The Self-Absorbed Moral Judgments from Some Western Liberals

[Alien826]

This game came out just as I was finishing one and looking around for another. I searched on 'Hogwarts Legacy reviews" and got a long list. Most gave the game 7 or 8 (out of 10), but one stood out. It gave 1 out of 10. Curious, I read the review. It was by a trans person who was trying to persuade me not to buy the game because of JK Rowling's anti trans remarks. My reaction? I guess she was entitled to her opinion of Rowling, but why lie about the game? If all these other reviewers like it, it can't really merit 1 point, can it?

Anyway I bought the game. So far I've enjoyed it a lot, and an 8 or 9 rating seems fair. I can't say that my decision to buy it was not influenced by this reviewer, to the result she was trying to avoid. Though I would probably have bought it anyway, and here's why.

- The Harry Potter books and to a lesser extent the movies stand out as one of the great accomplishments of 20th century literature (IMO of course). That is not affected in any way by Rowling's opinions about trans people. Incidentally, I read them (the opinions) and didn't think they were so bad. Interestingly all the leading actors that were in the movies hastened to voice their support for trans people. I guess if a mob is howling at your door it's best to quickly agree with them.

- Sometimes it is necessary to separate the product from the author. Wagner wrote some amazing music. It's still amazing, despite his nazi like opinions.

- If you boycott the game you also boycott all the people who have worked on it for the last four years. Plus a lot of other people unconnected to Rowling.

- I don't like people telling me what I should or shouldn't do. I'm funny that way.

For the record I think trans people should be left alone to be whatever they want to be. I feel the same way about everyone else.

And ... on one of the reports posted here someone was riding a broom at high speed. My broom is quite slow. I think I need to get some upgrades.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

It's getting harder for me to call myself a liberal anymore. I often feel like I have no where to hang my hat (politically). Many on "my side" are becoming an embarrassment and part of the problem. I'll still hang on. I'm really voting against something I deem worse. Not all is lost over here. Unfortunately, it makes me seem like I'm voting for something when I am not. American politics have become pathetic. That being said, I am getting tired of the gaming industry in general.

*sidles up in a completely non-creepy way...*

Hey...I heard you're looking for a fix of rational debate and consideration of issues. Support this political party....

*hands over a business card which is completely blank*

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

More seriously, I hear ya. I've had to go out of my way to try and find media sources which are either relatively unbiased, or explicitly identify their own bias and give air to alternative viewpoints. That's helped for sure.
Apart from that, I just try to take a position on each issue independently. That still leaves me aligned with the left more often than not, and still probably identifies me as a progressive, by and large. But I think of myself as a centrist, or some other similar tag. Classic liberal works to some degree (as @icehorse mentioned) but I'm not an ardent libertarian, and I think the two are increasingly conflated.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

As always, not condoning buying the video game is not condoning bullying/threatening people who do.

I did read the rest of your post too, but this point really resonated. By all means argue on the issue. Call for a boycott if you want, or vote with your feet/wallet.
Making assumptions about people who remained unconvinced on your arguments, and seeing them in the worst possible light just because they don't completely align is what I have trouble with.
(to be clear, I mean 'your' in the general sense, not at all about you personally)

Good job on articulating that so simply.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Yep. I am centrist and registered as no party affiliation. Unfortunately, FL is a closed primary state, so the extremists of both parties will be choosing my candidates for me. Crap!

The American system seems so hostile to varied, centrist positions sometimes.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

In general, usual caveats etc etc

Problematising people and things gains social credit, the bigger the person or thing the more the social credit.

Performative outrage is part of the social economy of signalling that you are A Very Good Tribe Member.

JKR is a Very Bad Person because enough people said she is so it must be true. Gain points by howling in outrage, contribute to your sense that you are a Very Good Person.

Jumping on the latest bandwagon is low cost signalling, but runs into problems when people face actual costs.

