Republican video games require total sensory input and output. For instance, let’s take QAnon; QAnon works a lot like a video game, and it contains puzzles, stories, is multiplayer, and it never ends. However, Republicans draw the line when it comes to simulated video games. Let’s zoom in on Republican video games and their undying hatred for them.
A History of Video Game Vilification
Republicans have always loved using video games as a scapegoat for societal issues.
Here’s a satire newspaper clipping from The Healdsburg Tribune back in 1981 that I found on the Internet. It loosely illustrates the fear Republicans stirred up about video games.
However, even though it’s satire, it has kernels of truth. To be sure, Democratic lawmakers joined in the vilification of video games, but Republicans were always the loudest back in the 80s. In March of 2000, a Republican-led committee investigated the impact of interactive violence on children. John McCain led the charge as the committee examined the scantily clad women in Duke Nukem, for, you know, science.
Modern Manipulation
Republicans have started to ramp up the anti-video game rhetoric lately, and it shows. Tucker Carlson points to a new Chinese government policy limiting video game time to three hours and encourages leaders to talk about video game regulation. By advocating regulation of video games, he throws out the principles of personal responsibility and self-determination, supposedly Republican principles.
In 2019 Josh Hawley introduced a bill to outright ban games that are addictive. Uhm, does Josh realize that video games are entertainment and that a large portion of our joy is addictive? Again, what happened to personal responsibility as a core Republican principle?
I could go on and on with examples like this, but I assume you’re smart enough to see the pattern.
Personal Responsiblity
Personal responsibility has fallen out of fashion in the United States. Many people believe they are not responsible for anyone, including themselves. They believe responsibility ends with ensuring nobody benefits from anything they do unless it’s a business transaction. God, universe, diety of your choice, forbid they lend their aid out of the kindness of their heart.
Don’t get me wrong; there are plenty of Democratic acolytes that worship the deities of individualism. Many people genuinely believe they are not responsible for improving society, and they think that having a job is their only responsibility. Others go so far as to believe that jobs are a relic of a bygone era and that society should pay them to do nothing. How will that turn out well in any universe?
Game Over
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of this game of handheld political football. I’m hoping the 2022 election serves Republicans a resounding defeat, and I’m worried that another January 6th event will occur in 2022 if they lose across the country. Given the violence on the streets between The Proud Boys and Antifa, we could find ourselves amid a full-scale civil war. It’s all fun and games until a significant number of good citizens die on all sides.
If the state of our nation keeps you up at night, join us while we save the republic. We are a group of reasonable individuals who believe we should take responsibility for our nation’s health. It’s up to us to make sure the United States of America has earned extra lives, so we don’t have to call it game over.