Reality is a team sport, to some people. They don’t mean things when they say words. They’re just shuffling cards. So yes, some of the people insisting their hobby is blameless are just conservatives who identify with it, the same way most of the people blaming that hobby for murder are just conservatives whose ingroup doesn’t like them. You will never get logical consistency out of conservatives. Any appearance is coincidental and temporary.
Tbh I wouldn’t say only conservatives are like that…
But yeah. It is just so tiring to see a group of people (edit: gamers) that you once identified with, give up on logic to hate on a group of people who did absolutely nothing to them.
Well that is not true, they played video games with them, shared memes with them, and share many happy moments with them. But let’s hate them e.g. trans people because… We want to be straight? Mhm yeah… Ok…
People who agreed with you, and then made confusing opposite arguments, were conservatives. It doesn’t mean right-wing. It’s tribalism. It is this identity-based, conclusion-first, loyalty-driven worldview.
We’re talking about people who insisted violent behavior couldn’t be caused by violent games, and then insisted queer behavior was caused by queer games. The contradiction doesn’t even exist, for them. They don’t understand the concept. Any stated rationale is just a word game to reach their desired conclusion. It will never guide their future actions.
This gets mixed-up with right-wing politics because they fit very tightly. But there are leftist conservatives - people who will justify anything done in the name of that ideology. Tankies, in other words. They’re not ideologues; they’ve picked a team. Conversely, there are right-wing cranks who aren’t conservative. You can spot them getting booted from right-wing parties for objecting to whatever horrible bullshit the ingroup wants, next. They bought conservative excuses, and when those excuses are dropped for completely the opposite argument, they are confused.
It simply wasn’t about the words. What matters is who said them.
I am with you for a lot of it. But I don’t know if I would call someone a tankie when e.g. (and I had that experience recently here) a person insist that a man who expresses that he wants to feel like a man, is somehow toxic but trans men aren’t toxic when they do it. The reason is obviously sexist (and I would argue, transphobic) stereotypes and the resulting disinterest in the individual. But does that make them a tankie? Idk.
I am also struggling with the statement that people “were” conservatives. I mean they are, but were they? Can’t people change there? But I am being nitpicky here.
something that I want to say, because apparently I care, of my friends who used to be “gamers”, I would say most, if not all (some of them are politically disinterested), are very vocally progressive. And their actions align with it. So, I want to insist that I didn’t identify with conservatives but with a group of people who contained some conservatives. I don’t know why I care so much about this.
Reality is a team sport, to some people. They don’t mean things when they say words. They’re just shuffling cards. So yes, some of the people insisting their hobby is blameless are just conservatives who identify with it, the same way most of the people blaming that hobby for murder are just conservatives whose ingroup doesn’t like them. You will never get logical consistency out of conservatives. Any appearance is coincidental and temporary.
Tbh I wouldn’t say only conservatives are like that…
But yeah. It is just so tiring to see a group of people (edit: gamers) that you once identified with, give up on logic to hate on a group of people who did absolutely nothing to them.
Well that is not true, they played video games with them, shared memes with them, and share many happy moments with them. But let’s hate them e.g. trans people because… We want to be straight? Mhm yeah… Ok…
Imagine giving up a good time, just to hate…
I am describing conservatism as a concept. The label is defined by this tribalism. Identity is all they have. It was never about logic.
Oh just to be clear, I wasn’t talking conservatives but gamers. I never identified with conservatives. Sorry if I confused you.
I am not saying you are wrong about conservatives, I am just saying, people like that are everywhere. Also in the left. Sadly.
Take care!
People who agreed with you, and then made confusing opposite arguments, were conservatives. It doesn’t mean right-wing. It’s tribalism. It is this identity-based, conclusion-first, loyalty-driven worldview.
We’re talking about people who insisted violent behavior couldn’t be caused by violent games, and then insisted queer behavior was caused by queer games. The contradiction doesn’t even exist, for them. They don’t understand the concept. Any stated rationale is just a word game to reach their desired conclusion. It will never guide their future actions.
This gets mixed-up with right-wing politics because they fit very tightly. But there are leftist conservatives - people who will justify anything done in the name of that ideology. Tankies, in other words. They’re not ideologues; they’ve picked a team. Conversely, there are right-wing cranks who aren’t conservative. You can spot them getting booted from right-wing parties for objecting to whatever horrible bullshit the ingroup wants, next. They bought conservative excuses, and when those excuses are dropped for completely the opposite argument, they are confused.
It simply wasn’t about the words. What matters is who said them.
Mhm I see your point.
I am with you for a lot of it. But I don’t know if I would call someone a tankie when e.g. (and I had that experience recently here) a person insist that a man who expresses that he wants to feel like a man, is somehow toxic but trans men aren’t toxic when they do it. The reason is obviously sexist (and I would argue, transphobic) stereotypes and the resulting disinterest in the individual. But does that make them a tankie? Idk.
I am also struggling with the statement that people “were” conservatives. I mean they are, but were they? Can’t people change there? But I am being nitpicky here.
something that I want to say, because apparently I care, of my friends who used to be “gamers”, I would say most, if not all (some of them are politically disinterested), are very vocally progressive. And their actions align with it. So, I want to insist that I didn’t identify with conservatives but with a group of people who contained some conservatives. I don’t know why I care so much about this.