Grumpy Pundit: Men Play Too Many Dang Videogames

[Erana]

The fundamental problem for me with this article is that it doesn't make sense to insist that decline in an American demographic's educational and career success not my problem just because I lack a penis?

I mean, really. I have about as much influence on men getting college degrees as I do women- my getting a Bachelor's is just one tiny drop in the bucket, after all.
If you're calling for social change, you address everyone in the society.

Here, he's just pointing fingers.

 

[Kingjackl]

I know that as gamers we're supposed to crucify people who say stuff like this, but I kind of agree with this guy. Gaming as a hobby is generally anti-social unless you're playing multiplayer, and even then you're still not getting any sort of exercise or monetary benefit. I think what he's trying to say is that a lot of young men spend too much time on the couch and not enough time doing something productive. Perfectly valid point if you ask me.

 

[vivster]

for my taste women are still underpowered enough

so i'm gonna go and play some more video games

 

[Alandoril]

The decline of men has nothing to do with games, it does have a whole helluva lot to do with the fact that there is no reason to be a man any more. At least not by the extremely limited definition that he is going by.

The fact is that men have enough to worry about without constantly being told what we are and aren't supposed to be. Being part of a gender which is increasingly superfluous in the modern world takes its toll in a lot of ways, some of them obvious, most of them much harder to spot let alone understand if you're not actually having to deal with them.

And yes if he's got a problem with there not being enough jobs, he should really be talking about all the social and economic barriers that are put in place to keep most working class men out of the job market and the rest of society in general.

 

[AnarchistFish]

Wow. You have politicians this racist, homophobic and sexist this high up? Here they'd be destroyed

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Fuck this guy.

I'm doing MMA, have a scholarship and am dating two different girls; haven't I manned up enough?

Depends. Does each girl know about the other?

Yes and, as far as I can tell, they're both alright with it.

Well good for you, then.

Wow. You have politicians this racist, homophobic and sexist this high up? Here they'd be destroyed

Where is here, exactly? And besides, I don't believe he's held elected office, from a brief glance at Wikipedia he's been appointed to positions by Reagan and Bush, but not elected. And currently he just has a radio show.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

I'm a woman who plays games...is that okay with him then or what?

Only if you make him a sandwich.

Seriously though, some geezer says something about video games and nerds fly off the handle.

 

[Lilani]

Oh, whew. Good thing I'm a lady. Now excuse me while I embark on an 18 hour Team Fortress 2 marathon.

 

[Jodah]

In addition to proposing to abort all African-American babies,

Wow.

Just... wow.

I was about to prepare a witty come back for this guy until I read the above sentence. After that, why even bother?

Pretty much...I was going to post something about studying to be a lawyer while being a big gamer but that sentence turned my brain into mush...

 

[jawakiller]

Everybody here is going to be all like OHMYFUCKINGGODWHATTHECUNTMOTHERFUCKINGSONOFABITCHIFUCKINGHATETHATFUCKINGASSHOLE but he actually has a point. America is filled with complacent males with an over-developed sense of self-entitlement. Now blaming video games is an easy way out, everybody does it. But they do contribute to the problem.

It's all about, like the old geezer said, sending mixed signals. A guy plays CoD, Gears, Halo, Fallout, God of War etc. He is shown strong male protagonists. He inadvertence looks up to him. He wants to be like Marcus or Ramirez. What does his parents do? Coddle him and give him all he wants. He never has to fight for anything. He's never faced with a "twist" in the plot. Oh my, grandma died. Big fucking deal. Old people die. Most people in developed countries don't have to deal with the shit people in video games go through.

I could go on but I'll stop because nobody here gives two shits. They'll say "what an asshole" and go on and continue their lives.

This has nothing to do with females cuz I am not one. If I was I might be talking about other unrealistic expectations but I ain't a lass sooo... Yeah, this pertains to the dudes.

 

[SageRuffin]

This guy can stick it. I'm in the fucking military.

Yeah, how do you them apples, *****?!

Exclamation: I now have a seething hatred for this guy after going back and re-reading the news story. Aborting all African-American babies?! As a 20-something black male who hopes to have his own babies sometime later or so in life, I find that statement immensely offensive. Hell, I'd probably assassinate the guy myself, but I'd only be promoting stereotypes by doing that (I probably already have by saying that last sentence...).

