Politicians & culture

I just delicious'd this, but it's making me irritable.

David Cameron - leader of the UK Conservative party - is another politician to announce that cutting back on violent art such as films, videogames and music is somehow a solution to society's criminal problem.

Conservatives are notorious for attacking socialised systems and pushing for the commercialisation and privatisation of social goods such as healthcare and education, so I find this attack on popular culture extremely galling: rather than tackle the causes of crime - lack of social funds and services, cutbacks in education, lack of love and care - they choose to blame mainstream culture for society's woes.

"We are never going to deal with crime unless we look at the broader context and say, 'Yes, tough laws, strong action on the police, but also action to strengthen our society'.

"And that includes, I think, video games and things like that where we do need to think of the context in which people are growing up."

I'm not the sort to jump on a soapbox and declare that violent media doesn't have an effect on people who play, view, read or listen to it, especially on underage kids: I have no data either way on that subject. But violent media is a form of expression, and there are high forms and low forms. Both should be consumed with care and consideration; the sort of care and consideration, in fact, that folks learn through education, healthcare, social care, and by having a available spectrum of metadata-enhanced but uncensored media and culture.

Comments

[Peter Payne]

As the leading publisher of "H" games from Japan, I agree with you ^_^

(http://www.jlist.com / http://www.jastusa.com)