World Peace Through Violent Video Games

Many thanks to Harper's magazine for having the good taste to print my letter to the editor. in Letters, Harper's November 2007 page 6. (Click to view it in a new window.) It's truly an honor to be printed in such a respectable magazine. The letter was in response to an interesting editorial (Flies in Amber, Harper's Sept. 2007 page 8) where Lewis H. Lapham made some great points about how war is celebrated only by childish idiots, how war itself is a tool of the moron. He mentioned that war as a method to resolve differences is out of date, everyone knows it doesn't work, etc. He concluded with a comparison of the way that modern arm chair generals view real people and real lives as nothing more important than a video game.

I couldn't agree more. Video games are a great place to store aggression, and if only the world "leaders" were like aged gamers like myself: willing to send pretend armies into battle, but not real ones, the world would be a better place.

So in keeping with this week's pro-video game theme, I'm bringing back an old blog entry that is actually new to this blog, since the entry was lost during software shenanigans.

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I have had many teachers in my life, and I've learned from many sources. I think author James Baldwin was the one who said something like this: being a writer is being able to squeeze every bit out of an experience. I would add that being able to squeeze everything out of experience is to be fully alive. Two people can have the same experience and yet one can be shallow and move on, and one can learn a lifetime's lessons from it. This is why I believe there are some people who are world-travelers yet they are completely shallow, and other people who have never left their hometowns are wise to the world.

For me, I extract a lot from video games. Yes, video games. They are a wonderful educational experience for me, and now that they have progressed to the age of the internet, where you can recognize names, make friends and talk with those you like and dislike, they've become even more instructive.

As with any competition of any sort, I extract several lessons from games: the value of determination, the value of teamwork, the value of practice. These are values I carry with me everywhere.

Waaaaah! But video games are so violent!

I remember reading (it may have been Gandhi) who advised keeping an anger journal, wherein you would write all your violent thoughts to release the tension from your being. This practice enables you to be a kind person in real life, where it matters. I believe video games are an update to the anger journal.

In my fantasy world of Halo (different software can track the statistics) I've killed over 26,000 people. In other words, I'm on my way to killing about as many fake people as George Bush and his war-profiteering cartel have killed real Iraqi civilians. I'm right up there with the most prolific of serial murderers except for one crucial difference: my killing isn't real.

That makes ALL the difference. Games are violent. Before them, movies were violent. Before them, books were violent. Before them, stories told around the campfire were violent. Before them, cave-drawings were violent. However, these things are NOT REAL. That's right, not real.

I should also point out that there have been plenty of wars before video games even came about. It's been said before, but let's review: There's a primal animal inside us all and if you don't let it out to play, it keeps rattling the cage, and one day, it will break out. Video games allow me to release that primal spirit into a world that isn't real. So in real life, I am as peaceful as I can be; there's no repression of instinct.

Maybe if games were MORE violent, and everyone played them, there be world peace! Is it that simple?

I'm afraid not. Remember the shallow world-travelers I mentioned earlier? Some people who play video games are violent assholes in real life, and some are not. Some who don't play video games are violent assholes and some are not. There's no simple connection. I suspect that's why video games are a common target for charlatan religious and political leaders: because they offer a simple answer and therefore, can acquire followers who are just too tired of all this damn thinking.

As for me, I'm going to keep killing the crap out of innocent and not-so-innocent people, in a world where none of it really matters. I'm going to keep up my electronic anger journal, so when in real-life someone cuts me off and gives me the finger, I can shrug and let it pass.

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Larry Nocella is the award-winning author of the novel Where Did This Come From? available at Amazon and Xlibris and other fine online book stores. Where Did This Come From? is also available as an eBook. For more info, visit Larry Nocella's website at http://www.larrynocella.com/.

Blog Action Day - The Real Global Warming Chicken Little Mantra of Doom: The Cost! Oh, The Cost!

Today is Blog Action Day so I'm supposed to post something relating to the environment, joining millions of other bloggers all posting about that same subject.

No problem! My entire site, my entire blog, even my novel, Where Did This Come From? is about the environment. The earth is ALL we have. There is nothing more important than the frail chemistry that keeps us and all we love alive. Being a man of priorities, Mother Earth is always on my mind and in my heart.


Setting the Standard

One thing I'm most proud of is the fact that Where Did This Come From? is certified carbon-free. I like the fact that I put my money where my mouth is. I don't like the fact that what teensy-tiny amount I make off each hard-won sale (this is my first novel, after all) gets shaved again because of my damn integrity.

Also, while I'm proud of the stance, I'm disappointed in the action. Each quarter, I write a check to CarbonFund.org. It's still hands-off, a consumer's activity, not something outdoorsy. Maybe I should plant a tree following each sale? There's much more to be done, but I feel I've taken a first step leading by example. I want producers to take responsibility for what they make, not just blame market forces or customer demand or the lack of environmental regulation (if it's legal, it's okay!) If I can do it, then the Fortune 500 can do it.

So it's meaningful, but not too visceral. I personally feel most connected with the earth just going outside and letting the weather have its way with me. Not in THAT sense, ya perv! I mean just walking outdoors, that's when I really feel the earth. That, and walking in my yard barefoot. There are few better feelings than the grass between my toes, the soft earth molding to my sole, molding my soul.

Standing barefoot in the grass, how can someone not be moved to love the earth?


Will the Real Chicken Little Please Shut Up

That's something I can't understand about people who are anti-environmental. Have they never been outside? I have to think they haven't, or else they wouldn't be cavalier.

Suppose you think global warming is a myth. Okay, fine. Go against facts, logic and years of scientific consensus if you want. Do you really think something horrible is going to happen if we tread more lightly on the earth? Maybe the world isn't ending, but is something terrible going to happen if we have cleaner air and cleaner water?

