Historically, gaming has been at least in part associated with progressive thinking and liberal values. In part this is a logical consequence of assuming that gaming is the domain of the young. Social groups such as university students are stereotypically seen as very liberal. The same group, namely male university goers, happen to be the target group for many AAA gaming companies. And this conjecture is what lies at the heart of the liberal myth about gaming. As with many other things in life, correlation doesn't equal causation. Yes, students are still more likely to be liberal than conservative. Yes, students remain a somewhat significant demographic for gaming in the West. However, the gaming community at large is much more diversified politically than most people assume. Not only that, looking at the world of gaming shows just how incorrect the spin doctors are in their outdated assumptions about the youth in countries like the US.
Let me be clear, I'm not here to judge anyone. I have my very progressive beliefs, I'm proud to call myself a feminist, and I'm generally disappointed in how many people are susceptible to the allure of modern demagoguery. This article is about something else. It is a rebuttal to a misconception I have heard in the American media almost every day. How many times have we been told: "No one could have ever anticipated Trump's rise to prominence"? When the media try to explain the popularity of Mr. Trump, almost every interpretation can be boiled down to: "people are afraid and he's pandering to this xenophobia". Every time I hear this incredibly simplistic line of thought, I get incredibly frustrated. As a gamer I have been witnessing complete escalation of discourse similar to Trump's rhetoric for at least the last 5 years.The world of gaming has been embroiled in what is effectively a cultural war. With the popularisation of gaming, some mainstream developers took measures to cater the needs of minority customers. Furthermore, certain advocacy groups started to criticize some of the more popular gaming franchises for excluding minority groups or completely ignoring certain themes. This in turn led to the creation of a counter-culture that has argued for the preservation of the old ways of game development, complete depoliticization of video games and better ethics in game journalism. Whichever side you're on in this conflict, you know full well that it has caused a huge divide in the world of gaming. It's been almost 2 years since the peak of this widespread debate and many communities are still divided along these political lines.
In my opinion ,this is where Trump's political appeal has been grossly underestimated. Trump is the essence of a similar counter-culture that was created in response to the progressive tone of Obama's presidency. All of Trump's principle are geared towards being the antidote to the social changes achieved under Obama. The billionaire is an embodiment of the doubts a large portion of Americans have about the move towards minority politics and social justice. This sentiment in its core is eerily similar to the gaming counter culture we talked about. Uncertainty about social change is nothing new and we as gamers were dealing with it years before Trump was even a thing.
This is why I'm pretty sure Trump will be the next US President. Liberals arrogantly assume that the millennials will show overwhelming support for Hillary. Polling numbers that show Hillary to be in the lead are likely to be skewed. Voting for Trump is somewhat of a shameful act in many liberal families in the US. When push comes to shove, however, a large portion of this "traditional" Democrat demographic might quietly support Donald Trump. And all that's left to us liberal gamers is a grim satisfaction in seeing the Trump presidency long before anyone else even dreamed of it.P.S.: I'm not an American citizen and I don't even live in the US. However, my stake in the elections is almost as big as anyone else's. We live in a globalized world and the ramifications of a Trump presidency are likely to affect me in the same way you will be affected.
Well.. Interesting. However I think you've excluded the biggest influence in probable Trumps failure, minorities. As I may only assume, which is exactly what you've done, some percentage of minorities, which is partially liberal, will not, by any means necessary, vote for Trump. Reason is quite guileless, they despise his believes, they are infuriated by his gawky and unimaginably imprudent rhetorics. In my humble opinion if gamers are willing to support this abnormality they may as well take an arrow to the knee, or preferably head, because they're not using what's inside of it anyways.
ReplyDelete