Man some politicians are out of touch.
After hearing the news about the R18+ rating being vetoed by one member for parliament, I sent a relatively polite email alerting Attorney-General Michael Atkinson to how his rough way of dealing with gamers (whose average age is now 30 here) could possibly cost him votes depending on his voters' hobbies.
What I got back was STUNNINGLY out of touch, and made me pine for the days of (now disbarred) anti-video game lawyer Jack Thompson, because 1) he was always amusingly out of touch and 2) he was never in any real position of power!
Here are a few examples:
(On quotes I alerted Atkinson to, two random quotes from replies to the news link above:)
"It seems we'll never get an R18 rating unless Atkinson is dispatched somehow."
"So ONE person is holding back an entire country. Nice one you ***ing dip*****."
I know what you mean by "dispatched," Mr [GAMER]. Congratulations on your art of winning friends and influencing people.
(Uh...what I mean? those aren't my words for a start!)
I realise the pornography lobby groups that attack me over this matter represent some of the richest companies in the world, so I have no doubt of their ability to carry out the threats that their foot-soldiers email to me.
(Now I'm a foot soldier under the employment of the Australian Porno Industry? WTF? The quotes aren't even from reps from those industries! They're from typical gamers annoyed at the decades long fight to get a rating movies have had since the 80s!)
I am looking forward to reading yours and some of the other abusive and threatening emails I receive from those who want an R18+ category for interactive games to Parliament and to the next meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG).
(Wait, what? I never abused him in my email! The only things remotely abusive were the quotes, again not from me!)
Unlike your fellow gamers, you do appreciate that this is not a Liberal-Labor issue.
(When did I say that? And if it's not an issue for the two most powerful sides in government, then who the hell IS it an issue for?!)
It is likely that, if I were not vetoing the R18+ category, at least two other Attorneys-General would be.
(Bzzt! Wrong! Media reports say EVERYONE but Atkinson wanted/voted the rating in, and that includes both the A-Gs for all other states as well as the 90% of the citizens who want the rating!)
And each time a Liberal Attorney-General comes to office, I have another ally, just as the last Liberal Commonwealth Attorney-General joined me in vetoing the proposed category when it was last before SCAG.
(Which wasn't this time, but a time BEFORE IT.)
My electorate, Croydon, has the highest proportion of people from a non-English-speaking background of any of the 47 electorates in South Australia. My new-citizen, new-constituent and election material is issued in 40 languages other than English. If one is a Christian Sudanese who has escaped a lifetime of war and chaos, who speaks in Dinka and reads in Arabic,
and is desperately trying to find suitable lodgings for the family, find employment and sponsor relatives from the old country, one's vote is hardly likely to hinge on the "right" to score gamer points by
running down pedestrians on the pavement, or cutting people in half with absurdly large-calibre shells or raping a woman using the computer controls.
(Oh WOW. So now he's all defensive about the two quotes and the possible risk to his votes, so he's pulling in the "war survivors" tales to use against violent games, and to add to that, he cites 11 and 12 year old games - "Carmageddon" and possibly "Duke Nukem 3D" (or other overly wild FPS shooters) - and even worse, "Custer's Revenge"! He's sure got his finger on gaming's pulse.
And what in the hell are "Gamer Points"? Does he mean X-Box Achievements or merely High Scores, which are mostly now in old arcade machines and maybe rare cases like "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band"?)
Ditto for Bosnian Muslims, Kossova Albanians and Orthodox Bosnian Serbs who have been subjected to the practical instead of virtual suffering on computer screens.
(Uh...Mike? You just pretty much compared torture to a simple game and video game players who play games like "The Punisher" for PS2 to people who maim before breakfast. And what virtual suffering? A.I doesn't suffer, it's not human!)
If you would like a considered response to your email, please provide me with a street address.
(What, politeness only gets served to those who use snail mail as opposed to email no matter how polite they are?)
I hope you will be offering yourself to the electors of the State District of Croydon at the State election due in March, 2010.
(Oh very mature. Finishing a letter with pretty much a challenge of "You think it's easy? Put yourself up there to be voted on.".)
I look forward to your action matching your rhetoric.
(If it eventually makes me into an out of touch douchebag, I highly doubt I'll want to try that path, thanks.)
Mich Atkinson
(father of four avid gamers)
(I feel for them, likely growing up with nothing but kid friendly Nintendo products alone, if that. I can picture Wisdom Tree products a go-go.)
I posted a reply to this one, tried to soften the tone (even more), and hopefully he won't be so full on about the issue.
