This Is Part of The Problem With America...

[mcurrier]

Idiots like these...

Suspects liken driving into joggers to playing video game

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/29/police-arkansas-men-intentionally-drove-into-group-joggers

And last week I read about two teenagers who killed a little girl for her bike to strip it for parts. Their mom turned them in.

Week before that, a teenager (or it could be a 9 year old, don't remember) killed his grandmother for money to go buy snacks.

Week or two before that, teenager raped his grandmother.

Idle hands and idle minds are the devil's tools. People sitting around, playing video games, getting fat, not working. 0bama wants more of this. He removed the work requirement from welfare. That can only lead to more trouble.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

There's a good part of a generation that is going down the hole. They may get some help. They should.

[Raoul]

There's a good part of a generation that is going down the hole. They may get some help. They should.

I'm afraid this is probably about the 3rd or 4th generation that's worthless. One day there will be 1 person left who works for a living. Then what...

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Yep, it's getting worse every year. It's just so obvious with the latest bunch that it can be depressing.

[S&WForty]

Since they like video games so much, they should be told they can participate in a paintball challenge. If they win, they are free to go. Two seconds after the "game" starts, tell them the other team has real guns with real bullets. And "play" till the end...

[greenego]

No respect for anyone or their property. They think nothing of stealing, killing or just destroying things.

[gjohnsoniv]

They killed their grandmother for snack money? That goes way beyond sane, they need some serious help.

[Jonnin]

Idle hands and idle minds are the devil's tools. People sitting around, playing video games, getting fat, not working. 0bama wants more of this. He removed the work requirement from welfare. That can only lead to more trouble.

This is just offensive to those of us who play games. I have a full time job, but as I choose to be childless and watch ZERO TV, I find I have time to play 3 or so hours a night. I am only a tiny bit overweight, 15 pounds or so, and that was caused by good food, not video games (I am sure if I worked out 3 hours a night I would lose it but we could blame my 8 hours of ass sitting job more than the games if we want to blame something). I have played any number of violent games, from mortal kombat and similar stuff (one of them you could dismember your opponents) to first person shooters (kill kill kill) and more (including one of the wolfensteins where headshot sniping was fun with a scoped k98). I played the heck out of grand theft auto, where you could beat people over the head and steal their stuff and mix it up with the police. None of that has caused me to harm anyone or break any laws.

Nearly every one of the "games are bad" people watch tons of TV, much of it violent or disturbing. This is just liberalism: "I can have my fun but yours should be banned" mentality. Same technique is used across the board when limiting freedoms (ban games, ban guns, ban booze/pot, ban certain types of sex, ban ban ban). Its all the same, people get worked up that someone else wants to enjoy a different form of entertainment.

IMHO welfare should ONLY be paid in a very few cases and in most of those (barring 100% inability to do ANY job, including unable to sit in a chair and greet at walmart --- total mental handicapped or total physical handicapped or both in other words) work should be required. But that has NOTHING to do with video games.

[strickj]

The "this is what's wrong with kids these days" crutch is older than video games.

Video games, rap music, rock music, Elvis, whatever. Older generations have always blamed younger generations for their luxuries or fad interests.

[S&WForty]

The "this is what's wrong with kids these days" crutch is older than video games.

Video games, rap music, rock music, Elvis, whatever. Older generations have always blamed younger generations for their luxuries or fad interests.

What's wrong with kids these days is the lack of real parents.

Kids with correct home lives can be exposed to any number of "bad" things and still turn out just fine.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

It may be old, strickj, but it is a sign of a declining civilization. Many things going on like lack of parenting, schools

endoctrinating instead of teaching, financial pressures, welfare and inability to live morally are causing the problems.

[strickj]

It may be old, strickj, but it is a sign of a declining civilization. Many things going on like lack of parenting, schools

endoctrinating instead of teaching, financial pressures, welfare and inability to live morally are causing the problems.

I live "immorally".

I enjoy "living in sin", drinking to inebriation and playing video games. Sometimes at the same time even.

None of this has caused me to be a criminal or a bad person.

Not sure how old you are, 6.8, so I'll leave this for whoever want's to blame our current popular trends for problems...

Did listening to Kiss cause you to be a drug dealer?