You know what happens at this point in the discussion. Anti-environmentalist forces generate a lot of lame humor by claiming that environmentalists are Chicken Little or other cultural prophets of doom. I think we need to turn this back on such fools. Because one mantra we hear far more than, "The earth is hurting," the real mantra of doom, chanted with much more apocalyptic fervor, is "Oh, the cost! The cost! It's going to cost so much! Who's going to pay for it?"

"What's wrong? Is the sky falling?"

"Even worse! The Dow Jones is falling! Oh, the cost!"

Oh, the cost!

It's the rationale against anything that helps the important things like human life, health, family, or the earth. Healthcare? Senior care? Child care? Protecting the environment? Somehow it's just all too much to pay. Oh, the cost! However, going into debt for trillions of dollars to demolish a nation and kill its people (Iraq) that's all fine. But try to accomplish something else and you'll hear... Oh, the cost!

Here's my thought: I don't care about the cost. Some things are important enough that money should play a lesser role. Heresy against the religion of The Market? I hope so. Socialist? Label it how you like; it's how I feel. Money should come after life and health.


Who You Calling Hysterical?

"Oh the cost!" is wearing thin, so the anti-environmental crowd is really ramping up their psychosis.

This morning I listened to a podcast from FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting.) What I heard was an extremely disturbing expose by writer Aaron Swartz (Rachel Carson, Mass Murderer? The creation of an anti-environmental myth. By Aaron Swartz). Mr. Swartz spoke of the attempts by thought-goons (a.k.a. conservative think tanks) trying to sell the idea that Rachel Carson (famous environmental author of Silent Spring) is a mass murderer because she spoke out against DDT.

Pull them boots up, up, up! This twisted meme claims that Carson warned against using DDT and because of her warning, many African nations stopped using it, letting the mosquitoes run free. Therefore, lots of Africans contracted malaria and died.

Wow.

According to Swartz, the real reason African nations stopped using DDT is because it became ineffective with overuse. Just as Carson predicted, and the real reason she fought against its use, is that the mosquitoes developed a tolerance and the DDT didn't stop them any more. Only then did the African nations stop using it.

Notice how the "Oh the cost!" propagandists are selling a whole package: they need to destroy an understanding of natural selection before they can sell the bullshit that Carson's wise (and ultimately borne out) prediction was a miscalculation of genocidal proportions.

Your homework assignment after reading this is to read Mr. Swartz' article. (Here's the link again.) I just wanted to let you know what we're up against.


Finding Hope

So with all that insanity and hysteria against environmental protection, is there any hope? Hell yeah! First, there's this blog action day that resulted in this post. That's millions of people concerned about the environment. Second, there's the fact that the opposition is going to such loony lengths. That shows they're feeling the pressure.

Third, let me share a story. Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to travel to the beautiful islands of Hawaii. I remember reading the newspaper, looking for jobs, entertaining myself with the idea that I could find employment and never return home if I wanted. I flipped to the editorial page and was shocked. There was no anti-environmental hysteria. The editorials ALL were arguing about saving their natural world, they were just attacking one another about HOW to save it. The idea of saving it at all was understood and assumed obvious by all.

That gives me hope.

I'm not imagining that any time soon the city of Philadelphia will look (and smell) anything remotely like Hawaii, but I think concern for our world and our impact on it is becoming part of our culture, no matter where we live.

Just how you can occasionally find an advocate for slavery on the more seedy late night talk shows, so you'll always be able to find those who claim Rachel Carson is a mass-murderer, that environmentalism is a crock. The anti-environmental goons are becoming marginalized. Taking care of the environment is becoming an obvious priority. For those who still cry out, "Oh, the cost!" think of this: If we fail to protect the earth, then you won't be able to make any money, because we'll all be dead. How's that for a high cost?

In short, the earth should come first. Making a profit should come much later. Most of us are realizing that, sooner or later.

Peace.

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Larry Nocella is the award-winning author of the novel Where Did This Come From? available at Amazon and Xlibris and other fine online book stores. Where Did This Come From? is also available as an eBook. For more info, visit Larry Nocella's website at http://www.larrynocella.com/.

Larry Nocella signs and reads from his novel Where Did This Come From? at Wolfgang Books!

What were you doing the evening of Saturday October 6, 2007? If you weren't at Wolfgang Books in Phoenixville, PA, you completely missed out! That's where Larry Nocella, the author of the novel, Where Did This Come From? was signing his book, taking questions from readers and reading choice excerpts.

How might I express how large a thanks I owe to Jason and Paul, the owners and operators at Wolfgang Books? Hm… Let's say that if you rammed my thanks through the internet, it would be of equal bandwidth to the amount of porn being downloaded this very moment. Yep. My gratitude is THAT big. Thank you Wolfgang Books!

If you're ever in the Phoenixville area, you should see this gem of a bookstore. I like to think Wolfgang is the bookstore equivalent to what I am as an author. We both obviously share a quiet determination to make an impact on the world of books on our own terms. We're not very flashy, but we're big on substance. We're very serious about the power of books.

My first book signing now has me excited to do some more. It's a thrill to see how people react to the story I've written (and read.) It's also just great to get out and meet people.

Thank you to the friends and family who showed up to offer their support. Thank you to the complete strangers who did the same. Thank you to those who expressed support in email as well. Lastly, thank you one more time, Jason, Paul and Wolfgang Books, for hosting my inaugural signing. Such kindness and support by all of you will never be forgotten.

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Larry Nocella is the award-winning author of the novel Where Did This Come From? available at Amazon and Xlibris and other fine online book stores. Where Did This Come From? is also available as an eBook. For more info, visit Larry Nocella's website at http://www.larrynocella.com/.