State lawmaker wants tax on violent video games

[a-dev]

Nah you could see how it would easily get there.

 

[Duck]

You're kidding aren't you? The first paragraph of the first article link you posted is this:

A Republican lawmaker from rural Missouri bucked her party's anti-tax bent on Tuesday and called for a sales tax on violent video games in response to a deadly Connecticut school shooting.

This discussion up until the last page or so was about Taxing on the video games. NOT the gun law. The article had nothing to do about whether to ban guns or not.

Ok this In Missouri, We Won't Follow Obama's Gun Laws

[/QUOTE] I actually forgot I posted. My initial post didn't have that article in it.

 

[Lejuan]

This discussion up until the last page or so was about Taxing on the video games. NOT the gun law. The article had nothing to do about whether to ban guns or not.

True... but it's kind of like going to a Victoria's Secret show and wanting to then have a discussion about the lingerie.

 

[Duck]

True... but it's kind of like going to a Victoria's Secret show and wanting to then have a discussion about the lingerie.

But we all know what happens to any topic that starts to talk about gun laws. You would think people wouldn't derail the topic

 

[Lejuan]

But we all know what happens to any topic that starts to talk about gun laws. You would think people wouldn't derail the topic

Yep. It's a pity politics in general can't be discussed without it over-boiling.

 

[karamazov80]

In b4 the lock. Seriously why did this discussion have to go to gun talk? This started off with NOTHING to do with that.

It's the rationale for the legislator wanting to impose this tax--the implication that violent video games lead to mass shootings.

I'll say this--there is a well known social psychological experiment that shows children who observe other children exhibiting violent behavior will themselves exhibit violent behavior. Violent cultures that we see in various parts of the world (including here in the U.S.) are not intrinsically more violent than others, but are more violent because they are taught to be more violent somehow.

But are videogames causing mass shootings? Did Elvis and Twisted Sister cause kids to turn toward Satan? I just can't see it. Correlation don't = causation in this case. Like Lejuan is saying, problems at home (including neglectful parents and/or abuse), mental instability, and isolation/a lack of social interaction are the most likely prime suspects. All of it being affected very strongly by the social, economic, and political context. You take away video games but still have all that ****, we'll have the same kinds of issues driving people to want to do bad things. Videogames are no more to blame than guns are. That whole line of thinking gives us an easy answer and lets us pass the buck over to some easy to understand boogie man. So of course, that's where we go for answers.

 

[Duck]

It's the rationale for the legislator wanting to impose this tax--the implication that violent video games lead to mass shootings.

I'll say this--there is a well known social psychological experiment that shows children who observe other children exhibiting violent behavior will themselves exhibit violent behavior. Violent cultures that we see in various parts of the world (including here in the U.S.) are not intrinsically more violent than others, but are more violent because they are taught to be more violent somehow.

But are videogames causing mass shootings? Did Elvis and Twisted Sister cause kids to turn toward Satan? I just can't see it. Correlation don't = causation in this case. Like Lejuan is saying, problems at home (including neglectful parents and/or abuse), mental instability, and isolation/a lack of social interaction are the most likely prime suspects. All of it being affected very strongly by the social, economic, and political context. You take away video games but still have all that ****, we'll have the same kinds of issues driving people to want to do bad things. Videogames are no more to blame than guns are. That whole line of thinking gives us an easy answer and lets us pass the buck over to some easy to understand boogie man. So of course, that's where we go for answers.

That's the problem. Everyone is using other forms of media to blame instead of truly looking into their past to see what went wrong. Were the parents always their for them when they needed them? Something happen in their past that screwed them up? Their are so many factors in these kinds of cases that one thing can not be to blame. It's like they want to blame the quickest thing they can find with out really researching and it is usually music or video games that are the ones to be blamed.

 

[karamazov80]

Those things are easy targets. And sure, a shooter may have played a violent game, that gave him an idea of how to kill in a spectacular way. And he may use some kind of assault rifle that only really makes sense on the battlefield somewhere as it allows him to kill lots of people in a short amount of time. But those aren't the real causal factors.

 

[BadMoon]

I blame the people that voted for said law makers and he who shall not be named. I blame them for just about everything wrong with Merica today and going forward until new leadership is established. The people have voted and this is the consequence. It's that simple.

 

[Boba Ben]

I jumped on many turtles after playing Super Mario Bros as a kid.