Did listening to Elvis cause your wife to be a slut?

[Smith]

I live "immorally".

I enjoy "living in sin", drinking to inebriation and playing video games. Sometimes at the same time even.

None of this has caused me to be a criminal or a bad person.

Not sure how old you are, 6.8, so I'll leave this for whoever want's to blame our current popular trends for problems...

Did listening to Kiss cause you to be a drug dealer?

Did listening to Elvis cause your wife to be a slut?

While blaming the symptoms is problematic the root cause is the same. People are naturally selfish. Enabling that nature and catering to it in any form progresses the problem. Music, media, gaming, tv, ....... are all individualistic and tend to be isolation enablers. They in and of themselves are not bad, but they can enable people who don't have a decent base to erode what little they have in a unnaturally progressive way. That doesn't mean if you participate in those things you will have problems it just has the potential to accentuate negative social and emotional bases. For instance, a kid who isolates himself in his room playing COD as a means of disassociating with reality is a problem. A kid who is playing COD as a means of learning strategy, disassociation relaxing, and fun is completely different. The problem is always the persons social and emotional base, not the activity per se.

Either way it comes back to a solid social and emotional world view base that was historically provided by the family. As the family interaction is replaced with isolation activities that base is becoming more and more established by those activities.

This is a well documented psychological problem with the evolving media of the last several decades.

[Jonnin]

It may be old, strickj, but it is a sign of a declining civilization. Many things going on like lack of parenting, schools

endoctrinating instead of teaching, financial pressures, welfare and inability to live morally are causing the problems.

I see schools producing the same thing as always... a bunch of everything from engineers and scientists to liberal journalists, to lawyers to pastors to doctors. There is a lot of nonsense in school but plenty of folks come out qualified to do amazing things. I see good and bad parents, same as always. I find welfare in the bible, where the field owners left some for the poor to gather, or the "give to whoever asks" verse. And perhaps we are less moral than in the 1920s, but somehow I doubt it. People were painting some decent porn on the sides of the "bath" houses before england was invaded by rome.

Nothing ever changes. Tech does, and the flow of information about private life (and how odd people really ARE) makes things public that probably should not be, but actual human behavior has not changed since the dawn of time. People have always raped and robbed, cheated and lied, had strange sex lives, and more. You can find some real eye openers in the bible on all those... the prehistoric folks did all this and it got written down. At no time has any society "lived morally". The puritans tried and all they managed was mass murder of "witches" and "sinners". It is not possible for humans to "live morally" --- whether that is the cause of our problems, I cannot say, but it is not possible and things on THAT scale have never changed.

[daddyo]

This is just offensive to those of us who play games. I have a full time job, but as I choose to be childless and watch ZERO TV, I find I have time to play 3 or so hours a night. I am only a tiny bit overweight, 15 pounds or so, and that was caused by good food, not video games (I am sure if I worked out 3 hours a night I would lose it but we could blame my 8 hours of ass sitting job more than the games if we want to blame something). I have played any number of violent games, from mortal kombat and similar stuff (one of them you could dismember your opponents) to first person shooters (kill kill kill) and more (including one of the wolfensteins where headshot sniping was fun with a scoped k98). I played the heck out of grand theft auto, where you could beat people over the head and steal their stuff and mix it up with the police. None of that has caused me to harm anyone or break any laws.

Nearly every one of the "games are bad" people watch tons of TV, much of it violent or disturbing. This is just liberalism: "I can have my fun but yours should be banned" mentality. Same technique is used across the board when limiting freedoms (ban games, ban guns, ban booze/pot, ban certain types of sex, ban ban ban). Its all the same, people get worked up that someone else wants to enjoy a different form of entertainment.

IMHO welfare should ONLY be paid in a very few cases and in most of those (barring 100% inability to do ANY job, including unable to sit in a chair and greet at walmart --- total mental handicapped or total physical handicapped or both in other words) work should be required. But that has NOTHING to do with video games.

Why would this be offensive? I don't believe it was directed at you.

