Poll: Would you emigrate to another country if gaming was banned/outlawed

[McMullen]

Would you defect to another country...

Not sure if you've been called on this yet, but there's a huge difference between moving (emigrating) and defecting. Defecting would be more akin to leaving the armed forces or intelligence agency of your country and joining up with that of another country who may or may not be at war with your previous one. It's typically regarded as treason. Simply moving to another country is not, although to be honest I'm not entirely sure if changing your citizenship to a hostile country is legal. I imagine it depends on what country you're leaving. North Korea, for example, seems to regard even glancing longingly at the southern border as treason.

Anyway, if games were outright banned in the US, I'd move, because not only would it suck, it would show that American politics had become too corrupted by special interests to remain a safe place for much longer.

 

[cdanielrl]

Yes, I would move out as soon as possible, not just because of gaming, but because if videogames are banned, then that means tv, movies, books, newspapers and possibly the internet have been banned or at least heavily censored/replaced with propaganda, then "reeducation camps" for dissenters open up and by that point the country is not a good place to live anymore.

 

[Krinku]

Yes, or try to change the law for a year then leave.

 

[Infernai]

Nope, i'd just create a rebellion and perform a hostile take-over ala. Red Faction. Failing that then...yeah, i'd flee, Very quickly.

 

[BrownGaijin]

I'd stay. Because if alcohol can be legalized after fourteen years of being banned, so can video games.

Do you really want to wait 14 years?

"I'd rather die on my feet then live on my knees."

Netherlands here, I don't see this happening anytime soon anywhere in the world (oh wait, Somalia!)
I would either leave or start a revolution. Preferably a revolution, I don't like running away from problems.

Nice Zapata quote, I too would take part in whatever movement to get the matter overturned.

Leaving was never in Zapata's plans (even after ten years of fighting). They aren't in mine.

 

[Murray Whitwell]

Living in Australia so I want to move anyway.

 

[Kiefer13]

Definitely. I have no great attachment to this country. Not only would I hate to live somewhere where I couldn't play games, I'd hate even more on principle the idea of living somewhere where the government thought that it was acceptable to strip away personal freedoms in such a manner.

 

[Hollock]

No, I mean I would move, but not just for gaming. And I could always play online.

 

[Low Key]

Yes, please ban one of the most currently profitable industries. I'd like to see how well that would work out.

 

[goronlink8]

I would whip out the 1st Amendment. If that didn't work I would organize the biggest peaceful protest this side of the Civil Rights movement. No I wouldn't move.

 

[magnuslion]

I would not leave. I would be far too busy leading the rebellion and slaughtering the prols.

 

[Lord_Nemesis]

Not only yeah but FUCK yeah I would.

To be honest outlawing gaming would just be the spark I needed to start the Gamer Revolution in which all the guilds/clans/teams of all games EVERYWHERE band together and start our world domination. And the heretics will work on our offworld mega mines. You have been warned.

GAMERS: A Gamer Born, A Gamer Bred, A Gamer Always.

 

[faspxina]

I'd leave my country for less.

 

[StBishop]

Would you defect to another country...

Not sure if you've been called on this yet, but there's a huge difference between moving (emigrating) and defecting. Defecting would be more akin to leaving the armed forces or intelligence agency of your country and joining up with that of another country who may or may not be at war with your previous one. It's typically regarded as treason. Simply moving to another country is not, although to be honest I'm not entirely sure if changing your citizenship to a hostile country is legal. I imagine it depends on what country you're leaving. North Korea, for example, seems to regard even glancing longingly at the southern border as treason.

Anyway, if games were outright banned in the US, I'd move, because not only would it suck, it would show that American politics had become too corrupted by special interests to remain a safe place for much longer.

Thanks, I didn't know that. I'll edit the title.

 

[Farther than stars]

No, I'd stay and protest.

I'm supprised by the amount of people that would just leave immediately.

I know right? :0 But then I guess there's a coward in us all.