(I'm hoping he just snapped because other emailers have sent really harsh and simple letters like "Fuck you Atkinshit!" and the like, and my email might have been the last straw. I'm hoping this, because otherwise, wow. Missing Jack already.)
What I got back was STUNNINGLY out of touch, and made me pine for the days of (now disbarred) anti-video game lawyer Jack Thompson, because 1) he was always amusingly out of touch and 2) he was never in any real position of power!
Here are a few examples:
(On quotes I alerted Atkinson to, two random quotes from replies to the news link above:)
"It seems we'll never get an R18 rating unless Atkinson is dispatched somehow."
"So ONE person is holding back an entire country. Nice one you ***ing dip*****."
I know what you mean by "dispatched," Mr [GAMER]. Congratulations on your art of winning friends and influencing people.
(Uh...what I mean? those aren't my words for a start!)
I realise the pornography lobby groups that attack me over this matter represent some of the richest companies in the world, so I have no doubt of their ability to carry out the threats that their foot-soldiers email to me.
(Now I'm a foot soldier under the employment of the Australian Porno Industry? WTF? The quotes aren't even from reps from those industries! They're from typical gamers annoyed at the decades long fight to get a rating movies have had since the 80s!)
I am looking forward to reading yours and some of the other abusive and threatening emails I receive from those who want an R18+ category for interactive games to Parliament and to the next meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG).
(Wait, what? I never abused him in my email! The only things remotely abusive were the quotes, again not from me!)
Unlike your fellow gamers, you do appreciate that this is not a Liberal-Labor issue.
(When did I say that? And if it's not an issue for the two most powerful sides in government, then who the hell IS it an issue for?!)
It is likely that, if I were not vetoing the R18+ category, at least two other Attorneys-General would be.
(Bzzt! Wrong! Media reports say EVERYONE but Atkinson wanted/voted the rating in, and that includes both the A-Gs for all other states as well as the 90% of the citizens who want the rating!)
And each time a Liberal Attorney-General comes to office, I have another ally, just as the last Liberal Commonwealth Attorney-General joined me in vetoing the proposed category when it was last before SCAG.
(Which wasn't this time, but a time BEFORE IT.)
My electorate, Croydon, has the highest proportion of people from a non-English-speaking background of any of the 47 electorates in South Australia. My new-citizen, new-constituent and election material is issued in 40 languages other than English. If one is a Christian Sudanese who has escaped a lifetime of war and chaos, who speaks in Dinka and reads in Arabic,
and is desperately trying to find suitable lodgings for the family, find employment and sponsor relatives from the old country, one's vote is hardly likely to hinge on the "right" to score gamer points by
running down pedestrians on the pavement, or cutting people in half with absurdly large-calibre shells or raping a woman using the computer controls.
(Oh WOW. So now he's all defensive about the two quotes and the possible risk to his votes, so he's pulling in the "war survivors" tales to use against violent games, and to add to that, he cites 11 and 12 year old games - "Carmageddon" and possibly "Duke Nukem 3D" (or other overly wild FPS shooters) - and even worse, "Custer's Revenge"! He's sure got his finger on gaming's pulse.
And what in the hell are "Gamer Points"? Does he mean X-Box Achievements or merely High Scores, which are mostly now in old arcade machines and maybe rare cases like "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band"?)
Ditto for Bosnian Muslims, Kossova Albanians and Orthodox Bosnian Serbs who have been subjected to the practical instead of virtual suffering on computer screens.
(Uh...Mike? You just pretty much compared torture to a simple game and video game players who play games like "The Punisher" for PS2 to people who maim before breakfast. And what virtual suffering? A.I doesn't suffer, it's not human!)
If you would like a considered response to your email, please provide me with a street address.
(What, politeness only gets served to those who use snail mail as opposed to email no matter how polite they are?)
I hope you will be offering yourself to the electors of the State District of Croydon at the State election due in March, 2010.
(Oh very mature. Finishing a letter with pretty much a challenge of "You think it's easy? Put yourself up there to be voted on.".)
I look forward to your action matching your rhetoric.
(If it eventually makes me into an out of touch douchebag, I highly doubt I'll want to try that path, thanks.)
Mich Atkinson
(father of four avid gamers)
(I feel for them, likely growing up with nothing but kid friendly Nintendo products alone, if that. I can picture Wisdom Tree products a go-go.)
I posted a reply to this one, tried to soften the tone (even more), and hopefully he won't be so full on about the issue.
(I'm hoping he just snapped because other emailers have sent really harsh and simple letters like "Fuck you Atkinshit!" and the like, and my email might have been the last straw. I'm hoping this, because otherwise, wow. Missing Jack already.)