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[excelsiorlef]

So how do begin to counter this trend? A Ted Talk seminar, or something along the lines of what happened at last year's E3. where you had speakers wearing rainbow lapels in solidarity to the victims at the Pulse nightclub? How do those who want to stem this tide go about exacting that "have you no decency moment" that will shock the collective population into taking more notice?

I paid little to Gamergate and the blowout that followed until I began reading about it here on this and other threads. It's par for the course that people can be assholes in multiplay, but how does one realistically address the issue wholesale without alienating the a great chunk of their demographic?

Watching enthusiastic E3 crowds now takes on a whole new dimension in retrospect.

Developers should have spoken out in blunt and strong fashion even if it meant risking profits, Game media should have done the same, it was all conjecture, bullshit, sexism and harassment and should have been treated as such from day fucking one.

 

[HeelPower]

This goes to show that even people like Milo can be forced to reconsider their positions when they face unanimous condemnation for their words.

I have never seen him apologetic like that.

 

[benjipwns]

I honestly don't think many of them are really nazis at all. I should have included this in my original post, a phrase I saw on Twitter that I think applies to more of the rank and file than you'd expect is nihilistic self loathing.

Ve don't care. Ve still vant ze money, Lebowski, or ve fuck you ups.

 

[rec0ded1]

Kinda surprised you guys love that Laurie Penny piece so much. Her attempts at "humanizing" the alt-right and Milo over several articles veer a little too close to the usual white boy apologia afforded to young middle class pricks whenever they engage in obvious evil.

I feel you, I thought the same as I read it but felt she acknowledged how these guys are privileged af and caught herself at the end by saying basically fuck these guys.

 

[Oersted]

His New Rules segments are consistently great, including the one he did Friday. I have issues with the way he discusses religion, but Maher was a voice of sanity for me all last year. So yes, he did have some credibility with me at least before that appalling display Friday.

You should look up Mahers comments on women

 

[aliengmr]

So how do begin to counter this trend? A Ted Talk seminar, or something along the lines of what happened at last year's E3. where you had speakers wearing rainbow lapels in solidarity to the victims at the Pulse nightclub? How do those who want to stem this tide go about exacting that "have you no decency moment" that will shock the collective population into taking more notice?

I paid little to Gamergate and the blowout that followed until I began reading about it here on this and other threads. It's par for the course that people can be assholes in multiplay, but how does one realistically address the issue wholesale without alienating the a great chunk of their demographic?

Watching enthusiastic E3 crowds now takes on a whole new dimension in retrospect.

Considering none of them would stop buying games, no one is going to be alienated. The games industry isn't going to lose the people that have built their entire existence around games, to the point that they fundamentally lack real world understanding.

What are they going to do? Take their ball and go home? Fuck no, they'll be right there buying the next big release.

The way to counter this trend was to step up at the height of Gamergate and say "This is not okay." A few stood up, but mostly it was ignored. There was a time right when shit was blowing up that a great many would have listened.

In the end though, all the bullshit they thought they were fighting ended up happening and most probably didn't even notice. Diversity got in anyway. Mass media today is much different than it was when I was growing up.

People grow and change, it's a part of life. Some might change early, some might later, some not at all. What I do know is the media we consume does impact our worldview and kids today are seeing a much more diverse society than I did in the 80's. The issues aren't resolved and won't be for many years, but these GG chuckle nuts probably helped more than they hurt when it comes to media and video games. They're assholes and they yell and scream a lot but there is a new generation on the way. Beat them by playing the long game.

On the political side the alt-right situation is a bit more complex than GG.

EDIT: I should note that the harassment never stopped, but the industry could have helped by speaking up.

 

[firehawk12]

Great article by Bill Maher.

dead.gif

 

[Dash_Riprock]

Kinda surprised you guys love that Laurie Penny piece so much. Her attempts at "humanizing" the alt-right and Milo over several articles veer a little too close to the usual white boy apologia afforded to young middle class pricks whenever they engage in obvious evil.

She "humanizes" them, yes, but never once in her article does she try to excuse their behavior. If anything, she paints them as even bigger morons for blindly following a man who will say or do ANYTHING just to stay in the limelight.

