Economic Morons on Video Game Forum

[nate895]

I have gotten into a discussion with some people over free market economics. Apparently free markets are "coercive" and it was big, evil corporations without aid from the government who caused the subprime mortgage scandal.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=287503 (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=287503)

[krazy kaju]

Do you need help or something that you're posting this?

[georgiaboy]

title of thread - "economic morons on video game forum"

and my instant first thought was - And you expected otherwise?

:)

[nate895]

Do you need help or something that you're posting this?

Just laughs, but if you have time, I'm getting overwhelmed being the only one of my opinion on the boards at this time, against 4, I think.

[Kludge]

It is exactly the contrary where the "capitalism-gone-wrong-without-rules"-scenario happened.

Lol, these people aren't worth the time. They're the lunatic fringe. :rolleyes:


Oh wait - I just woke up.

[georgiaboy]

Lol, these people aren't worth the time. They're the lunatic fringe. :rolleyes:


Oh wait - I just woke up.

er, um, this isn't a jtl thread, so... what gives?

[AutoDas]

You're on a fan forum for an RTS game and those always have you as an economic dictator mobilizing the nation. That doesn't attract the free market thinker.

[Fox McCloud]

I've found that video-game people, in general have a very left-leaning ideology...granted, I've found plenty of conservatives as well, but on the whole, they're a surprisingly left-leaning group (no clue why, really).

Either way, it's really not worth your time--if you're able to beat them they'll just ignore you or pick out some fine detail and argue that instead of the broader range you present against them (for example, a guy I was arguing with brought out ONE example of a failed "private" fire department...I read the article and it was a little unclear as to how exactly they were private). That said, if you're the only one, it's almost impossible to win, as they'll come at you with 50 different angles since each probably holds one particular ideology more dear than the other...so when they all attack you at once, it's very VERY time consuming (not to mention overwhelming) to counter them.

Honestly? Don't waste your time--if you had at least 2 more people that thought like you there, sure, grind them to a pulp...but with just 1? Forget it.

Most of the time even if you do beat them and they have no evidence against you, they won't change ideologies or their thought pattern anyway (I once argued 1-on-1 with a socialist about the harmful effects of the minimum wage...ultimately he his only defense was "well, we're used to higher prices here now because of the minimum wage, so who cares?"...not realizing he just dealt the last and final blow to his own self in the process....and has he changed his mind since then? Nope, absolutely not).

Seriously, don't waste your time.

edit: I just read over what they said...there's no way you're going to convince them, especially when not even 1 is firmly on your side (and the one that is partially in your court is probably a capitalist-socialist, which is what most European and American politicians are these days). Either way, if they're laughing at you because of you saying the Fed caused this current crisis, then just excuse yourself from the whole conversation--they obviously have 0 understanding of how the money-supply (let alone the Federal Reserve) is expanded+contracted and why the banks and such wouldn't have made all those mortgages without government-interference....after all, why do banks not care if they go under? They have the FDIC and the Fed to bail them out (and an eager Congress, as well).

[georgiaboy]

...they obviously have 0 understanding of how the money-supply (let alone the Federal Reserve) is expanded+contracted and why the banks and such wouldn't have made all those mortgages without government-interference....after all, why do banks not care if they go under? They have the FDIC and the Fed to bail them out (and an eager Congress, as well).

this might be a place to start. turn them on to some of the excellent videos about money mentioned on these forums. if they take the bait, it just might change them forever. did me.

[nate895]

this might be a place to start. turn them on to some of the excellent videos about money mentioned on these forums. if they take the bait, it just might change them forever. did me.

What would be a good starting video?

[Fox McCloud]

getting them to accept the video will be the tough part--you're already seen as a "capitalist" in their eyes, and that's a negative thing, so they may have a bend away from whatever video you give them--that said, it won't hurt trying.

I tried talking to someone about the Fed once--they resorted to the "right person" argument--that it was just the current Chairman that's caused the problem and it isn't the system, as a whole, that is flawed--what was funny is he had the audacity to tell me that it was a good system and so on and so forth, only to mention that he was "no expert on the Fed" in the same breath.

[Conza88]

I've found that video-game people, in general have a very left-leaning ideology...granted, I've found plenty of conservatives as well, but on the whole, they're a surprisingly left-leaning group (no clue why, really).


You get to run people's lives... ;) i.e Sim City, Civilization etc. etc... :cool:


Most of the time even if you do beat them and they have no evidence against you, they won't change ideologies or their thought pattern anyway (I once argued 1-on-1 with a socialist about the harmful effects of the minimum wage...ultimately he his only defense was "well, we're used to higher prices here now because of the minimum wage, so who cares?"...not realizing he just dealt the last and final blow to his own self in the process....and has he changed his mind since then? Nope, absolutely not).

Seriously, don't waste your time.


I'd advocate this... or essentially if you want to give them the chance... post videos i.e like Stopandlooks (http://www.youtube.com/user/ST0PandL00K) (DO IT) i.e Dismantle Public Education, the Proper Role of Government etc.... <----- VERY informative.. so just use those in reply.

Or make threads; then call people out... Anyone care to defeat this logic? Discuss.

:p