All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[InformationGeek]

Because of course he said that.

At meeting on school safety, President Trump says violence in video games and movies is responsible for shaping young people’s thoughts: “We have to do something about maybe what they’re seeing.”

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Because of course he said that.

And what did Trump watch on big screens and small screens when he was a teenager, back when there were westerns and war movies and cop shows all over the damn place? Just more bullshit to shift blame from bad actors and psychos who have free and unfettered access to guns, and how the NRA wants to keep the status quo firmly in place.

[JackDaw]

If that's true I think their hearts are in the right place. But IMO that's not the way to go. There will just be more bullets for the kids to dodge

Impossible to fault their bravery and desire to protect the kids.

But it could all go horribly wrong.

In UK those of our police officers that are trained to bear arms have to be volunteers. And it’s hard to get enough volunteers. Not because of fear for their own safety..they risk that potentially every day in the line of duty..but because of the possible repercussions of shooting an innocent.

It’s an awesome responsibility, so many things can go wrong.

[JCAll]

Hmm.. I wonder. Has there ever been a person that worked at a school that carried, notified police they were carrying, but ended up shot by that very same officer? Perhaps something recent?

Clearly the solution is to only arm the WHITE teachers.

[Enterprise E]

society, media, video games

you want to blame Satan next there, chief?

No, they are symptoms, not the causes. People like those programs and games because they don't have the empathy that would cause someone to be repulsed by seeing a head get crushed on TV in all its graphic glory (horror), even if they know it's fake. They would be repulsed by a mission where you shoot innocent people, even if it's skippable, or can run down pedestrians even if it's fake because they have a degree of empathy. There may have been violence on TV before, even with high bodycounts, but it wasn't as graphic as it is now. As I said before, the main cause is the fact that people don't have respect and are also lacking in empathy. I think that it stems from broken homes and families. Without that stable structure where there is a clear hierarchy and the child knows that he or she is loved and is truly first in his or her parents' minds, it becomes more difficult, but not impossible, to either learn or gain things like respect or empathy, especially if teachers in school can't or won't put their foot down and deal with misbehaving students. And remember, teachers aren't parents. It all starts at home.

[KOSLOX]

And remember, teachers aren't parents.

They aren't cops or crisis prevention crews either. For all your complaints about movies and video games you seem to think real life is "The Substitute".

[SuperiorIronman]

Lets just say for a moment that games and movies/television do get on the chopping block.
I was going to ask about how he plans to enforce this seeing as there is no money to do so or incentivize any of it but then I had to ask, what is he exactly talking about?
A mass murderer can just as easily be inspired by Godzilla as much as the next Call of Duty game. A murderer can take inspiration from even simplistic works or ideas like clowns, doctors, or bus drivers. Murderers can take inspiration from anything, did we all forget James Holmes? You'd think comicbook villains would be the go-to.

The real problem is that mass shooters tend to amass an armament. Shooters will get guns, that's what makes them shooters. So, to curb the amount of mass shooters the easiest thing to do is regulate firearms with a stronger hand. You aren't going to wipe it off the face of America, lets be realistic. But removing the ability to buy a Ghost gun kit, or an Ar-15 at an auction goes a long way to saving lives. Even banning a weapon with a certain degree of fire would be something.

[JCAll]

No, they are symptoms, not the causes. People like those programs and games because they don't have the empathy that would cause someone to be repulsed by seeing a head get crushed on TV in all its graphic glory (horror), even if they know it's fake. They would be repulsed by a mission where you shoot innocent people, even if it's skippable, or can run down pedestrians even if it's fake because they have a degree of empathy. There may have been violence on TV before, even with high bodycounts, but it wasn't as graphic as it is now. As I said before, the main cause is the fact that people don't have respect and are also lacking in empathy. I think that it stems from broken homes and families. Without that stable structure where there is a clear hierarchy and the child knows that he or she is loved and is truly first in his or her parents' minds, it becomes more difficult, but not impossible, to either learn or gain things like respect or empathy, especially if teachers in school can't or won't put their foot down and deal with misbehaving students. And remember, teachers aren't parents. It all starts at home.

If only my parents had hugged me more, I wouldn't have had to turn to Crash Bandicoot to sate my bloodlust.

[KOSLOX]

Going by video games and movies cause shootings "logic" and tossing in a dash of NRA "logic", how many people have been killed or seriously injured by a flying copy of Call of Duty?

Has anyone even gotten a paper cut from the little inserts they put in the case that let you unlock new skins?

[SuperiorIronman]

No, they are symptoms, not the causes. People like those programs and games because they don't have the empathy that would cause someone to be repulsed by seeing a head get crushed on TV in all its graphic glory (horror), even if they know it's fake. They would be repulsed by a mission where you shoot innocent people, even if it's skippable, or can run down pedestrians even if it's fake because they have a degree of empathy. There may have been violence on TV before, even with high bodycounts, but it wasn't as graphic as it is now. As I said before, the main cause is the fact that people don't have respect and are also lacking in empathy. I think that it stems from broken homes and families. Without that stable structure where there is a clear hierarchy and the child knows that he or she is loved and is truly first in his or her parents' minds, it becomes more difficult, but not impossible, to either learn or gain things like respect or empathy, especially if teachers in school can't or won't put their foot down and deal with misbehaving students. And remember, teachers aren't parents. It all starts at home.

Or it starts in the classroom and people become monsters due to what the society is doing to them in that setting. Teachers and fellow students aren't always blameless. Sometimes you have people who come from perfectly fine backgrounds, but proceed to loose themselves because of something beyond the household.

[KOSLOX]

I wonder if Donkey Kong caused Lu to snap back in 1991, or if Whitman got an early release of Pong?

[JBatmanFan05]

or if Whitman got an early release of Pong?

Or Spacewar!, the space combat video game developed in 1962 for the PDP-1 microcomputer!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

If a shooter is sick in the head, there’s no telling what might set him off. Watching My Little Pony or playing Pac-Man could be as much a trigger to send some nutcase over the edge and go on a killing spree as Reservoir Dogs or Call of Duty. To put the blame on violent movies and video games is weak sauce bullshit.

[Mecegirl]

If a shooter is sick in the head, there’s no telling what might set him off. Watching My Little Pony or playing Pac-Man could be as much a trigger to send some nutcase over the edge and go on a killing spree as Reservoir Dogs or Call of Duty. To put the blame on violent movies and video games is weak sauce bullshit.

Also doesn't explain the thousands of years of violence pre video games and movies. War aside, its not like murder, rape and general curalty is new to the human race.

[Dalak]

It's not like people inspired by the Bible did anything like the Crusades or something.

Oh . . wait . . .