 

[crackhead_bob]

Considering none of them would stop buying games, no one is going to be alienated. The games industry isn't going to lose the people that have built their entire existence around games, to the point that they fundamentally lack real world understanding.

What are they going to do? Take their ball and go home? Fuck no, they'll be right there buying the next big release.

The way to counter this trend was to step up at the height of Gamergate and say "This is not okay." A few stood up, but mostly it was ignored. There was a time right when shit was blowing up that a great many would have listened.

In the end though, all the bullshit they thought they were fighting ended up happening and most probably didn't even notice. Diversity got in anyway. Mass media today is much different than it was when I was growing up.

People grow and change, it's a part of life. Some might change early, some might later, some not at all. What I do know is the media we consume does impact our worldview and kids today are seeing a much more diverse society than I did in the 80's. The issues aren't resolved and won't be for many years, but these GG chuckle nuts probably helped more than they hurt when it comes to media and video games. They're assholes and they yell and scream a lot but there is a new generation on the way. Beat them by playing the long game.

On the political side the alt-right situation is a bit more complex than GG.

I read the article links on this thread and found them to be good reads. Most of these guys seem to be disaffected youths who came of age during the internet age. Most of them have a proverbial chip on their shoulders and has taken to levying blame on women and minorities.

That probably applies to many of us here at Neogaf. And alot of us probably grew on coarse and ribald material and musings as well, but we didn't go all proto-fascism either. I'm learning more as I go along, but there are still those moments where I have a hard time making sense of this.

Gamergate types railed against feminism because they accused them of trying to undermine their hobby. I came of age during Joe Lieberman and Jack Thompson trying to rein in on the video game industry, and I remember after Columbine, you had craven politician after craven politician tripping over themselves to show their street cred to those who wanted the government to step in. These people have no historical awareness whatsoever, and then it turns out that alot of these dicks are 18 years old.

I had no idea that Milo was directly tied into this movement. Will these recent developments help turn that tide in the long run on its own, or will there need to be a proactive approach from our side if we hope to suffocate this cancer he's help create?

EDIT: I should note that the harassment never stopped, but the industry could have helped by speaking up.

Could the election of Donald Trump prompt the industry into taking a long, hard look, now that the controversy surrounding Milo has elevated the profile of gamergate? I'm hoping for a moment akin to the film Trumbo, where the titular character begins to right the course by screenwriting Roman Holiday, and later, Spartacus, alongside Kirk Douglas.

 

[benjipwns]

I came of age during Joe Lieberman and Jack Thompson trying to rein in on the video game industry, and I remember after Columbine, you had craven politician after craven politician tripping over themselves to show their street cred to those who wanted the government to step in

Enough with the Hillary bashing already! The election is over!

 

[NiiloPielinen]

Can you use this to put heat on Bannon or even Trump? Didn't Trump just defend this guy over that university thing?

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Kinda surprised you guys love that Laurie Penny piece so much. Her attempts at "humanizing" the alt-right and Milo over several articles veer a little too close to the usual white boy apologia afforded to young middle class pricks whenever they engage in obvious evil.

She went into how these people got to become who they are and did so using somewhat detached descriptions,so I can see how that could feel like apologism tonal-wise. However, what she wrote is absolutely scathing and ultimately she basically said "they may have their own circumstances but I have zero fucks to give so to hell with them" in nicer language.

Also, reading a well-written depiction of people reaping what they sow is really satisfying so that's a plus.

 

[crackhead_bob]

Enough with the Hillary bashing already! The election is over!

How is that bashing Hillary? She never made violent video games into a personal crusade. I was pointing to the irony of those at gamergate, who are clueless on the past as it relates to the hobby they claim to defend. They've gone after the wrong players.

 

[benjipwns]

How is that bashing Hillary? She never made violent video games into a personal crusade.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Entertainment_Protection_Act
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1udjd2Aq3E

but it was a joke

and Dalton Trumbo was an actual person

 

[Mr. Giggles]

Since this is the most recent Yiannopoulos thread, I'll post this article here. Interesting read.

On the Milo Bus With the Lost Boys of America’s New Right

That was a good read.

