Will scapegoating ever stop?

[LordCraigus]

As with other things in the past that have been blamed for all the worlds ills (rock music for example) games will eventually stop being scapegoated by parents, politicians and the media.
We as gamers get pretty sick and tired of it and we make that known... but, eventually those who have grown up with games will be the parents, politicians and media. The question is that in the future when it's our children or our children's childen who are getting into the next 'scary' craze will we we 'learn from our mistakes' or will we continue to dismiss and scapegoat the new and unfamiliar things that successive generations become interested in? Even after all that we as gamers have to put up with?

You only have to look at how even the average gamer with no fanboyant (new word?) allegiances can be quick to jump on and tear apart a game or gaming system they may never even have played simply because it's unfamiliar to them.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Pies will be the new scapegoat, people who eat pie are bad

 

[sighh]

Of course it won't stop. When things go wrong, most people need something to blame.

Music, TV, movies, games, lag, it'll always be something.

 

[Zer_]

Holograms will be the new scapegoat.

 

[alwaysrockon]

what superfriend said i say exactly. any relativly new thing will be scrapegoated by media for not being "old". i am sure that when the majority of teenagers (more gamers are teenagers) are adults and the gamer adults grow old then it'll be new things that are scrapegoated.

ps. sorry if that makes no sense whatsoever

 

[Mr. Fister]

Scapegoating will never end, and you know who I blame for this? Rap music! Ban 50 Cent!

But seriously, scapegoating for gaming will end eventually, but scapegoating will never end as long as there are ignorant parents looking to avoid taking responsibility and ignorant politicians looking to capitalize off of said parents in order to ensure that they win the next election.

 

[cannot_aim]

It will never stop as long as there are controversial things or things people disagree with.

 

[Hexadecimal16]

People generally don't like taking responsibility for something that's gone wrong. A kid shoots up his school and happened to play FPSs? Clearly it's the game's fault.

Not long ago I was watching a news story about someone who had done just that then committed suicide. At one point the reporter was listing 'warning signs' and among them was "...and he frequently played ONLINE SHOOTING GAMES." like it was some unheard of atrocity. I found this kind of hilarious because honestly, who doesn't play shooting games anymore? At the same time it's unfortunate that it was listed as a 'warning sign' because it just reinforces the belief that video games are somehow damaging.

 

[Scapeduck]

Scapegoating is fun

We recognized that more people than we thought search desparately for excuses for mistakes and finally practice scapegoating like a normal way to escape from responsibility.

In the time of internet where you can buy absolution, purchase problems as if you wouldn't have enough and exhibit your most intimate privacy in social web-communities, it seems to be ... normal?!

I set up a satirical experiment about that. Come and blame with us!

http://www.cutescapegoat.com/

 

[rokudan]

Of course it won't stop. When things go wrong, most people need something to blame.

Yup, no one will ever take blame for their own ideas.

 

[Jandau]

Holograms will be the new scapegoat.

I'm guessing you said that as a joke, but I wouldn't be suprised if it came true...

 

[Grimm91]

People hate taking the blame in anything. For this reason scapegoating will never stop, until people take responsibility and grow a backbone something will always be blamed that does not deserve it. Thats just the world that we live in.

 

[Beltaine]

There's always the old stand by:

"Satan made me do it"

 

[ForrestDixon]

Not really. We all need someone to blame. You can look though history and find many many many instances of it. It wont stop.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Pies will be the new scapegoat, people who eat pie are bad

You're too late, people who love the pie are already being blamed for the wrecking of the economy, despite the fact that we buy far more food than the tofu munching yoga freaks , and that we all die at about 50, saving the country millions in pensions, if the government had any clue, pies and cake would be free, ensuring almost no pension bills in 20 years time, or blowing the theory that pie is bad out of the water.

Ooh, got a bit political there, but really, is someone having a pie really the worst thing happening in this country, can they not leave me alone to have some cake and find someone else to scapegoat?

Hell, go after chavs, at least they like the image of being a scourge on society.

 

[stompythebeast]

what superfriend said i say exactly. any relativly new thing will be scrapegoated by media for not being "old". i am sure that when the majority of teenagers (more gamers are teenagers) are adults and the gamer adults grow old then it'll be new things that are scrapegoated.

ps. sorry if that makes no sense whatsoever

yes, i "scrapegoat" my mom for having me all the time.

 

[Frungy]

No, and its all your fault

Seriously though, its just basic ego defense. No-one wants to admit that their behaviour contributed to their kid comitting suicide, or going on drugs, or becoming a chartered accountant, so they blame it on roleplay-games, or smoking, or those damnably sexy math teachers with their tight buns and long grey skirts ... wait, I sense I'm getting side-tracked..

Anyway, its all about people not wanting to face up to their actions. Someone posted a thread about a month back asking, somewhat controversially, if girls who did stupid things (getting passing-out drink alone at a bar, walking down a dark alleyway with a stranger, etc) weren't responsible for their own misfortunes. Some people said yes (which I agree with, they're not 100% responsible, but probably close to 50%), but a lot of people engaged in scapegoating, trying to blame it on "society" and "the culture of disrespect towards women", etc, etc, blah, blah.

Its all bullsh*t. People should look to themselves when stuff happens and ask, "What did I do to make this happen", rather than blaming other people. Yes, I am talking to all those prats who voted Bush a few years ago and are now going, "OMG! How did we end up in this mess?"