[strickj]

While blaming the symptoms is problematic the root cause is the same. People are naturally selfish. Enabling that nature and catering to it in any form progresses the problem. Music, media, gaming, tv, ....... are all individualistic and tend to be isolation enablers. They in and of themselves are not bad, but they can enable people who don't have a decent base to erode what little they have in a unnaturally progressive way. That doesn't mean if you participate in those things you will have problems it just has the potential to accentuate negative social and emotional bases. For instance, a kid who isolates himself in his room playing COD as a means of disassociating with reality is a problem. A kid who is playing COD as a means of learning strategy, disassociation relaxing, and fun is completely different. The problem is always the persons social and emotional base, not the activity per se.

Either way it comes back to a solid social and emotional world view base that was historically provided by the family. As the family interaction is replaced with isolation activities that base is becoming more and more established by those activities.

This is a well documented psychological problem with the evolving media of the last several decades.

None of those things are isolators and none of those things are causing a reduction of parental interaction.

My parents didn't ride bicycles with me. My grandparents didn't play rocks in a tin can with my parents....

Doesn't matter much anyway.... there's still 21 hours left in the day for some good ole fashioned parenting

[Smith]

None of those things are isolators and none of those things are causing a reduction of parental interaction.

My parents didn't ride bicycles with me. My grandparents didn't play rocks in a tin can with my parents....

Doesn't matter much anyway.... there's still 21 hours left in the day for some good ole fashioned parenting

I'm glad your smarter than the average bear. J/K messing with you strick.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/213929.php

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/58653.php

http://sites.duke.edu/soc142-videogames/social-factors/#_ftn3

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/effects-of-video-games-on-children.html

[strickj]

I'm glad your smarter than the average bear. J/K messing with you strick.

http://www.medicalne...cles/213929.php

http://www.medicalne...eases/58653.php

http://sites.duke.ed...-factors/#_ftn3

http://www.buzzle.co...n-children.html

That should be "you're"

Sorry, couldn't resist!

From the first link

Video Game Addiction

Second link

Video games can be a good outlet for children who like them, but they shouldn't consume their lives, Storch added. Setting limits on playing time may help prevent casual gaming from spiraling into hours spent in front of a television screen with a controller.

Children and teens who play excessively often do so at the expense of homework, and playing solo can isolate children from their peers, potentially causing problems for them later in life, Storch said.

third link

Video games have proven to be effective tools for children’s learning when used appropriately as they impart specific attitudes, skills and behaviors on the player.

Fourth

Although these games have certain advantages, studies have shown some negative effects too. Various research studies have shown a relation between aggressive behavior and playing video games that have violence in them.

The study could be done with kids who wear shoes too.

If video games are causing violence in today's kids, then wouldn't video games have caused a lot of turtles to be jumped on in the 80s?

Edited October 30, 2012 by strickj

[Smith]

That should be "you're"

Sorry, couldn't resist!

From the first link

Second link

third link

Fourth

The study could be done with kids who wear shoes too.

If video games are causing violence in today's kids, then wouldn't video games have caused a lot of turtles to be jumped on in the 80s?

Which is why I specifically said it was not the cause but a symptom, thus the positive aspects as well as the negative. Spell check doesn't catch grammar.

[S&WForty]

It may be old, strickj, but it is a sign of a declining civilization. Many things going on like lack of parenting, schools

endoctrinating instead of teaching, financial pressures, welfare and inability to live morally are causing the problems.

I'm single, so I look around on PlentyofFish and OkCupid (free, unlike Match.com, and it shows). Nearly every time I look at a set of photos and think, "she's a skank ho," when I scroll down to children, the answer is Yes. Skank ho's looking for their next d*ck rather than raising their kids. Even on Match.com, the number of mothers that have a status of "Never Married" is scary.

Love her or hate her, Ann Coulter has cited statistics in her column that show when all variables are considered, kids raised by mothers alone is the number one predictor of the kids becoming criminals. Once the home life is factored in, it wipes out any influence race has.

I am blessed because when my dad left when I was 18 months old, my mom's only focus was me. She didn't leave me for a daycare to raise. She did without a lot to make sure she was home with me as much as possible.

These tramps out their today turn my stomach.

[Caster]

Don't blame the kids. It's humans in general. Moral decadence precedes destruction. Where are the Romans?