Dilemma: gain social credit by performative boycott or play the game you really want to play. Hmm…

No one gives up their iPhones to protest labour practices as it’s too costly, and unless there is a bandwagon to jump on there is not enough social credit gained from participating in less popular boycotts.

Slacktivism requires a sweet spot of popularity and minimal cost.

When people face actual costs, attitudes can change very quickly. Hence the (quite humorous) scrambling to justify why it’s actually ok to play the game while still being a Very Good Person who hates the correct target.

Fun with cognitive dissonance - episode 45286

I got a good chuckle out of this. Understanding cognitive dissonance is important if you're not just going to look at the world and think it's madness. I mean, it is, but there are some explanations in amongst it all.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Fantastic OP !!

Borrowing from Bill Maher, I consider myself to be a "classic liberal", and I think the far-left or alt-left or radical-left (I'd be happy to learn the correct term), has cobbled together an incoherent and damaging collection of ideas and judgments.

For sure, I've grown almost knee-jerk suspicious of identity politics.

I'm slowly getting through to my 14-year old daughter on the same, which is quite the achievement, I think. Her generation are awesome in some ways and completely tying themselves in knots in other ways, with identity such an obvious example. Surely teens should be given room to be 'confused', 'different on different days' or otherwise 'not really fitting into one of those 800 boxes you're suggesting everyone fits in'.

 

[Viker]

The American system seems so hostile to varied, centrist positions sometimes.

Both sides claim it's "fence sitting". I'm sorry, there are no fences in an open battlefield...just holes and corpses to safely navigate around with the volleys.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Both sides claim it's "fence sitting". I'm sorry, there are no fences in an open battlefield...just holes and corpses to safely navigate around with the volleys.

I tend to separate the systems from the people, though.
We get the same sort of rhetoric here, to a degree. But with the way our political system works, it's entirely possible for a third party, or an independent to run in an electorate without unduly harming the mainstream candidates (assuming they are unable to actually get elected).

To explain (and ignore this if you understand the preferential system we have)...

In an electorate, there might be a left and a right candidate. The seat leans left, so let's say the left candidate gets 60% of the vote. It's a safe seat, they get a bit lazy, or a bit extreme in their position on some things. A moderate left candidate enters the election for the next election cycle.

In your system, the issue is that the new moderate left candidate is effectively taking votes from the standing left candidate, opening the door for the right candidate. You might end up with 40% of the vote going to the left candidate, 20% to the new moderate left, and 40% going to the right.

In our system, people put preferences above and beyond their initial vote. So I could vote for the moderate, then list the left candidate as my next preference. The end result of that (if everyone voting for the moderate did the same) would be the left candidate getting in just as easily as in the first election.

Whilst that might sound bad (like...that candidate was getting lazy and extreme, why do we want them back?) the overall impact is to encourage more varied candidates, and to encourage voters to vote outside the mainstream parties more often, without actually risking the 'other side' taking advantage of that to gain power.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

The American system seems so hostile to varied, centrist positions sometimes.

Tbh I'm critical of many "centrist" positions because they're not actually centrist. They're just right leaning positions that are disguised as centrist because nobody here knows what an overton window is.

Other times because the centrist position is employing an appeal to middles, which is often very shortsighted. Like the best option between the 'extremes' of ten arsenic pills and zero arsenic pills isn't five arsenic pills.

I put extremes in quotes because things which are not extreme are labeled extreme all the time here. Like a private institution refusing to platform a literal nazi or nationalized healthcare. Framing these things as extreme makes it less appealing to centrist goals

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Tbh I'm critical of many "centrist" positions because they're not actually centrist. They're just right leaning positions that are disguised as centrist because nobody here knows what an overton window is.

Other times because the centrist position is employing an appeal to middles, which is often very shortsighted. Like the best option between the 'extremes' of ten arsenic pills and zero arsenic pills isn't five arsenic pills.

I put extremes in quotes because things which are not extreme are labeled extreme all the time here. Like a private institution refusing to platform a literal nazi or nationalized healthcare. Framing these things as extreme makes it less appealing to centrist goals

To keep it simple, then, you'd refer to me in a different way. Independent, maybe. A political eclectic?

