OT: Words fail me

[AMF]

Hunpecked said:
Seriously, if she showed any interest at all she'd roll her eyes and say if I buy the game then she can buy [insert trinket here] for herself. She has no sympathy for women as "victims".

Ok, drop the games analogy and think about hard core porn? Good for society? Bad for society?

I would never advocate censorship...but in the case of child pornography, well, I think maybe I would.

All I am saying is that it is patently naive to think that a proliferation of games that degrade or humiliate a segment of the population has NO effect on that population.

I mean, come on, do you REALLY beleive that it doesn't matter AT ALL that the vast majority of surfing is porn? Or that GTA is the highest selling game (IIRC)? Does it REALLY matter ZERO?

If that is the case, then does it still matter zero if we constantly show hard core porn or rape on public TV? Or cable, if you think that's more appropriate?

Like I said, I would march for all of these rights for everybody. I am an extreme foe of censorship. But I also an extreme foe of knee jerk naivete in the name of some political beleif. Sure, this is all about the first amendment - but that's NOT what I've been talking about.

Ah, nevermind. I guess I'm not making myself clear - and I'm tired of trying.

[Grandpa Kim]

Posted by Alarikf:

But I am pretty sure that there must exist *some* line of common decency,

On that I can't agree; at best there is an average. Having found myself part of the outcast, disenfranchised minority more often than not, I strongly resist any such line.

Like Atrocities, I am a strong believer in freedom. Anything that erodes our freedom is bad! If this degree of freedom should be our downfall, then perhaps our species is not the hot sh** we think it is. Personally I think we are that hot, if not impeded by too many rules and laws. Let freedom be the judge.

(Jeez, I sound like a preacher! )

[Hunpecked]

alarikf writes:

>> Ok, drop the games analogy and think about hard core porn?

OK, I'll bite. Here are a couple points off the top of my head:

Good for society

(1) Satisfies a large market demand
(2) Most porn workers earn more than they would in other jobs and so pay more taxes

Bad for society

(3) Some porn workers get in over their heads (look up "Colleen Applegate" on Google)

I'm not sure what the point of this exercise is. Name any industry and you can probably come up with both pros and cons.

>> Does it REALLY matter ZERO?

Um, again I'm missing the point. I can't think of any industry that has ZERO effect on us.

>> I would never advocate censorship...but

Self-contradicting. Either "never" has to go, or "but" has to.

>> Ah, nevermind. I guess I'm not making myself clear - and I'm tired of trying.

Probably just as well. This business about ZERO effect on society is no basis for real-world policies. It makes as much sense as a "zero tolerance" drug policy that bans Tylenol in schools.