Agent Smith said it best and I love to quote him on it:

I'd like to share a revelation I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply... and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.

[mcurrier]

Why would this be offensive? I don't believe it was directed at you.

Exactly. Or at video games in general. Not to mention...I didn't write the article. Don't shoot the messenger.

My point being - people with no purpose/focus/occupation (e.g. the principal business of one's life) will perhaps lend their time to more destructive habits/pursuits. Society has declined in common ethical and moral values from a lack of parenting by the destruction of the family unit.

I was disgusted by the comment of the perpetrators of the crime of running over people in their car. They were the ones who likened it to being a video game. I guess they'd rather be playing old-school games in prison, like punching out license plates, as opposed to being productive members of society.

Edited October 30, 2012 by mcurrier

[Jonnin]

Why would this be offensive? I don't believe it was directed at you.

The implication that any hobby or entertainment is the CAUSE of problems is insulting to anyone's intellect and offenive. The problems are caused by doing anything to excess, whether that is work, drinking, gaming, eating, sleeping, TV, you name it -- even shooting. Lady at work exercises too much and now her knees are going bad.

What it comes down to is the press hates the idea that PEOPLE are the actual problem. The liberals want to blame objects instead of people. So they demonize whatever .... games, sex, guns, etc. Then do an unscientific study that "proves" whatever point via illogic. It is offensive as it is insulting to the intelligence of anyone reading their spew.

I mean, I could easily do a "study" to show that 60 year olds who abused their knees have knee problems, and with some hand waving, "prove" that exercise is terrible to do and very hard on the body. It would be total nonsense, but that is what we are dealing with here.

Connecting the deaths of a tiny number of people caused by a tiny number of (thugs or mentally ill nuts) to a hobby that is loved by millions and millions worldwide is exactly like the gun crap we see published : in both cases the people are all saints victimized by objects (or software, whatever).

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I live "immorally".

I enjoy "living in sin", drinking to inebriation and playing video games. Sometimes at the same time even.

None of this has caused me to be a criminal or a bad person.

Not sure how old you are, 6.8, so I'll leave this for whoever want's to blame our current popular trends for problems...

Did listening to Kiss cause you to be a drug dealer?

Did listening to Elvis cause your wife to be a slut?

Are you kidding me? I never said everyone is living immoral, or listening to or watching something causes

someone to be one way or another. You do how you were raised. Others did differently and their situations were

different from yours.

There are lots of people who apparently didn't have your guidance that went different paths.

Take one thing and turn it into another. Good way to try to twist things. I'm older than you, evidently, for what ever that means to you.

By the way, I didn't care much for KISS and my wife never really cared for Elvis. More like Van Halen and the Eagles.

Pick your own poison, but dig up from what I said to make an argument, if you are able, next time.

Edited October 30, 2012 by 6.8 AR

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I see schools producing the same thing as always... a bunch of everything from engineers and scientists to liberal journalists, to lawyers to pastors to doctors. There is a lot of nonsense in school but plenty of folks come out qualified to do amazing things. I see good and bad parents, same as always. I find welfare in the bible, where the field owners left some for the poor to gather, or the "give to whoever asks" verse. And perhaps we are less moral than in the 1920s, but somehow I doubt it. People were painting some decent porn on the sides of the "bath" houses before england was invaded by rome.

Nothing ever changes. Tech does, and the flow of information about private life (and how odd people really ARE) makes things public that probably should not be, but actual human behavior has not changed since the dawn of time. People have always raped and robbed, cheated and lied, had strange sex lives, and more. You can find some real eye openers in the bible on all those... the prehistoric folks did all this and it got written down. At no time has any society "lived morally". The puritans tried and all they managed was mass murder of "witches" and "sinners". It is not possible for humans to "live morally" --- whether that is the cause of our problems, I cannot say, but it is not possible and things on THAT scale have never changed.

If you equate morals to puritans therein lies your misunderstanding. I never said society as a whole, but guidance from basic

morals are needed. I don't know, something like the Ten Commandments. There are those who would disagree with you,

Jonnin.

Those who you refer to in your first paragraph are usually those who were raised differently from those who end up in

the gutter. I don't say that everyone is afflicted with anything. Draw your conclusions from I said better, next time.