It is a symbiotic relationship. State propaganda makes more people into pro-military, nationalist/patriot zombies than would otherwise be the case. Pro-military, nationalist/patriot zombies go out and tend to consume more pro-military, nationalist/patriot products. Therefore benefiting the likes of Tom Clancy and the game designers of the many games made after his novels, who now sell more products than they otherwise would.
You do have to admit Tom Clancy is a pro-military, nationalist/patriot author and that his popularity benefits the military and the foreign policy establishment. As do games like Ghost Recon 1.
And Splinter Cell. Though I am hesitant to agree with you on ‘state propaganda makes more people more military.’ I think you are to a degree correct but some people are just naturally militaristic.
I’ve honestly never read Tom Clancy nor have I played Ghost Recon. So you might be right, I don’t really know.
The way I got to be really pro-military was by training Jiu Jitsu and meeting Swat guys and Marines and Navy seals and just really enjoying them as people because they were so damn disciplined.
I like pretty games but I just thought, as you pointed out, it was a huge departure from the first game and the story was retarded. However, I did enjoy driving around and shooting people. I also liked the fire effects.
It’s just a form of self control, in my mind. I really enjoyed learning about stoicism in high school and I think I found it in highly disciplined people. I try to be like them but it’s hard.
Well it seems like you have different preferences in your gaming likes. Myself, I like solid plot lines that involve developing a character. The ability of choice and ethical conundrums behind the game itself. That is why I’m so psyched about Mass Effect 2 and why I consider Deus Ex probably one of the best games ever made.
There is a beauty in emotion. I think rational and logic is a highly desirable state but emotions are an important part also. I mean, how does a human being flourish if happiness cannot be felt?
Yes indeed. That is why I wrote it makes more people into zombies. More than would otherwise be the case.
But there are such people everyhwere. Even in tiny European states that never had anyone like Tom Clancy or Fox News and where nobody drives around with a “Support the troops” bumper sticker.
Well I think there is a possibility that someone people support the troops in terms of hoping they aren’t hurt and wish they would come home. This is probably a minority view though but still a view none the less.
This is the thing. It’s not that I was trained to not feel emotions. I was trained to not get too happy or too sad or too angry or really too emotional about anything. So when I’m driving in traffic and someone cuts me off, I don’t usually get irate. Because it’s a waste of energy.
In the same way, if I get in a fight, I try not to get so angry that I stop thinking. That’s the kind of emotion control that I learned from those guys and I just admired them for it. They get shot at and don’t flip out. That takes mental discipline.
They trained me to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. So now, when things go my way, I feel good, but when things don’t go my way, I’m not totally surprised.
I’ve watched snuff films and they’re pretty intense. I’ve been playing violent video games for years, I trained Jiu Jitsu for years, I listen to violent music and watch violent movies and I still understood immediately that there was a difference between reality and simulation. Although I think most snuff films are fake and it’s hard to tell whether it’s fake or not (many of the ones I’ve seen are quite convincing) there’s just immediately a difference to me.
Now I really was trained to kill (if necessary) without remorse or hesitation by my instructors. I never even went into the military, most self defense programs train people to be willing to do what they need to do if it’s for the purposes of self defense and I still really didn’t find any enjoyment in watching a woman be raped and killed on camera.
Played Dragon Age. The problem with that game is that there really is only a side A and a side B, you know? Like after developing two characters, one good, one evil then you pretty much solve the game. I don’t see that as the case with Mass Effect though because you can be an adept, engineer, soldier, etc etc. and each one could be good or evil. I didn’t like that there were only 3 classes with it either. Plus there was definitely a class power difference. You can wipe a whole room with a mage but as a rogue you can barely handle 2 guys and you’re screwed if you go against an elite character.
Yea I said in some other topic that I played through that entire game probably about 10 times, reinstalled it 2 years later and was still finding new stuff.
Very good game though too short. It was only like 10 missions or something. I know there was side stuff but it really didn’t develop the story. I liked the radio stations, very cool idea.
I notice people just blew by this. I suppose if libertarians think simulated violence is ok, then they would probably be ok with simulated kiddie porn.
After I got into John Taylor Gatto and learned about the Prussian system, I never saw education in the same way.
Yea the whole martial arts balance motif. I went through that too. If you are never too happy or never too sad then you are just the medium of everything.
Well a lot of that is just experience to the point of tolerance. That’s why you run obstacle courses with gun firing going off. You just get use to it.
Well just so you know liberty. I’m always the good guy in the game and I’m always nice to all my npc’s. I only shoot at those who shoot at me first thus the NAP is honored [:P]
That’s a very big assumption to make, in my opinion.
“I suppose if libertarians (or people in general. The group doesn’t matter) think smoking pot is ok, then they would probably be ok with shooting up heroin.” See what I mean by big assumptions?
I’ve been playing “violent” video games since I was 7 or 8 and I have never had violent tendencies. I also don’t glorify them, but talking about how many kills one gets on Call of Duty is akin to talking about how many touchdowns one gets in Madden. Of course, it’s very different in the real world but with video games its all for fun and competition.
Does anyone watch that show ‘White Collar’ on USA? All about a slick con artist/forger/art thief who is helping the FBI’s white collar division. Exciting show but it doesn’t make me want to become an art thief or a con artist or work for the FBI for that matter. It does make me wonder who his tailor is though because he is tres chic. I really think that is what entertainment is. Doing/Seeing that which we know we cannot do in real life. That is why it is entertaining…because it is not run of the mill. It is not common.