 

[crackhead_bob]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Entertainment_Protection_Act
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1udjd2Aq3E

but it was a joke

and Dalton Trumbo was an actual person

I know he was a real person. I used real life people as a frame of reference, hoping to find a positive light in all of this. Maybe I should have used Joseph Welch instead.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Since this is the most recent Yiannopoulos thread, I'll post this article here. Interesting read.

On the Milo Bus With the Lost Boys of America’s New Right

Laurie Penny is a cracking writer and this article is pretty much spot on. It deserves everyone's attention.

 

[hidys]

Since this is the most recent Yiannopoulos thread, I'll post this article here. Interesting read.

On the Milo Bus With the Lost Boys of America’s New Right

The best essay on the alt-right I've read.

 

[Billy_Pilgrim]

Laurie Penny is a cracking writer and this article is pretty much spot on. It deserves everyone's attention.

She's insufferable. Not as bad as Milo obviously, but a terrible human none the less.

 

[excelsiorlef]

She's insufferable. Not as bad as Milo obviously, but a terrible human none the less.

Why is she a terrible human?

That's a pretty extreme accusation.

 

[Billy_Pilgrim]

Why is she a terrible human?

That's a pretty extreme accusation.

Child of immense privilege who lies, makes false accusations, smears respected academics and writes clickbait trash.

Her whole 'I'm not milo's friend, I just spend weeks at a time with him and he's really charming and lovely but he's not my friend' shtick is typical of her.

 

[Vincent Grayson]

Kinda surprised you guys love that Laurie Penny piece so much. Her attempts at "humanizing" the alt-right and Milo over several articles veer a little too close to the usual white boy apologia afforded to young middle class pricks whenever they engage in obvious evil.

I can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm always interested in a closer look at any group, good or bad, when it gets close enough to understand the humanity there, and why they are the way they are.

One need not excuse their madness just because one wants to understand it.

 

[klonere]

Kinda surprised you guys love that Laurie Penny piece so much. Her attempts at "humanizing" the alt-right and Milo over several articles veer a little too close to the usual white boy apologia afforded to young middle class pricks whenever they engage in obvious evil.

I dunno all her articles did for me was revealing how totally abhorrent and fucked up these people are. The one she did during the middle of the Presidential election horrified me to think that these people could end up controlling the USA.

 

[Oersted]

Kinda surprised you guys love that Laurie Penny piece so much. Her attempts at "humanizing" the alt-right and Milo over several articles veer a little too close to the usual white boy apologia afforded to young middle class pricks whenever they engage in obvious evil.

They are humans. Humans are capable of horrendous shit.

 

[airmangataosenai]

Awesome article. So how do you stop the rise of this shit? If we survive this wave another major wave will be here in 5 to 10 years that will be more savvy having learned from past failings.

Rational discourse did shit to take down Milo, so do we have to depend on shitheads smacking each other down when they go to far in their own bubbles? Being inclusive and coddling them is out of the question because aint nobody got time for that.

More and more I'm concluding that something awful has to happen in order to reset morality and have humans learn once again the dangers of bigotry, racism, misogyny, etc.

I would argue rational discourse was never attempted with him until Maher. Before then almost all interaction with him was either banning or protesting him which did nothing but build his profile. Maher treated him like he does Coulter giving him TV time which has the effect of both giving him the attention he craves while also undermining his main claim to victimhood. I hope tge left learns the right lessons from this but I know they will not. Conservative bomb throwers live and die on liberals banning them from venues.

 

[excelsiorlef]

I would argue rational discourse was never attempted with him until Maher. Before then almost all interaction with him was either banning or protesting him which did nothing but build his profile. Maher treated him like he does Coulter giving him TV time which has the effect of both giving him the attention he craves while also undermining his main claim to victimhood. I hope tge left learns the right lessons from this but I know they will not. Conservative bomb throwers live and die on liberals banning them from venues.

Ummmm..... the outcome of the Maher interview was the NYT saying Maher and Milo find common ground.... Had this shit not come out thanks to Reganites Milo would have been more normalized and protected than ever...

Maher also called Milo's anti-trans bigotry reasonable.

 

[Slayven]

I would argue rational discourse was never attempted with him until Maher. Before then almost all interaction with him was either banning or protesting him which did nothing but build his profile. Maher treated him like he does Coulter giving him TV time which has the effect of both giving him the attention he craves while also undermining his main claim to victimhood. I hope tge left learns the right lessons from this but I know they will not. Conservative bomb throwers live and die on liberals banning them from venues.

