Regarding the Class Divide...

I could creep around the fact that Bob died until the end of the story. If I chose to, I could paint a poignant, sobering punch line about the callousness of the urban professional. I could talk about how little anyone noticed his absence and replacement, the fact that he died and maybe more importantly, had been dying for months without being noticed by the white collar workers he shipped back and forth in his parking lot shuttle bus. It would make a powerful example of the isolation in general of people nowadays and the rational coldness of class, that would eloquently harken back to serfdom. It would be true to some degree, but it would be a disservice to all involved and I would simply be using Bob as a pawn in an intellectual game of demagoguery.

I could easily excuse myself from this game. I talked to Bob every day that I saw him. I would have minor conversations with him regarding the weather, but he also told me how expensive the toys his grandchildren wanted for Christmas were and I listened carefully to his bitter toned yet cleverly mocking disgust of people who got onto his small shuttle bus with attitude and contempt for his lack of a serviced smile and tendency to be smoking the last half of a cigarette in the moments between each of the forty to sixty trips he took from the far, far end of the largest parking lot to the connecting plaza of office buildings. I empathized with that feeling, since I too have it towards the modern white collar worker, even if I have just by the barest amounts, become one.

Still, any attempts to abstract myself from the burdens of the rationalized day to day callousness that exists between servers and servees would only be the barest of excuses. I am a pleasant person and I know how to be warm at a moments notice with strangers, but that is not comparable with interest. Interest like social currency must be willingly invested, it is not simply a toll that we pay when we politely interact with people of different status or station day to day, it's investment, establishing a foundation of friendship or at least acquaintance, that builds on equal footing with each encounter and it requires trust and sacrifice, not a lot, but at least your anonymity. At least there would be a cordial exchange, an introduction, at least he would know that my name is Jared and I would know that his name is Bob, which I did not know, until the woman who drives the shuttle at night told me, when she told me Bob had died over Christmas from a complexity of aliments that he knew had him cornered. I still don't know her name.

The Pop Politics of Generation Bland

I have become agitated by the younger generation's lack of concern of for anything other than their obsession with "Bling, Bling, Bling!" The justified, proud ignorance of the crumbling world around them is all the more shocking when you do see them spring into action with causes like the cancellation of a Joss Whedon TV show or the unfair treatment that the ultra violent video game industry gets from the conservatives. Where were they when the government kidnapped American citizens for four years of imprisonment without legal representation?

My response to THIS article :

"Grand Theft Boston: Videogames in the CrossHairs"

by The Xenos

Which deals with the Video Game industry being attacked by the Religous Right as a bad influence on children.

"Seems Boston wants to make M Rated video games the equivalent of pornography. The legislation is being drafted by none other than Florida activist lawyer Jack Thompson along with Boston's own Mayor 'Mumbles' Menino. Seems Jackie boy wanted a new Democrat friend up here in the north.

I cannot help but be reminded of the similar scapegoating and government legislation that comic books went through not even fifty years ago. Instead of Jack Thompson, it was Fredic Wertham and his Seduction of the Innocent book. Wertham argued that crime comics lead children to a life of crime and turned them into murderers and rapists. He also argued that Batman and Robin lead kids to a horrible life of homosexuality and the strong female role of Wonder Woman did the same to young girls. You have to remember Wertham and his damanging claims and his connections in the Senate whenever Jackie boy opens his lips about video games and children." Read the whole story HERE!


Dear The Xenos,

I feel your side of this story. I live in Brighton. I agree with most of your piece. I love Video games, comics and free speech. I think you are right, that the responsibility is mostly the parents. Sadly, it's the society as a whole who pays, when the parents do a crappy job. Banning Video Games isn't the answer to a better world, but do 90% of all video games need to be so damn violent?

I grew up in the age of video games and I yelled at Tipper Gore when she banned music lyrics in the late 80's. But as I have hit my 30's I started to take a look around. I tried to find the artists who were being censored by community standards. I looked for all the free thinking independent minded kids who were fighting for their rights and futures, who "The man" wanted to shutdown. What did I see? Ignorance. Blissfully so. Kids standing in line and shooting each other because they needed a PS3 and they need it now!!

There is a war on. We watch kids die and the only thing that can get us politically active is the thought that it's unfair that a video game can't advertise on a subway? Why do video game rights or petitions to keep TV shows on the air seem to be the only thing to activate the little brains of "Generation Bland?"

I still believe in artistic freedom, but I also can see that big corporations sell violence and greed, wrapped in false security, luxury, trans-fats and corn syrup to anyone they can. They have no concern about your welfare, they won't shed a tear if you just keep playing their games and consuming their products until you die of a premature heart attack while playing GTA Kentucky Still. They do not care about you. They laugh at you as they market their products to you, while you think you're being a rebel when you buy what they call "quality."

People like Jack Thompson may be heavy handed and slightly fascist, but I've talked to many of them. They're scared. They want a safer world. They see rich people, old white men, getting fat off of turning out generations who are proud that they never read a book and know nothing about the world around them. I grew up in a world where being in a gang meant fighting mostly with your fists and being a man. That world is gone. Only in video games can you live to fight another day. (everywhere else people are pack'n!)

I love that the technology of GTA has brought about games like Spider-man 2. I think Video Games will yet again amaze us all with new innovations. But do I think that video games make people more sociopathic and more apt to commit violent acts? Yes I do. Not by themselves, but when mixed with the right combination of apathy, neglect and disinterest from a parent, yes they can.

You can still buy pornography at the 7/11 can't you? Why is it bad to make it as hard to but violent adult rated video games as it is to buy booze and porn?

Free Speech is about the freedom to say what you believe in the public forum, not about the ability for companies to sell products without safeguards. My hope is that video game fans who want to do something step up to the plate and contact the Jack Thompson and Mayor Manino. Tell them you will support a responsible effort to keep Video Games out of kids hands if they take away the Baquardi ads and put a real effort into crime reduction. This could be a unique moment.

Cheers!
The Stuff Daddy