how, exactly, does a TV station collaborate with a military coup?
The same reason the military would put the president of the chamber of commerce as the new head of state. It makes no sense unless you thought the military was taking orders from the CIA. And the CIA certainly has the track record of using television stations and radio stations to foment coups. Honduras and Guatemala are just two such well-known and documented examples (I'm sure there are more).
The media is just one of the tools used in psychological warfare.
It really sounds like some professional troll AC wrote it.
Anyway, as cold war is back, I don't believe anything until some Venezuela guy actually living there says "yes, games are banned". In fact, one shouldn't believe that too.
The country had some kind of media coup, they (and we) have all right to be paranoid about these stories. I don't care if AFP reports it. They fooled the entire planet one time, yes the media. There are couple of excellent documentaries related to that coup attempt, it is like parallel universe they aired over TV until they totally lost hope and run away to the foreign countries who supported their attempt.
Lucas Rincon Romero, the highest-ranking general in the history of the modern Venezuelan armed forces (his rank was, in fact, -created- just for him, although I do believe there's another general now with that rank) announces in the first bits of this video* that the high command of the military (the generals in charge of each branch of the military and the minister of defense, IIRC) requested the president's resignation, which, according to him, Chavez accepted. I guess that makes this general a CIA agent or the like, according to your conspiracy theory; why is it, then, that this same general ended up being minister of interior and justice, and is now our ambassador to Portugal?
If you're going to push a conspiracy theory, at least get the right conspiracy. I don't believe in either, but you're simply way off course; sometimes countries do stupid shit without the US being behind it.
* Only one I could find with the whole statement by Lucas Rincon. Ignore the rest of the video if you must.
You sound like the rich kids on campuses who have no idea what they are talking about when they fall into line with the general greed and CIA driven attempts to destroy the possibility for a strong Venezuela. (That is, a Venezuela which isn't driven by fueled by slavery and illiteracy, ignorance and foreign-owned resources). --Propaganda works both ways, and if you think the side you are supporting isn't using enormous gobs of it, then you are living with your head in the ground.
Try watching, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", if you want a picture of the truth. --It's an amazing video; while an independent film company was shooting a documentary, a coup attempt took place and they filmed the whole thing in context. Only pathocrats could view such a thing and come away with your broken head-space.
But I'm betting you won't even try looking at this, because it would show you a world view more accurate than the sick little dream you're living in, and which your ego will simply not allow you to assimilate because you are incapable of dealing with the fact that you are an idiot. (Ooooh! Scary!)
Now go tell your lies to yourself about how you're smarter than the rest of us. --It's a lot easier than actually working to look at objective reality and deal with the scary things it reflects back to you about yourself.
-FL
Bullshit. There are so many layers of, "Totally WRONG" in what you are saying, it's hard to know where to begin.
If you're just spouting out of ignorance, then do a little research. If you know what the truth is, but are simply a greedy asshole who wants to see another nation fall before the march of American Imperialism, (via the CIA), then please do the rest of the world a favor and jump under a truck.
For everybody else, watch: "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."
It's on YouTube.
-FL
Yeah, because the US did all of that, all alone. It's not like a certan dictatorship in the east sacrificed millions of its own to "flood" the German forces, for example.
Clever signature text goes here.
Sufficiently free society.
Sufficient as far as I know means something like good enough. Not compleet. My income is sufficient to live on does not mean I am rich or I am without money worries. A diet that is suffcient to survive on would hardly be called optimal.
So just how free should society be? Completly free?
One of the problems in the world is that we wants simple things, left/right, while politics tend to be very complex. Take Cuba, you had a system before Castro that had the majority of the public living in oppression, and after Castro, the exact same thing. Of course, the people who had it good before are complaing that now it is so much worse. Well duh!
That is what is fuels a lot of the violence in Iraq. You had a minority who controlled the country who suddenly had to give it all up and be ruled by the people they previously controlled. That sets bad blood. So the freedom of one means the restraint of another.
South American countries can be divided into two groups, those that are friendly to the US and can kill as many people as they want, with US backing and those that are not friendly to the US and get slammed for building hospitals.
Chavez is doing EXACTLY the same thing as the US has been trying to and a lot of european countries as well. So why does Chavez get so much more flak?
Why the mentioning of weapon purchases? The US spends far more on killing tech and its senators are trying for the same laws. Where is the link? Oh, there isn't one.
Chavez is running a country where the rich used to have their way completly. Now things changed and guess what, the rich don't like it and the US don't like it that a source of oil is no longer run by people who like them. It makes any reporting by any US citizen on Chavez in my opinion extremely suspect and this article is just a confimation of my susipicions.