Milo talks about abusing children but still those damn liberals

 

[Screaming Meat]

Child of immense privilege who lies, makes false accusations, smears respected academics and writes clickbait trash.

Link me up.

Her whole 'I'm not milo's friend, I just spend weeks at a time with him and he's really charming and lovely but he's not my friend' shtick is typical of her.

That article didn't say anything about him being "charming and lovely", though it stands to reason that he'd have to have at least a modicum of charisma to have built his little cult of personality in the first place.

 

[Billy_Pilgrim]

Link me up.



That article didn't say anything about him being "charming and lovely", though it stands to reason that he'd have to have at least a modicum of charisma to have built his little cult of personality in the first place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj9dA6E3fJw

 

[Gattsu25]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj9dA6E3fJw

Jesus FUCK at the other video on that channel:

 

[MUnited83]

I would argue rational discourse was never attempted with him until Maher. Before then almost all interaction with him was either banning or protesting him which did nothing but build his profile. Maher treated him like he does Coulter giving him TV time which has the effect of both giving him the attention he craves while also undermining his main claim to victimhood. I hope tge left learns the right lessons from this but I know they will not. Conservative bomb throwers live and die on liberals banning them from venues.

The only reason all this even happened was because of the Berkeley protests. If anything, it just means that protesting these fuckwits is the right course of action. Without those protests, Milo would still have his book deal and would still be employed at Breitbart.

 

[Gattsu25]

I would argue rational discourse was never attempted with him until Maher. Before then almost all interaction with him was either banning or protesting him which did nothing but build his profile. Maher treated him like he does Coulter giving him TV time which has the effect of both giving him the attention he craves while also undermining his main claim to victimhood. I hope tge left learns the right lessons from this but I know they will not. Conservative bomb throwers live and die on liberals banning them from venues.

Bill Maher did nothing. Conservatives took him down because they didn't want him extended a platform to speak at CPAC.

And before the protests he was loudly (in far right circles, quietly elsewhere) building up his profile at a fairly rapid pace. He became a name before any of the protests started because the old adage "Do Not Feed The Trolls" ignores that the troll's own community is feeding them constantly. They get constant reinforcement through their own communities: they will be well fed whether you choose to ignore them or not. The people who can't ignore them: their victims who are not just the target of harassment from these trolls but also from the thousands of people that are constantly giving the trolls their approval.

This is why GamerGate was so effective because people who thought that all you needed to do was Don't Feed the Trolls remained silent while specific individuals incurred repeated and sustained threats. Seeing their targets in distress without support only reinforced and reinvigorated them. Remaining silent is only playing into their hands. Extending them a platform or giving them legitimacy by treating them with kids gloves is only going to make them seem "normal".

 

[Dynasty]

Jesus FUCK at the other video on that channel:

That video was fucking amazing, before he became president as well.

 

[excelsiorlef]

The only reason all this even happened was because of the Berkeley protests. If anything, it just means that protesting these fuckwits is the right course of action. Without those protests, Milo would still have his book deal and would still be employed at Breitbart.

And might have caused harassment of minority students at Berkeley that Milo for being "suspected illegal immigrants" and such garbage.

 

[Fergie]

This was the best paragraph I read all day:





Fuck

Well, as Ron Burgundy once observed, that escalated quickly. In fact, a great deal seems to have escalated quickly for these profoundly weird young men. Most of them seem more than a little surprised that this has actually happened, that Trump is actually president. “I voted for him because I thought it was funny,” one of them tells me. “I don’t think that he can become a dictator like people say he can. We have too many checks and balances for that, and that’s why we have checks and balances. Right?” He picks at the label on his beer bottle.

https://youtu.be/rtt9daBt1RQ

Fuck indeed.

 

[Screaming Meat]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj9dA6E3fJw

I take it you mean the tax avoidance thing rather than the cries of bigotry?

