That's a Big Margin, Jack

So for those who don't know, here's a little background.
http://www.penny-arcade.com

Personally, Jack Thompson fascinates me. Not the man himself, but the methods he uses and the greater context of how this has been used in the past. From what I can see, he's aggressively persecuting a marginalized social group to bring attention and aggrandize himself and his goals.

It's been done, many, many times before. There's some nasty examples, but in the 20th century it was comic books, television, Rock and/or Roll music (and every variation since the birth of R&R). Now it's video games.

You see, if you go at a group that has no power, there is no capability of retaliation on their part. It's very effective, of course. The 'crusaders' appear (or try to appear) as paragons of virtue, protecting the innocent (won't somebody please think of the children!) and rooting out those who would destroy society. In a way they are right. Many of the marginalized concepts, ideas, media etc that are persecuted in this way do threaten society: they attempt to change the status quo.

Technology has always done this (going back to medieval times, crop rotation anyone?) and there has always been those who are violently opposed (Jacquard's Loom. http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/jacquard.html) What I don't see in alot of references is that Jacquard's earliest looms were burned and Jacquard forced to flee a mob. At least that's how my profs told the story.

So here we are at the beginning of a new millennium and computers pervade every aspect of our lives. (Heck you are reading my diary from a remote location and can access this instantly. That's Big JuJu). The rapid pace of this leaves most people with a nagging, quiet discomfort in technology. Which opens up the door to doubt, which leads to fear. The thin edge of the wedge. And we nothing to fear but fear itself.

So here comes Jack.

Video games are cop-killer trainers and child-rape simulators. They mentally hurt our kids, they teach people to become mass murders. Technology, if uncontrolled by those who know better than you, will run amuck and destroy the very fabric of society. That's the middle of the wedge. The back end of the wedge is limiting use of technology. It starts with games, then moves on to other bits. like you can't record Desperate Housewives and watch it later because you gotta take the kids to soccer practice. You need to pay a fee every time you listen to a song because that's the only way to ensure you aren't stealing it. The authorities need a way to break into your computer without you knowing because you may be a terrorist. And what scares me, what terrifies the life out of me, is I hear alot of people say you should just ignore him and he'll go away.

He's not going to go away.

If we ignore him, it gives him free reign to say whatever he wants. And if those views aren't opposed with logical counter-arguments, opinion or even down-right anger, those who don't know what's going on will think he's telling the only version of the truth. And at that moment we lose. Not just gamers.

Everyone.

The first wedge is locked in place, and there's more behind it. And behind each wedge there someone with a hammer... Now the entire presumption is that gamers are a marginalized sub culture. I honestly think Jack believes that gamers are a bunch of nerdy dorks who have nothing better to do than play games in their parents' basement. That may have been somewhat true at one time. Now, not so much. You just need to watch the news and how gaming is the next big money market for media companies. there's alot of gamers out there, in all levels of society and of all ages. If gamers are marginalized, it's a wide margin.

Penny-Arcade, whether you like it or not, is a locus of gaming culture. They have alot of clout in that marginal community, and at their word, they can focus that drive very, very tightly. Their charity events raise a boggling amount of money and goods for kids, and it all comes from that 'margin'. The wedge may have, with a clumsy carpenter holding the hammer, hit a knot in the wood.

As entertaining as the situation is, I think what comes next will be a turning point in Mr. Thompson's career. His call to have Gabe and Tycho arrested crosses a certain boundary. Not of civility or even law. It's a statement that says that gamers are citizens that should be arrested for voicing an opinion. the exertion of power, any kind of power, is to be handled the fastest and most damning curtailment that society can offer. Civic arrest. If not violence, at least the threat of violence (which is basis of any police force) is what an arrest is. Mr. Thompson didn't threaten to sue, he requested that Gabe and Tycho be arrested. Even if the Seattle police don't follow up on this, even if Gabe and Tycho don't react and choose to ignore him, it sets a precedent that's dangerous indeed. More requests for arrests will come, and eventually an arrest will be made, for no other reason that someone who enjoys and supports a gaming culture can be arrested merely for supporting that culture.

And that is tyranny. Being persecuted not for what you do, but for who you are. By those who hold power. I'm watching this one with both eyes.