Yes this law is stupid, but the reporting on it is so biased that its simpler message is lost in the propoganda.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I did not say all was "fine and dandy", I simply pointed out how harsh criticism is aimed at Chávez while worse offenders are left alone only because they either have no oil or they do not challenge the US.
By doctoring, spinning, and misreporting information. In particular, TV stations:
There is a nice documentary about that, "The revolution will not be televised". It's not a product of the Venezuelan government, it was made by Irish journalists on site at the time of the events. In fact, the Venezuelan attempted coup was one in which TV stations played a particularly prominent role.
Victims of 9/11: <3000. Traffic in the US: >30,000/y
Thats not a trick question, and can be easily answered:
Socialism holds that the interests of the people outweigh the rights of the individual (or, by looking after the people first, the individual benefits).
Fascism holds the interests of the State outweigh the rights of the individual (or, by looking after the State first, the individual benefits).
And look! not hyperbolae!
Cuba is running out of toilet paper.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59EFcd7XOVA
They're blaming it on the financial crisis... weird cause they blame everything on the embargo.
Venezuela's defense spending is just over $2B/year. Their oft-foe, Colombia, spends about $6B/year.
Except that Colombia faces a bitter civil war. What next, will you compare with Israel?
And the US spends over $400B/year.
No, you will settle for the US, which has 43 times the GDP.
And, FYI, your "peaceful marches" involved a freaking coup.
Huh? Care to elaborate?
Didn't bother to mention that New Orleans came in right after Caracas, with only one less murder per 100,000 people, did you?
Maybe because such a comparison would be a textbook example of bias - comparing the "murder capital" of country A with the capital and largest city of country B? If you wanted a faint hope of impartiality, you would have compared Caracas with Washington, DC, or with a large and important US city such as New York.
Or that Caracas's murder rate fell dramatically since their last survey.
Sources? Comparison to previous years? (A comparison of two years is a really, really lousy way to establish a trend)
Nobody buys games here anyway... You wouldn't either, if xbox 360 games are 250$ each. We instead go to our "local market" and get them for 15$
Open Source Java Web Forum with LDAP authentication
Yes, well, you have a little taste of the cynicism that my country lives on everyday. Sometime ago I said "If they touch Internet in ANY WAY, I'll be immediately packing my stuff and moving to the "empire" as they refer to the USA, or Europe in second instance, but I DIDN'T SEE THIS CRAP COMING. So, I'm packing now (xbox360 included) ...by the way:
I'm a Information Security Specialist, with 5 years of experience doing Incident Handling, Forensic Analysis and offering consulting services...Any employer interested? PLEASE!?!?
No one is looking at the REAL big picture here. I may be just one example of violent video games not harming my childhood (but making it better by giving my friends and i something to do and bond over). However, if you make violent video games illegal, then kids will be selling these things on the corner and going to jail. You will then have children getting into constant trouble because there are no games that let them release stress. Now, all that said, why hasn't anyone included the real people that should be responsible for the children? PARENTS! My honest opinion is that there is a serious parenting problem if Mom & Dad are having trouble keeping little Johnny away from the TV and XBox or Computer. My parents had no problem limiting me to 2 hours of TV, Computer, or SNES ... PER DAY ... so i had to learn at a young age how to divide up my time and use it wisely. They had me record my time each day on a spreadsheet on the fridge. If it weren't for my parents, I'd probably be nuts, too!
I realize english probably isn't your first language. But it's really hard to hold a conversation when you don't speak in complete sentences. Try writing out your thoughts, beginning each one with a capital letter and ending each one in a period instead of stringing them together with commas. All I see here is WHARRGARBL. But I suppose asking for proper grammar is "imposing my views" as well.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
and venezuelans are being ethnocentric
and iranians, and russians, and chinese, etc., ad nauseum
it does no use pointing out ethnocentrism exists in the country of someone criticizing another, since ethnocentrism exists everywhere, forever
the only truly useful criticism, despite what you wrote and what some idiot modded as insightful, is criticism devised from PRINCIPLES. if what i say, as an american, about something going on in japan, or venuela, or iran, or hell even the usa, if it is based simply on PRINCIPLES, it does not matter that i an american am saying it. because if it involves only principles, ANYONE from ANY country could say the SAME thing and there is NO ALTERATION IN MEANING
based on logical and coherent PRINCIPLES, it is wrong for chavez to ban violent videogames, as violent videogames are never a source of violence in any society. what, historical rome was a picture of peace and love because they had no videogames? as more people are playing indoors on videogames, less are outside killing each other. violence has gone down over the last couple of decades videogame playing has gone up. violence is a function of simple human nature, no "the devil made me do it" bullshit blame game on media need apply
and now, try to color or flavor those essentially principled, concept oriented words of mine as something america-related, or venezuela-related, or related to an y country, and you fail. as my words have to do with universal human concepts only. ethnicity and nationality are red herrings
human beings are human beings, whether in caracas or chicago. only principles matter. talking about national differences is a losers game
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
This article is pure FUD and troll. The ChÃvez government bought Russian weapons ? Yeah. But why ? Oh, that's a question the anonymous coward will not ask. It may have to do with the fact USA put an embargo of selling repair pieces of military equipment to Venezuela, forcing ChÃvez to replace all the previous, USA-made equipment, with new Russian one, *just to maintain the level of its military*. Not to increase it.