 

[Killthee]

Bill Maher, Faulted for Booking Milo Yiannopoulos, Takes Credit for His Fall

Mr. Yiannopoulos’s collapse was set in motion Sunday when a conservative group called the Reagan Battalion resurfaced a 2016 interview in which he endorsed sexual relations with boys as young as 13. Mr. Yiannopoulos — known for a history of offensive remarks about Muslims, Jews, transgender people and other groups, and as a ringleader in a notorious incident of online harassment — lost a speaking slot at the Conservative Political Action Conference and a book deal with Simon & Schuster, and then said on Tuesday that he was resigning as a senior editor from Breitbart News.

........

NYT: Given all that has transpired since Friday’s show, how do you feel now about your decision to have Milo Yiannopoulos as a guest, and how those segments transpired?

Maher: Well, let’s recap. About a week ago, I went on Van Jones’s show, and somebody asked me about the booking. I hadn’t really gotten into the details of Milo yet. He was just getting on my radar. I said, specifically, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Then we had Milo on, despite the fact that many people said, “Oh, how dare you give a platform to this man.” What I think people saw was an emotionally needy Ann Coulter wannabe, trying to make a buck off of the left’s propensity for outrage. And by the end of the weekend, by dinnertime Monday, he’s dropped as a speaker at CPAC. Then he’s dropped by Breitbart, and his book deal falls through. As I say, sunlight is the best disinfectant. You’re welcome.

NYT: You think his appearance on “Real Time” helped lead to his downfall?

Maher: That’s what I was just saying. And by the way, I wasn’t trying to get him removed from society. I’m somebody who, many times, people have tried to make go away. They were successful that one time, for six months in 23 years, because that’s how long it was between the two shows [“Real Time” and “Politically Incorrect,” Mr. Maher’s previous talk show, which aired on Comedy Central and ABC]. It just rubs me the wrong way when somebody says, “I don’t like what this person is saying — he should go away.”

He's delusional.

 

[chaobreaker]

I read that Laurie Penny article and TIL Milo had a posse of teenagers? Really? What do they do beyond editing videos?

I kinda want to see their faces when those Berkeley protesters were knocking at their doors, though.

 

[Oersted]

He's delusional.

Fuck off where the sun ain't shining

Spoiler

Not you killthee lol

 

[Spiral Insanity]

I read that Laurie Penny article and TIL Milo had a posse of teenagers? Really? What do they do beyond editing videos?

I kinda want to see their faces when those Berkeley protesters were knocking at their doors, though.

Hired trolls

 

[Siegcram]

Maher can just fuck off into oblivion.

 

[Got]

He's delusional.

called it.

 

[Slayven]

He's delusional.

Who didn't see that coming. I am more distubred that they seem to do the barest research when booking people

I read that Laurie Penny article and TIL Milo had a posse of teenagers? Really? What do they do beyond editing videos?

I kinda want to see their faces when those Berkeley protesters were knocking at their doors, though.

It came out a while a go he has an army of interns that produce most of his content

 

[4 is a cutie]

He's delusional.

Thank you king Maher, champion of the liberals!

too bad that shrug gif will forever be on the internet, huh?

 

[Got]

Hopefully, someone goes on his show and challenges him directly. Affleck did it so I'm confident someone eventually will. His opening monologue will be insufferable this week. He'll fellate himself so much that he may actually cum in his own mouth.

 

[excelsiorlef]

He's delusional.

"It rubs me the wrong way when people say I don't like what you're saying you should go away".... about a guy how says nothing but hateful horrible shit...

Even when given a frankly lucky reprieve Bill Maher can't take 5 seconds to be introspective....

 

[Slayven]

"It rubs me the wrong way when people say I don't like what you're saying you should go away".... about a guy how says nothing but hateful horrible shit...

Even when given a frankly lucky reprieve Bill Maher can't take 5 seconds to be introspective....

That privilege

 

[excelsiorlef]

Also the irony of bragging, falsely, about how giving Milo his platform caused the awesome event of Milo losing another platform....

Like you can't have it both ways, you can't insist you needed to let him speak on your show and then celebrate that someone else cancelled his platform

That headline by the NYT though teeters on righteous sarcasm.

 

[Jackpot]

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. You're welcome.

What a total scumbag.

 

[harmonize]

from a a young, gay, alive Christopher Hitchens to an emotionally needy Ann Coulter wannabe in less than a week. quick turnaround maher you douche