Stossel Destroys Franklin Graham on Violent Video Games

Antischism

Antischism

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http://kotaku.com/watch-a-fox-reporter-demolish-a-hackneyed-anti-game-arg-535096517

Full video

Here is a comprehensive breakdown of their arguments, as I understand them:

Graham:

-God gets violent games because of that whole crucifixion business.
-We tax cigarettes, therefore we should also tax videogames because they’re the same.
-I miss my old cowboy TV shows. Gunsmoke was awesome, I’ll tell ya what.
-We're addicted to violent media "like the Romans".
-I’m old and this brave new world frightens and confuses me.

Stossel:

-Crime in America is down on the whole.
-Japan has higher game usage, immensely lower violence.
-There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that games make you violent.
-This is the exact same hysteria as comics in the 1950s, dressed up for a new generation.
-You have no argument.
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EBounding said:
You really do need to give Stossel credit. Even though he doesn't care about warrantless spying on all Americans, he sure does put his foot down when it comes to defending video games. :p
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Video games are serious business.
 
BamaAla said:
Video games are serious business.
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Damn right.

tumblr_ldqudwXMKD1qcwnxw.jpg
 
I disagree on the notion that video games don't make people violent. To me, video games are conditioning to make killing and murder common place and acceptable in society (especially when it is government doing the killing).
 
jclay2 said:
I disagree on the notion that video games don't make people violent. To me, video games are conditioning to make killing and murder common place and acceptable in society (especially when it is government doing the killing).
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Ehhhh, violence has been going down on the whole and video games have only gotten more popular. Plus, if violent video games make people violent, does that mean SimCity drives you to city planning?
 
The idea that we are evolving to a higher state or more moral disposition has been utterly disproven so many times in history. This is the presupposition of the communists, that the nature of man is basically good, and can even be perfected. This was the supposition of the eugenicists and social Darwinists in America and Germany which gave rise to the total state.

The only worldview that can sustain a free society is Christianity because it correctly identifies the corrupt nature of man. The idea of an evolving man is the ground basis for absolute tyranny.
 
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Sola_Fide said:
The idea that we are evolving to a higher state or more moral disposition has been utterly disproven so many times in history. This is the presupposition of the communists, that the nature of man is basically good, and can even be perfected. This was the supposition of the eugenicists and social Darwinists in America and Germany which gave rise to the total state.

The only worldview that can sustain a free society is Christianity because it correctly identifies the corrupt nature of man. The idea of an evolving man is the ground basis for absolute tyranny.
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You must have wandered into the wrong thread. This is the violent video games thread. Religion forums are that-a-way ->
 
BlackTerrel said:
Stossel is pretty good on the whole logic bit.
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That's part of the problem.

On the surface, freedom is illogical.

Scared of the terrorist boogeyman?

Well, then, it becomes perfectly logical to monitor everybody for "terroristic" thoughts and patterns.

Just so long as it is done efficiently.

The logic breaks down when you start to question what will be, or what has happened in the past...that becomes "conspiracy theory".

Or when you question what is happening now.

The reality being that you are ten times more likely to be shot by a cop than killed by a terrorist.

But that isn't "logical", the police are there "to protect us".

Then it becomes painfully clear that it is tyranny that is illogical, the needs of the many do NOT outweigh the needs of the few.

But by then, for the society in question, it is usually too late.
 
Freedom to play video games.

Just so long as your XBox, with its onboard sensors, cameras and microphones are linked into the NSA Matrix 24/7

Freedumb.
 
RM918 said:
Ehhhh, violence has been going down on the whole and video games have only gotten more popular. Plus, if violent video games make people violent, does that mean SimCity drives you to city planning?
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Violence being down can be attributed to video games while saying that video games makes people violent. This is because video games keeps many of the violent customers they've created inside playing said violent video games and away from the streets where they can commit violent crimes. Its a catch 22

Also about simcity not creating a boom in city planning? city planning needs huge capital to buy the land, hire expertise to do the planning as opposed to just using your fist when the need arises. So the easy habit get picked up and the harder and capital limiting ones get dropped.
 
Anti Federalist said:
That's part of the problem.

On the surface, freedom is illogical.

Scared of the terrorist boogeyman?

Well, then, it becomes perfectly logical to monitor everybody for "terroristic" thoughts and patterns.

Just so long as it is done efficiently.

The logic breaks down when you start to question what will be, or what has happened in the past...that becomes "conspiracy theory".

Or when you question what is happening now.

The reality being that you are ten times more likely to be shot by a cop than killed by a terrorist.

But that isn't "logical", the police are there "to protect us".

Then it becomes painfully clear that it is tyranny that is illogical, the needs of the many do NOT outweigh the needs of the few.

But by then, for the society in question, it is usually too late.
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Indeed. Semantics screws up the liberty/tyranny debate in many ways. There are a LOT of people who think 100% safety=freedom. But "100% safety" is impossible without a ginormous Security State. It's technically "logical", but the premises that lead to the Security State are much different than the ones you and I start from. :( The present and future are full of fail.
 
I've been playing videogames since Pong & the idea that they are murder simulators that make kids into murderers are complete & total bullshit! If that were true, the world would look like the wasteland in a Mad Max movie. Microsoft & Sony have sold around 70 million of their current game consoles each. The game industry is larger than the movie industry. The Atari 2600 came out in 1980 & violent crime from kids & teens have been going down consistently for the past 30 years. If the game-haters hypothesis was correct, violent crime from kids & teens should have gone up consistently over the past 30 years instead.

Last year I bought my first handgun (a Glock 19). I thought I'd hit nothing but the bullseye at my first day at the shooting range. But the reality was that I went through 50 rounds & did not hit the bullseye once. The target was close too (about 20-25ft away). I never factored in the noise of each shot, the recoil, and the adrenaline rush affecting the slight tremor in my hands that I tried to steady for each shot. Even the act of loading the gun is completely unrelated to videogames since you have to load each bullet into the magazine which for me took a while to get the hang of.

When I see stories like this where they claim videogames like Grand Theft Auto desensitizes kids to kill, the reality is that it's the kid's lawyer that uses videogames as a legal defense in court so they don't end up in prison for life because they are little sociopaths. It's the 21st century version of the Twinkie defense.
 
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