The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #47544   Message #709631
Posted By: Escamillo
12-May-02 - 04:01 PM
Thread Name: BS: Dangerous games
Subject: RE: BS: Dangerous games
Valuable comments, with which I mostly agree. I grew up in a highly censored society, and witnessed a process of liberalization of all expressions of art and intellectual research, and pure amusement. But in this case there is no art, nothing intellectual, and no amusement.

It is an advanced simulation technique to test your skills to become a criminal, and to reward you for your achievements. Indeed if you fail, there is punishment, but that punishment is virtual and it comes only as a consequence of your inability for crime. You are encouraged to try again. Instead, the rewards are real: you feel great. And there is no age restriction.

The top game has been among favorites for 161 weeks, and this last week has been served to 52,436 kids and adults. The question is: should we set a limit ? I mean a legal action, not the action we as parents take at home. Don't we take immediate action when a friend of our kids tries to involve them in drugs or guns ? Do we allow an adult to initiate them in his own criminal activities ? First of all we talk to the kids, but second, we isolate the individuals, and some parents report them to authorities.

I find it very difficult to not use the same arguments that have been used in history to censor political ideas, sexual tastes, alcoholism, or to support dictatorships "in defense of the nation". I actually FOUGHT against that, when my country was under the military. But I think that there must be some limit, some equilibrium. Is the praise of terrorism that limit ? It could already be in the market, I didn't see it as today, but it could be no surprise.

Un abrazo - Andrés