I just don't understand how in most gaming circles they are unanimously liberal, what is it about videogames that conservatives find an aversion to? I now wonder if it has always been like this and I just never realized it until I was older, but there is something about gaming that liberals find solace in and conservatives dislike. I am just trying to find out what that something is exactly.
Erm...I hate to be THAT guy, but I had the same remarks as
@Jack54782 , but your reply doesn't really answer that question (to me, at least).
By US standards, everyone's either lumped into the democrat/liberal box or in the republican/conservative box. By that standards...yes, I'm a liberal. But e.g. in my country, we've got a whole slew of political parties, ranging from borderline communism, socialism, environmentalism (if that's an "-ism"), a party promoting "values", liberals, a flemish independent party and a bunch of we're-not-racists-but-we-actually-are. By these standards (which I live by, really), I'm somewhat between a socialist an environmentalist. It's not that I'd be insulted to be called a liberal (okay...sometimes it is, but depending on the context), but the way the paradigm is usually applied here (which is really all that matters, as "a party that promotes freedom" is something nobody opposes), it means that companies and multinationals should get all the freedom they want. And if there remains some for the local populace, it's just a handy convenience.
Ahem...that said: it's true that most gamers are left leaning (to avoid the 'liberal' word
). I as well originally thought this was just due to overlapping factors (if you've got a majority of youth both being into gaming and politically on the left side, there is likely a large part of the gamers on the left side, even if there is no real cause between the two). But I have come to believe that this is too simple of an explanation. And more so: I have come to believe that games themselves can shape a political outlook.
Let's take MAGA as an example. While the phrase itself is abstract enough that just about anyone can apply it (who DOESN'T want America being great? Nobody!), it is usually applied in relationship to foreign policy. Why import steel when you can get steel from your own country? Why have immigrants when we still have some unemployment? Neither are really xenophobic per se, but sets the priorities to the self.
...and that makes games - and especially video games - a rather hard thing to apply. Steel is steel, no matter where it comes from. But you can't say that "a video game is a video game", when only the xbone is from America while the PS4 and switch are Japanese, and the games themselves come from all over the world. These examples are, in a way, trump cards to liberalism. Meaning: it's pretty hard to be a conservative and claim that 'America should be made Great Again' while at the same time defining "Great" as almost inherently "originating in large parts from outside the border" (yeah...don't get me started on PC's or steam games).
Oh, and it might be a stab below the belt at conservatism, but video games are great teaching tools for empathy...which is something republicans almost chronically lack. It's one thing to hear about, say, racism, or even watch some documentaries on it. Try playing a game like "bury me, my love" and try to remain having the same rigid idea that all immigrants are worthless opportunists, let alone criminals. Games put you in the shoes of others, and that alone makes you consider how the world is from their view. Conservatists stick to dogmas and "trueisms" because they don't want to have their world view challenged but rather enforced.