 

[veloper]

Everybody here is going to be all like OHMYFUCKINGGODWHATTHECUNTMOTHERFUCKINGSONOFABITCHIFUCKINGHATETHATFUCKINGASSHOLE

We're not going OHMYFUCKINGGODWHATTHECUNTMOTHERFUCKINGSONOFABITCHIFUCKINGHATETHATFUCKINGASSHOLE over his gaming comment.
It's his abort-every-african-american-baby stance that's getting everyone riled up. When someone reaches that point, it becomes a sole defining characteristic.

 

[Treaos Serrare]

There are no challenging jobs available, unless you count being able to properly clean and maintain a grill and fryer combo as challenging. all those jobs that are what I assume he is talking about are fucking outsourced, and his whole "manhood" schpeal is just bullshit in an of itself.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Not trying to defend his video game stance, but Escapist is totally wrong on the "he wants to abort all african-american kids" thing. This popped up years ago and it was a pretty sad attempt to try and make controversy out of nothing (BTW, the Book "Freakonomics" said the exact same thing as him and didn't generate any controversy).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/oct/01/usa.danglaister

 

[minuialear]

In addition to proposing to abort all African-American babies,

Wow.

Just... wow.

I was about to prepare a witty come back for this guy until I read the above sentence. After that, why even bother?

To be fair, he never said that. What he said was in response to someone saying allowing abortion may have caused the Social Security problem we have now, his response being people say that crime has gone down since that ruling, which suggests that the best way to get rid of crime would be to abort black children (which he then goes on to describe as "morally reprehensible"). Of course his statement's still dripping with bigotry, but he never actually called for aborting anyone. He's pro-life, that wouldn't make any sense.


OT: I agree that he's got some warped opinions and that he's wrong to make video games a culprit in unemployment and make it sound like guys should be competing against women to have more jobs and degrees if they hope to be seen as men etc etc, but that doesn't excuse the amount of word-twisting and coloring of facts in this article...

 

[AnarchistFish]

Wow. You have politicians this racist, homophobic and sexist this high up? Here they'd be destroyed

Where is here, exactly? And besides, I don't believe he's held elected office, from a brief glance at Wikipedia he's been appointed to positions by Reagan and Bush, but not elected. And currently he just has a radio show.

UK. And still, someone appointed positions by the PM here would probably be forced to resign if they said something like that. I'm thinking more of the things he said about women and African American babies.

 

[orangeban]

I can only assume this is the same William Bennet ex-politician that had a massive gambling problem is now telling us to stop playing games. Thanks buddy, I'll hold your opinion real high.

What a dick.

 

[Zoe Castillo]

---

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Wow. You have politicians this racist, homophobic and sexist this high up? Here they'd be destroyed

Where is here, exactly? And besides, I don't believe he's held elected office, from a brief glance at Wikipedia he's been appointed to positions by Reagan and Bush, but not elected. And currently he just has a radio show.

UK. And still, someone appointed positions by the PM here would probably be forced to resign if they said something like that. I'm thinking more of the things he said about women and African American babies.

Again, he only has some kind of radio show no one listens to now. I don't have a timeline of these remarks, but since he hasn't held a government job since the Bush administration I doubt he said anything while holding a government job. This remark certainly wasn't, and I'm pretty sure the other was on his radio show as well.

 

[Mouse One]

Ah William Bennett...a drug czar addicted to nicotine, author of "The Book of Virtues" and a compulsive gambler.

Yep....

The Washington Monthly and Newsweek have learned that over the last decade Bennett has made dozens of trips to casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, where he is a "preferred customer" at several of them, and sources and documents provided to The Washington Monthly put his total losses at more than $8 million.

"I don't play the 'milk money.'"

Bennett has been a high-roller since at least the early 1990s. A review of one 18-month stretch of gambling showed him visiting casinos, often for two or three days at a time (and enjoying a line of credit of at least $200,000 at several of them). Bennett likes to be discreet. "He'll usually call a host and let us know when he's coming," says one source. "We can limo him in. He prefers the high-limit room, where he's less likely to be seen and where he can play the $500-a-pull slots. He usually plays very late at night or early in the morning--usually between midnight and 6 a.m." The documents show that in one two-month period, Bennett wired more than $1.4 million to cover losses. His desire for privacy is evident in his customer profile at one casino, which lists as his residence the address for Empower.org (the Web site of Empower America, the non-profit group Bennett co-chairs). Typed across the form are the words: "NO CONTACT AT RES OR BIZ!!!"

Source:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0306.green.html


Now, how many of us have dropped that kind of money playing games? Speaking for myself, my biggest loss was pre-ordering Dragon Age 2. BTW, Bill, professional pilot and former military officer here. Thanks for playing, though.