The vast majority of my positions on individual issues I would be seen as aligning 'left' by American standards. I just reserve the right to consider the issues on a case by case basis (and invest a lot of time in trying to do so).
I'd thoroughly reject the type of centrism that thinks both sides are equal, and we can find a happy medium.

I also probably have more issues with the extreme left than some on the left do. I think they're destructive of sensible and nuanced left positions. But often when speaking against them, people want to assume you're 'right'. It happens everywhere to a degree, but Americans are the grand champions of polarisation, I think (in liberal democracies).

 

[lewisnotmiller]

@ADigitalArtist

At the risk of putting myself in a box I don't really belong in, The Assumptions, Analysis, General Policies and Strategy outlined here are at least close enough to my thoughts to hopefully paint some sort of picture.
Radical centrism - Wikipedia

Most people, including myself, would put me in the progressives basket. If you can tie progressive, evidence-based policy with fiscal sustainability, you're halfway there.

 

[Stevicus]

I have long been of the opinion that much of Western liberalism is mired in inconsistency, selective outrage, self-absorption, and style over substance.

I agree completely. I've noticed this for well over the past 30 years. When I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, I quickly took to the basic ideals of liberalism and "fighting the good fight," as they would call it. But back then, it just seemed more real and genuine, whereas now, it seems corporatized and sanitized, which is why it might come across as inconsistent, selective, and focused more on style over substance.

 

[SomeRandom]

Speaking only for myself, I'm having a blast. The game is letting me live out how I see myself, and I personally want to see the Wizarding World outlive the old bag. I want to see more games like this that push the boundaries of what was written and change it toward the better, as has been done for IP's like Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of the Rings.

Rowling is still a piece of ****, but to be frank the franchise is too big to fail at this point (and personally, I don't want it to fail, but be better). Energy is thus far better spent battling Rowling's actions at the polls and voting for people who don't stand for her hate.

Oh I absolutely agree with you. I’m just done with the franchise because it’s too mentally taxing. For me it’s just become too tainted to truly enjoy it anymore.

Besides there’s some upcoming wizarding games I can go for if I want my magic fix.

I hope you continue having a great time with the game.
I’m eagerly awaiting Arkham Knights
(Praying to the gaming gods that it’s not awful lol)

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

I've heard mixed things about Arkham Knights, mostly things that could be changed with a few patches. But overall it looks very fun as well. Next on my list though is Diablo IV; my wife and I are very excited for that!

 

[icehorse]

Tbh I'm critical of many "centrist" positions because they're not actually centrist. They're just right leaning positions that are disguised as centrist because nobody here knows what an overton window is.

Wow! That's condescending! It's also often wrong, on several counts.

But you go! Fly your dogmatic flag proudly!

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Brief interjection; The Great Hall gets decorated for the holidays. Right now is Halloween!

 

[Shadow Wolf]

If all these other reviewers like it, it can't really merit 1 point, can it?

Because it's the internet and damn near everyone on it thinks their opinion is equally better than everybody else's and where my feelings reign supreme over everybody else.

Wagner wrote some amazing music. It's still amazing, despite his nazi like opinions.

Yup. He made some winderful music, but he was anti-semetic/pro-Teuton as many other Germans of his time, and he was basically a proto-Nazi. But his music is amazing despite that.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Wow! That's condescending! It's also often wrong, on several counts.

But you go! Fly your dogmatic flag proudly!

She's not alone.

First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality.

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Next on my list though is Diablo IV; my wife and I are very excited for that!

I wish I could be, but 3 I think sucks so bad it killed the hope I had for any future titles in the series. I love 1 and 2, still play them both, but 3 was a disgrace.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

I wish I could be, but 3 I think sucks so bad it killed the hope I had for any future titles in the series. I love 1 and 2, still play them both, but 3 was a disgrace.

From what I've seen IV looks to return to a formula closer to Diablo II. I just hope that they update the damn inventory system.