 

[Farther than stars]

Would you stay and game illegally? (Assume there are ways to detect this and the penalty is harsh)

Actually, I came back here to pick you up on this and discuss it further. There's a huge difference between banning games and banning gaming. In most Western countries, for example you can smoke soft drugs even while you're underaged and quite a lot of people turn a blind eye, but once you start dealing in the stuff, you're looking at jailtime.
And to bring the matter back to gaming; sure, you'd get a fine as a shopkeeper in Germany if you tried to sell Manhunt in your store, but it's not like the police would ever knock down the front door of your house and confiscate your copy from you if all you did was own it.
I know you can make the argument as theoretical as you like with "ifs", but eventually enforceablity is going to play a major part in whether we'd actually get to play games or not.

 

[StBishop]

Would you stay and game illegally? (Assume there are ways to detect this and the penalty is harsh)

Actually, I came back here to pick you up on this and discuss it further. There's a huge difference between banning games and banning gaming. In most Western countries, for example you can smoke soft drugs even while you're underaged and quite a lot of people turn a blind eye, but once you start dealing in the stuff, you're looking at jailtime.
And to bring the matter back to gaming; sure, you'd get a fine as a shopkeeper in Germany if you tried to sell Manhunt in your store, but it's not like the police would ever knock down the front door of your house and confiscate your copy from you if all you did was own it.
I know you can make the argument as theoretical as you like with "ifs", but eventually enforceablity is going to play a major part in whether we'd actually get to play games or not.

On the point of buying/selling vesus using.

There's currently something like a $450.00 [footnote]can someone either confirm this for me or tell me I'm full of shit on the amount I can't remember the exact amount[/footnote] fine for owning the new Mortal Kombat game in Australia. Sure selling is like tens of thousands of dollars for the business and thousands of dollars for the individual, but it's still illegal to own banned things here.

Same with drugs. Sure it's worse if you're a dealer, but possession is illegal, smoking it is illegal etc.

I understand what you mean about your decision being based on the enforceability of the laws, but I'll be honest it was more of a "If I couldn't game, I'd probably leave. I wonder if other people feel the same way." scenario. I didn't start off with the ideas behind the banning, they're sort of just there as a framework for the theoretical "If you couldn't game where you live, would you leave?".

 

[Farther than stars]

There's currently something like a $450.00 [footnote]can someone either confirm this for me or tell me I'm full of shit on the amount I can't remember the exact amount[/footnote] fine for owning the new Mortal Kombat game in Australia. Sure selling is like tens of thousands of dollars for the business and thousands of dollars for the individual, but it's still illegal to own banned things here.

Same with drugs. Sure it's worse if you're a dealer, but possession is illegal, smoking it is illegal etc.

I understand what you mean about your decision being based on the enforceability of the laws, but I'll be honest it was more of a "If I couldn't game, I'd probably leave. I wonder if other people feel the same way." scenario. I didn't start off with the ideas behind the banning, they're sort of just there as a framework for the theoretical "If you couldn't game where you live, would you leave?".

Interesting, I never knew that about Mortal Combat. (I wonder if Yahztee does. After all, I believe he freely acknowledges importing his copy and therefore actually owns a copy in Australia.) Although I do take it with a pinch of salt. On a quick search I haven't found any evidence online to back it up and so I'm wondering whether you're thinking of it in terms of ownning it as a shopkeeper?
Whatever the case, as I stated the police usually have better things to do than kicking down front doors in pursuit of banned video games, so (not speaking as Australian, so you might have to back me up on this) I'm sure that unless you displayed it very publicly you probably wouldn't be prosecuted for it. (After all, Yahtzee still owns Manhunt and Mortal Combat, right?)

Also I understand that it was more of theoretical question and I wouldn't have worded it any other way. Being a theoretical question it should allow for several approaches while still covering a broad range of (moral) viewpoints. That leaves posters (like me!) to fill in the gaps and expand the argument to include practical applications.
Since being a theoretical question is all very well, but for an intellectual discussion you need to leave leeway for various solutions. That way people can add to the argument with complex thought processses, rather than turning it into a yes/no situation.
It's also one of the reasons I'm against the type of "what if" questions, like "who would you shoot if you had to pick one of two?", because a true excerciser of free will knows that being boxed down into something like that simply isn't realistic and that the actual posibilities are endless.
That's today's lesson in debating for intellectuals 101, kids.