 

[CelticPredator]

Ahem, actually is a correlation between violent video games, television and movies. There have been many studies that prove that children who are exposed to violent images are more likely to have aggressive behavior.
Being on the front lines, I can tell you from personal experience that there is a correlation.

You're wrong.

 

[The Ween]

https://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/state-lawmaker-wants-tax-violent-video-games-1B7986403 Thanks for making MO look bad
Seriously what is next? This has to be the stupidest idea I have heard. They are basically wanting to tax video games just like they did with cigarettes to discourage us from buying them. T-AO games would be under this. Do they not realize not all T-AO games are rated because of violence? Just like it says in the article even Guitar Hero would be considered "violent" because it is rated T. Absolute BS imo. What do you all think? It wont go through, but it is still annoying that they are still blaming violent video games for mass murders.


Speaking of MO just came across this article

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-turner/in-missouri-we-wont-follo_b_2486135.html I'm guessing Federal funding is going to be quickly stopped

The video game thing is ridiculous and the part where they think state law can trump federal law......

It's just blowhards doing just that......blowing hard.

 

[CriterionCollector]

You're wrong.

I used to believe that there was no correlation myself, but there are plenty of peer reviewed articles on the subject that say otherwise.
Sorry to burst your bubble there, Celtic, but it is indeed fact that violent images have an effect on behavior and aggression.

 

[smc100]

This! I can't believe no one has mentioned this before you. Comics and novels can be absolutely gruesome at times yet you don't see ANY media blaming books. I bet if they went back and looked at these peoples reading history I guarantee they had read a violent book of some sort in their life time. So if a video game makes people violent why can't books? Is thier even a rating on books besides comics? I don't read many novels so I'm not really sure how that works. I've never been carded for a book

Because we have been there before in Congress and this is why we have rating systems in place now. If parents do not care to keep an eye on what their children are doing then that is on them. I do not think it is fair for me to pay a tax on something that does not affect me and has not been proven in over 50 years.

Fredric Wertham (March 20, 1895 – November 18, 1981) was a German-born American psychiatrist and crusading author who protested the purportedly harmful effects of violent imagery in mass media and comic books on the development of children. His best-known book was Seduction of the Innocent (1954), which purported that comic books are dangerous to children. Wertham's criticisms of comic books helped spark a U.S. Congressional inquiry into the comic book industry and the creation of the Comics Code. He called television "a school for violence," and said "If I should meet an unruly youngster in a dark alley, I prefer it to be one who has not seen Bonnie and Clyde."

 

[CriterionCollector]

You're wrong.

Here's a decent peer reviewed article:

https://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/videogames1.pdf

 

[Duck]

Because we have been there before in Congress and this is why we have rating systems in place now.

But that was a long time ago. Why don't they ever bring that stuff up now? Its all video games movies and music. They all have some sort of rating system as well yet they still get blamed.

 

[The Ween]

I blame the people that voted for said law makers and he who shall not be named. I blame them for just about everything wrong with Merica today and going forward until new leadership is established. The people have voted and this is the consequence. It's that simple.

Until Congress and the Senate gets completely cleaned out and half the governors of this nation, we'll be no better off than we are now. MO is a prime example.

 

[The Chaver]

So now do you see the hidden meaning behind the laws that are being passed by these tragic events? Take your high powered weapons away from you because of children getting killed and that's alright with the majority (so it seems) but as soon as they come after your video games, your not having that.

Soon everyone would be wanting those high powered weapons back they so gladly gave up.

I'm not a conspiracy nut. Something just doesn't add up with all of this that's going on.

 

[BadMoon]

Until Congress and the Senate gets completely cleaned out and half the governors of this nation, we'll be no better off than we are now. MO is a prime example.

We need less government involvement. Period. Until people learn to better themselves without handouts and worry about taking care of their own children we are in trouble. Our government today is breeding and nurturing a lazy society that can't take care of themselves. It's what they want. They want to impose their will. This is just another fine example.

 

[CriterionCollector]

We need less government involvement. Period. Until people learn to better themselves without handouts and worry about taking care of their own children we are in trouble. Our government today is breeding and nurturing a lazy society that can't take care of themselves. It's what they want. They want to impose their will. This is just another fine example.

I think you're on the wrong forum. World Net Daily and Alex Jones are that a way.