GoodbyeBlueMonday
We don’t disagree: there’s a short-sightedness that causes folks to say things like “once the boomers die out, things will be great”. There are systemic issues that gauze the greed and fear and violence, and the folks that get swept up in these movements are in large part products of their environment, as we all are.
So we need to change the environment, but otherwise well-meaning folks don’t want it to change because they benefit from it, even when they are vaguely aware that there are monsters out there that keep it that way. I’d like to think there’s more liberals/moderates who would be allies against fascism if this kind of thing can be communicated in a way that doesn’t alienate folks, but I’m also sympathetic to arguments that fiery language is necessary to rattle people out of comfort zones… So in sum, thanks for the good discussion.
Right? Would be easy enough for a DM to just improvise if they don’t want the players using everything. Big ticket items have inscriptions that terrify anyone they try to sell it to, which is itself a plot hook. Maybe it’s all cursed. Or they get arrested by the local authorities on suspicion of trafficking in stolen goods. Or even just have another adventuring party steal it from them somehow.
Depends on the abilities of the party, but snatching away their spoils after they get away sounds even more fun than not letting them take it in the first place.
Didn’t you just lay out why it is a social problem, though? Men are disproportionately abusing folks because they’re disproportionately in power.
Clearly testosterone plays a major role in causing aggressive behavior, and men tend to have more testosterone, but that also isn’t a clear-cut division between groups, and folks with lower testosterone can certainly still be aggressive monsters. Oversimplifying the problem isn’t going to fix things.
Precisely. I voted today and it took a few minutes of my time. There was still plenty of time in the morning to keep working on the things I think will make more of an impact re: improving things somewhat. Mutual aid and anything else in the bucket of “resisting tyrannical government” is much easier when it’s only +1 more evil rather than +10.
What kind of legislation, though? Loot boxes seem like an easy one to write: gambling is illegal already in a lot of places. When it’s just exploitative greed, I’m not sure how it’s technically so different from charging exorbitant rates for swag at a baseball game or something. Or charging a few thousand bucks for a purse at some high-end fashion retailer.
To be clear: I loathe the FOMO trends in game development, overpriced skins, micro/macro-transactions, and all the “credit/XP boosters” type bullshit. Turning money into ingame currencies to obfuscate actual prices, the general design of games frontloading fun and then squeezing dollars out of you to feel that same high again…I’m just skeptical that there’s anything to do about it from a legal perspective that doesn’t apply to most of the rest of the capitalist enterprises out there. Please though, I want to be wrong about this, so any examples of how to curb some of these excesses would be great.
There’s a difference in understanding and supporting, or considering something morally correct.
As another example: I understand why some folks get sucked into gangs. If someone grows up in a crumbling school system, falls through the holes in whatever is left of a social safety net, has no proper familial support, and sees nothing but violence and economic despair day-to-day, joining a gang suddenly becomes a viable path to prosperity. Exceedingly dangerous, but this hypothetical teen can look around and see they’re likely to have a shit future regardless, so why not take that chance, right?
So this isn’t me saying that I support gang violence, but I can understand why it happens. Which is why my politics are what they are: we don’t need to just beat the shit out of gang members in the streets, but give folks support so they don’t feel like joining a gang is the only way to survive.
The other poster is (I think) making a similar kind of argument. What the fuck else is some kid in that situation going to grow up to be? Some folks will make it out alright, sure: but on the whole it’s a recipe for despair, which often leads to horrific acts. It doesn’t make the acts right, but we can understand a little more about the why.
I had read your initial comment as insinuating the previous commenter was supporting hamas, and when someone directly challenged you on it, you didn’t reject that accusation.
So if you just wanted to point out the irony, consider my comment as much a non sequitor as your comment on its irony, which is - I suppose - at least irony-adjacent in itself.
Gotta say though, I wouldn’t mind the unceremonious death of Jadzia if it wasn’t wrapped up in the sexist contract disputes, because the character is the perfect one to kill off, because she was (in a sense) only mostly dead! Imagine if we had gotten the chance to see Ezri talk to Jadzia, like we saw Jadzia talk to former hosts.
The two of them could work through the complications of living on the same station as Jadzia’s husband, how her death wasn’t some honorable warrior’s death like Jadzia (and Curzon) would have dreamed about, and how Ezria wasn’t ready for the responsibility of being a host. There’s a lot of really interesting stuff writers could play with there, and I think Adira and Gray in Discovery have showed there’s some nice storytelling potential there (the same kind of additions to canon could have happened with Ezri and Jadzia, in terms of a traumatic host transfer causing unexpected bonds between the hosts’ memories).