The ones increasing the military in South America, who even bomb beyhond their border, who threatens their neighbours to do it again, is not Venezuela. It's not ChÃvez. It's Colombia, and the fascist, USA-allied, Uribe.
As for defending traditional games, and especially games that require more than one player (as opposed to most video games, of course, not all of them), it's a very wise move. Too much TV and video games *are* doing bad to people. I'm very glad my parents limited my TV and video game time as a child, making me read books, solve puzzle, play with legos, or a board game with my siblings. Any wise government would advise the same. As for yoyo, it teaches patience and dexterity.
So, what's wrong with ChÃvez ? What's the reason for this bashing ? That, being president of a violent country (that was the case when he arrived in power, Caracas was already a very dangerous city), he tries to attack the problem by several edges at the same time ? The police reform, the new reeducation through arts (music, theater, ...) policy, the Mision Vuelven Caras to train those people into useful jobs, and also, a very important point against violence : education.
And preventing children from being exposed to the most violent games and movies is part of the non-violent education.
I don't like bans. I'm not sure it'll do any good. But with the dreadful situation ChÃvez inherited from the previous, corrupt, neoliberal presidents, I fear he doesn't have any choice. The most important question, to which the anonymous coward has no beginning of answer, is "what is the limit of the ban ?"
Maybe they just want to ban this game.
I haven't read all the comments, however I'd say that you Americans(I suppose most of you are americans) are so funny, especially when you are talkiing about liberty, democracy, human rights etc etc. Of course I could argue on that explicitly, but there are just so many things. I will only say that. US has caused so much damage to South America, the exploitation of natural and human resources is/was that intense, brutal and invasive, that people like Hugo Chavez are sth like an oasis for the area. Of course, he is bad for american interests and this is reflected obviously to the american media. For Americans, or us Europeans, 100 people dead in Iraq, or Venezuela, or ... don't worth 1 death of our people. But this doesn't work the other way around. Of course you can keep on talking and talking, but in the end you won't be able to reach any solid conclusion, because you are(most of us are) so brainwashed.
Indeed, the article is so strongly biased, supporting all of what I just said. It is ridiculous to really comment it out.
Hey, that's MY yo-yo! Hands off!
I am not devoid of humor.
I live here, I have suffered this last 10 years just because I decided to have an education and work hard, that makes my an Oligarch, along with all the middle class, go figure, Venezuela is the only country in the world with 4 million oligarchs [. . .] You have no idea, along with all your countrymen posting here, of the kind of monster you are breeding with your oil money.
So let me take a stab at understanding your thinking here. . , oil wealth is BAD because in this case it is not being raped from your country by my country. This means that your government is able to use that money to pour into Venezuela as it sees fit as opposed to how an American corporation would see fit. (And the American corporation would, of course, pour a smaller but more concentrated stream of that wealth into the pockets of the rich parents of your school chums, who in turn would be happy to maintain a national state of serfdom.) Yes, I begin to see the logic behind your comments.
I also feel compelled to point out that in a country of around 26.4 million, your (presumptuous) figure of 4 million people is hardly what a sane person could term a 'middle class'. When one sixth of the population is rich and the rest are essentially serfs, you are looking at what is better understood as, "a well-and-truly fucked up system". When Chavez is working to balance the wealth, it is to be expected that the privileged sons and daughters of the rich claim that they arrived at their positions by "Hard Work" rather than from "benefiting from slavery", and that any change to the system which would prevent their continued exploitation of other humans is naturally going to be contested with asinine examples of the sort you offer. There's nothing wrong with wealth, but preventing others from sharing in it through suppression and subversion is evil.
As propaganda hits hardest at home, and as you sound like the Venezuelan version of a dumb & selfish republican, I suspect you are a poor representative of the truth.
There are plenty of people in the U.S. who think that they know what's going on, and who screech the same kind of bullshit about home-grown politics. And like you, most of them appear to be suffering from a form mental retardation where reality and emotional day-dreams get all mixed up together.
And yes, I am basing my opinions on more than the contents of just one film, thank-you very much.
-FL
Undoing my accidental mod.