LogFAQs > #925673167

TigerTycoon posted...

While the Republicans are doing it this time, it's important to recognize that politicians in general use video games as a scapegoat and not to turn it into a bipartisan issue.

Turn it into a "partisan issue", you mean.

And I hate to break it to you, but it absolutely is a partisan issue these days. Yes, the Democrats talked like this about the "corrupting influence" of video games (and heavy metal and rap music and violent movies) - that was about 30-40 years ago. Maybe some of them still do it, I don't know, but by and large - and certainly at the national level - video games being responsible for mass shootings is now a Republican talking point, because it's a convenient scapegoat to let them avoid talking about the role that widespread, largely unfettered access to firearms plays in the epidemic of gun violence in the US.

TigerTycoon posted...

The world health organization labeled playing video games often a metal illness.

No, the WHO labelled video game addiction as a mental illness, which is not the same thing as "playing video games often" any more than "going to a casino often" is the same thing as "addictive gambling".

And yes, compulsive video game playing is absolutely a mental illness and you can read hundreds of testimonials online from people who suffer from it. Whether that's people who paid away thousands of dollars in money that was supposed to go towards rent or groceries on lootboxes in FIFA, or people playing online games in their rooms or in cyber cafes until they literally collapse and die from exhaustion, this is not psychologically normal behaviour.

99% of the population can play video games just fine without experiencing a problem, much like similar numbers of the population can collect things without becoming a hoarder - the problem is with those people who can't due to an underlying mental issue.

RCtheWSBC posted...

State Rep. Candice Keller, R-Middletown, said in a post to her Facebook page that blame for the Dayton shootings should be placed on the breakdown of the traditional family, gay marriage, violent video games, professional athletes who protest the American flag, recreational marijuana and snowflakes, who cant accept a duly-elected President.

She strangely doesn't mention anything about the president himself, or her own party, despite the fact that the asshole in El Paso wrote in the screed he posted online that his attempts were to try and prevent Democrats from being elected and to deal with a "Hispanic invasion".
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