In light of yesterday’s saddening THQ news, one story managed to stay relatively out of the spotlight, where as it would have likely been a front-page, “hot off the press” report any other day. It doesn’t pertain to anything new, and it starts out much like recent articles relating to games and violence: one political giant believes that video games are ruining our kids. Where this story rises in interest, though, is when this politician, Mr. Ralph Nadar, called video games, “electronic child molesters.”
Indeed, in an interview with Politico, Nader touched on the recent hot-topic item of “do games cause violence,” in addition to President Obama’s recent plans to begin tighter gun-control policies. As you can most likely guess, Nader isn’t a big fan of Obama’s decision to tighten these policies, and he certainly isn’t a fan of video games, as this interview clearly shows.
“We are in the peak of [violence in entertainment]. Television program violence? Unbelievable. Video game violence? Unprecedented,” Nader said. “I’m not saying he wants to censor this, I think he should sensitize people that they should protect their children family by family from these kinds of electronic child molesters.”
Clearly Nadar woke up on the wrong side of the bed, right? Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time he’s made such an outlandish analogy against the video game industry; in 1999, in response to the tragic events at Columbine High School in Colorado, Nadar spoke out against gaming, calling them, once again, child molesters.
"All this is fine with the companies — these boys and girls spent more than $25 billion last year, and what they got in return is violent, addictive, and tawdry sensuality," Nader wrote in his blog at the time. "These electronic child molesters have little sense of restraint or boundaries. Their odious fare is becoming more coarse, more violent, and more interactive to seduce these youngsters into an addiction of direct video game involvement in the mayhem."
So, instead of actively working with Obama to organize a fruitful plan for action against violence in America today, these politicians are deeming video games the cause when this industry exists outside of our beautiful country’s walls; not even mentioning the fact that over 70% of Americans play “video games,” and I certainly do not believe a significant amount are criminals (unless you count going five miles over the speed limit from time to time).
What are your opinions on Nader’s comments? Let us know by commenting below.
Source: [Politico]
