secretkeeper12 said:
Most gamers have heard of the webcomic-turned-franchise Penny Arcade. Published by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, the duo have generated a substantial audience with their work. With this influence, Mike and Jerry have the potential to change the world.
But they don't do it.
Not say say that they've done nothing. Child's Play is a charity they have founded, but with a mission goal of buying patients video games they support a more sinister purpose-namely, the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Conflict minerals-gold, cobalt, tin and wolfram mined by groups whose labor is forced by militant groups-are found in all our devices. The computer Jerry types on, the tablet Mike draws on, and the countless products the gaming community buy are all the result of this exploitive practice.
As celebrities in the gaming community, Jerry and Mike have a responsibility to respect human rights in their actions. This means addressing the very real scourge of conflict minerals and pressuring companies such as Nintendo to adopt due diligence guidelines. I could find no mention of these in Penny Arcade's archives.
Do you think Jerry and Mike have a duty to support ethical consumer practices? Leave your thoughts below.
Nope. Not at all.
I believe that for a couple reasons. Putting aside the aforementioned "um - they are the functional equivalent of 'b-list' actors as far as the game industry is concerned" that other people have mentioned...
One - You are using a false equivalency - "As celebrities in the gaming community, Jerry and Mike have a responsibility to respect human rights in their actions" and "Conflict minerals-gold, cobalt, tin and wolfram mined by groups whose labor is forced by militant groups-are found in all our devices" therefore "they support a more sinister purpose-namely, the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo."
EXCEPT you are missing an obvious problem - not ALL consoles, PCs, and tablet manufacturers get rare earths from conflict zones. Notably - ASUS (who happen to have built my laptop, my tablet, and all the major components of my desktop PC save the processor) has a very specific "Social Responsibility" screening element towards choosing suppliers. Other notable manufacturers such as Dell, Intel & Sony all do as well.
Therefore - your basic premise is somewhat flawed.
Two - No single person (or even group of people) should EVER be allowed to decide what *any other person* should or should not champion as a social cause. It's that simple. I firmly believe in free thought and free speech. In fact - my opinion on that can be summed up in the bumper sticker on my wife's car. "If you believe you can tell me what to think, I believe I can tell you where to go."
What positions they choose to support with their time and effort are theirs. They have no more DUTY to support any position than I do. If they WANT to support a position, its fine. But choosing to support a specific position should never be a DUTY.
Going back to your original statement - "As celebrities in the gaming community, Jerry and Mike have a responsibility to respect human rights in their actions." Actually they *don't* have that responsibility. No where does it state that ANY "celebrity" comes with the "responsibility" to "respect human rights". If it did, there would be a lot fewer A**holes who happen to be celebrities.
We'd like to THINK celebrities should be better people - but there is nothing implicit about celebrity that says they are.
So - um - No. In fact, I wholeheartedly REJECT your premise. If they WANT to do say something about ethical sourcing? Fine. But nothing requires them to...