Occupy This

The following is a response to Pat's post on SOPA:

I don't think it's a matter of poor priorities. I think people are smart enough to realize that all of those big problems, the real issues are out of our control. They're completely hopeless. The Occupy movement will never amount to anything, because nobody is willing to go too far. SOPA was a rare cause within our reach.

Occupy is too nice. It's too civil, too quaint. "Oh, look at that, they're protesting. Aren't they cute?"

The only time a frustrated mob of poor-to-middle class people ever accomplished anything is when they dragged royalty out into the streets to be hanged. That's a lot harder to ignore than some teenagers shitting in a state park.

But if anyone does cross that line, then they'll become the bad guys! There's no middle ground, no peaceful negotiations. If a cop pepper-sprays a peaceful protest, he's the bad guy. But if a rioter throws a molotov cocktail, then the entire movement and everything it stands for becomes uglier.

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Firefall

On the one hand, Red 5, the developer behind the upcoming MMO: "Firefall" have decided to pull out of the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo. This is out of protest over the SOPA/PIPA nonsense that threatens every facet of online media, including their game. Pretty ballsy move, and I commend them for that.

On the other hand, "Firefall" is being written by Orson Scott Card, a notorious homophobe who's known for financially supporting some anti-Gay movements/organizations. So it's kind of already on my personal blacklist. That's not really Mark Kern or Red 5's fault, but it is hard for me to respect anyone who's willing to associate with someone that bigoted. (See also: Koichi Sugiyama of the Dragon Quest series)

Although it's well within their rights, and I wouldn't want that taken away just to appease my interests. They're allowed to work with jackasses, and I'm allowed to not buy their product. So the question remains:


Do I support these guys, as thanks for standing up when other companies will be too terrified to lose the E3 publicity? Or do I keep boycotting their product for its association with an evil lunatic?

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~A.H.