Please donate games ya'll. I have a buddy in Iraq right now, and he's turned back to WoW. Poor guy.

The new BBCode only works for us pacifists.:P

Totally awesome! Hugs for Cheapy!

I wish people would give me games for doing my job.

Jim, you don't give freedom to the freedomless. COD4 just doesn't count, no matter how much freedom you dish out.

@h3lios
I'm inclined to agree with you.

I don't know, GoldBond, why don't you email Shane Neuhaus and ask him? I'm sure he could give you a much better answer than I.

You're helping them by providing them with some sort of mental distraction and entertainment while they're not out working. As a gamer, I'm sure you've had a shitty day at work or school and wanted to go home and relax and play a game. Well, plenty of troops are gamers too, but their day was likely much worse and they have no real way to get games. Best case scenario you're helping them mentally by providing a release and distraction; worse case scenario you're helping them acquire goods that would otherwise be very difficult.

There are more kinds of help than body armor.

That's kind of what I was getting at. I don't really feel bad for troops because they can't play Bioshock or Halo 3. They signed up for it, and me not giving up unwanted games (which all went towards Rock Band anyway) doesn't make me a dick.

Can't wait till I have kids and I don't have the money or the time to play games. I expect all of you to send me the latest XBox 720 games.

I forgot that Jim is British and he hates Americans. Most people in the army get about $800 a month for their job.

Oh wait, were you kidding, Jim? I thought you get free games for working at Destructoid.

Oh, and garbage men are way overpaid. The only thing I'm giving to them is what I toss in the dumpster. They smell bad. Boo hoo.

The pressure of what? The Go Army ads? Playing America's Army? Walking past the military kiosk in the mall and the guy inside won't leave you the fuck alone?

And please, enough of this freedom crap. Anyone that thinks this war is about giving freedom to the freedomless needs to do some reading, or they just believe killing a "freedomless" civilian is giving them freedom.

The difference here is that a lion tamer doesn't perform a social service. While a lion tamer may entertain a few thousand people a weekend at a fair, the societal impact of military service, in the aggregate, is far more significant.

I completely understand your logic, but I think this is a significantly different scenario. While a lion tamer assumes a risk in his career, he does it for his own personal gain and whatever harm befalls him is his own plight. Military men and women also assume a risk when they enlist, but, for many, the decision to enlist is not a decision made for personal gain or "thrills." Instead, the choice to enlist often times comes from an inner sense of "duty," whether you agree with that mindset or not is irrelevant, to serve their country. Because military men and women assume this risk for a societal benefit (rather than personal gain or thrill seeking), I don't think it's unreasonable to have a desire to help.

I, again, return to the "teachers" example because they are another group that is poorly reimbursed for performing a job that is an essential public service. Yes, teachers know that they are entering a field that does not pay particularly well, but many of them do it because it's societal necessity and they feel a sense of "duty" to community. It's this same social benefit that rallies individuals to donate millions each year to primary school teachers in the United States.

Again, I don't think you or anyone else is a dick for not donating. I chose my words poorly, but helping those in need is nearly always a noble cause--whether it be their "fault" or not--particularly when the assistance is something as insignificant as donating a few old games. All things aside: Jim, you're still one of my favorites.

H3lios: You talk as if they've been conscripted. They haven't. I'll feel sorry for any soldier who didn't want to be in the army can give me some miraculous reason why they didn't. I don't think "Daddy told me to do it," is a good enough excuse, though.

HarrassmentPanda: Whether or not it's a service is irrelevant. Joining the army might be a more "noble" pursuit than lion taming, but the logic remains the same -- you know the risks when you make the decision, and if you don't then you're stupid. Just because one career may be more "worthy" than the other, that doesn't mean you're naive if you think you won't run the risk of getting into trouble.

It's not a plight. It's really not that I don't appreciate their sense of duty (I don't understand it, but I appreciate it), but I don't feel sorry for them doing the job they agreed to do.