Less Bureaucracy, More Parenting

If there is one thing in this world that pisses me off, it would have to be this new generation
of American who seemingly have the inability to set limits for themselves or their children. I
think that this behavior of inactivity is primarily to blame for many of the problems our
society is facing today. It is also one of the most damaging aspects to the video game
industry.

It has happened with each generation of young Americans, the new fad becomes the
whipping boy for religious zealots and politicians to claim is “manipulating the youth” and
“affecting it negatively.” Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut is one of those such people who is to this day trying to encroach on the 1st Amendment rights of game developers in a push for legal censorship, effectively making all violent video game content prohibited…what’s that you say “sounds familiar”? That’s exactly the kind of legislation that resident nutbag Jack Thompson would loooove to see enacted.

Before it was video games, it was gangster rap, before that it was metal music. Before all of
that…comic books! That’s right, back in the 50s-60s. There were congressional hearings on
the long term of comic books on kids. If that sounds too strange for fiction, just look at all
the attention being spent in congress on whether or not some asshat baseball player has
taken steroids. All the while we have a president who has spent this nation into a recession
and has continued to push for wars to be fought in countries that the average American can’t even find on the map, all the while working his approval rating down to 31! Even Richard Nixon knew when to call it quits! I guess what I’m trying to get at here is that there are always more important things to worry about than what little Jimmy or Suzie have in their PlayStations. That is one thing that I truly believe should be left up to the parents.

The industry we all know and love is already self-regulated by the ESA and the ESRB, there is no need for government regulation! Then again if you’re reading this on Destructoid then you probably already agree with my stance.

I guess my main issue comes from the lack of parenting that I see on a daily basis. When
watching an episode of Supernanny the other night, the parents let their little kids play
anything they wanted! It wasn’t until the nanny notified the mom of the ESRB ratings system
did the mom even give a shit about what content the game had. To me its frightening that
people have to get a license to drive cars, buy handguns, and go outside the nation, but any
fucking yokel with a 3rd grade education can have as many children with any amount of
women he sees fit!

Having recently found out that I’m going to be a father myself, I’ve already decided that my
kids are going to hate me when it comes to video games. I know what the rating system is, I will be around during most game sessions, and I will actually care about what my children
are in to. This is the complete opposite of what our opponents in the government want to do, they don’t want to leave it up to the individual, they want to be able to say that they’ve
already taken care of that for you. No thought needed, just file in line behind all the other
good sheeple.

We gamers are a very vocal minority but only when it comes to issues that matter in the
industry. If we would express a little more outrage when it comes to the issues that
mattered, we could accomplish much much more. Maybe one day this business might be
taken a bit more seriously, but until that fated day, we all have an uphill battle we must
wage to keep our rights intact.