• Friendly reminder: The politics section is a place where a lot of differing opinions are raised. You may not like what you read here but it is someone's opinion. As long as the debate is respectful you are free to debate freely. Also, the views and opinions expressed by forum members may not necessarily reflect those of GBAtemp. Messages that the staff consider offensive or inflammatory may be removed in line with existing forum terms and conditions.

Why are most gamers liberal?

  • Thread starter Deleted-401606
  • Start date
  • Views 19,905
  • Replies 223
  • Likes 2
Status
Not open for further replies.
D

Deleted-401606

Guest
OP
I've noticed that no matter the medium, most gamers seem to have left leaning beliefs and this applies whether it is twitch,twitter,gaming forums, or even just guilds in MMOs. Why does it seem that most gamers are liberals on the internet? It seems like no matter what gaming website you are on people become increasingly hostile towards you once they realize that you aren't a liberal. Why don't more conservatives play games? Is it because most conservatives think it's stupid and childish to play video games? Or is it maybe that younger people tend to gravitate towards liberalism and younger people also play more games? Even saying something as simple as MAGA can get someone to downright despise you.
 
D

Deleted User

Guest
OP
The word Liberal is thrown around a lot today. Are we talking modern liberalism and socialism? Or are we talking Classic Liberalism and Conservatism?

If for arguments sake we are going to assume that they are modern liberal socialists, then my guess is on the fact that there is more games to be playing without having to go out and earn a wage or salary, which takes time away from games. Popular Youtubers will also want to make sure that they are being as inclusive as possible in order to ensure that they are not going to get struck down negatively.

It's also possible that many gamers dont pay attention to the news and simply hear all the "bad" things that come along with saying MAGA without actually doing the research.
 
D

Deleted-401606

Guest
OP
The word Liberal is thrown around a lot today. Are we talking modern liberalism and socialism? Or are we talking Classic Liberalism and Conservatism?

If for arguments sake we are going to assume that they are modern liberal socialists, then my guess is on the fact that there is more games to be playing without having to go out and earn a wage or salary, which takes time away from games. Popular Youtubers will also want to make sure that they are being as inclusive as possible in order to ensure that they are not going to get struck down negatively.

It's also possible that many gamers dont pay attention to the news and simply hear all the "bad" things that come along with saying MAGA without actually doing the research.

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.
 

InsaneNutter

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
1,074
Trophies
2
Age
37
Location
Yorkshire, UK
Website
digiex.net
XP
3,164
Country
With the exception of a few people I know outside the internet I couldn’t tell you what way 99% of the people I’ve played games with online vote. I really couldn't care either, I go vote and that is that, no one else needs to know my business.

Maybe its different when groups of Americans are playing together online, however I used to play online with two Americans quite a lot in the Xbox 360 days and politics never came in to it.

I’m there to play games, not discuss politics, religion, which is better out of Linux / Windows, or many other debates with no right or wrong answer.
 

notimp

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2007
Messages
5,779
Trophies
1
XP
4,419
Country
Laos
Liberal usually isnt the attribute associated with gamers.. ;) In fact the liberals see them as conservative dudebrahs that like shooting, and have women issues, as indicated to them by Anita Sarkeesian (who counts female protagonists in videogames for a living - now thats liberal).

(Thats me trolling - not my actual opinion, if asked in court under oath.)

Why are people with a heightened technical interest (how do things work), amongst the first ones that used transnational platforms on the internet, and in the hacking scene - ones that believe in the benefit of free exchange of information, and free education, free software even - mostly liberals?

Ehm.. Because - its kind of what liberals are?

Companies entering the occasion and telling everyone they could make money by making all software proprietary and all of the internets working on them youtuber ad moneys - came afterwards. Thats not so liberal. (Arguably. Maybe. Arguably... ;) )

But: 'Our' (me maybe not included ;) ) communities, usually are also quite open to people of all kinds, and different ideas, and even people showing distress, or signs of being bullied, or simply not accepted societally. Because - we kind of also were the original misfits - that found peergroups of others on the internet.
(We didn't invent memes for political advertising though. That was a different subgroup. ;) )


This would be a retelling of the 'founding myth' of the scene. ;)
 
Last edited by notimp,
D

Deleted User

Guest
OP
huh, seems like i'm in the minority then, since i'm fairly centrist with a slight right tilt

i just despise talking about politics
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vulpes Abnocto

Taleweaver

Storywriter
Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
8,685
Trophies
2
Age
43
Location
Belgium
XP
8,066
Country
Belgium
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 :P ). 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.
 

smf

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
6,638
Trophies
2
XP
5,835
Country
United Kingdom
It seems like no matter what gaming website you are on people become increasingly hostile towards you once they realize that you aren't a liberal.

I think they are just fed up with the pussy grabbing conservatives. You are free to pick a side, but picking the rapey one who are looking for an excuse to shoot people (especially people of colour) isn't going to make you popular with liberals.

Not everyone will like you, just make the choice that you feel comfortable with.

How are they "realising" you're not a liberal?
 
Last edited by smf,

Xzi

Time to fly, 621
Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
17,716
Trophies
3
Location
The Lands Between
Website
gbatemp.net
XP
8,462
Country
United States
It's probably just as you theorize: right-wingers seem to have a need to be perceived as more masculine, so they seek hobbies which will perpetuate that image. Hunting, fishing, NASCAR, (American) football, auto repair, etc. It's largely illogical of course, I myself enjoy two of the five in that list, but most things colorful and creative tend to be viewed by the right as childish or feminine. Gaming included.

We all know "MAGA" isn't a neutral slogan denoting that you're a conservative, though. It's a slogan which denotes that you're part of a cult of personality centered around a singular, divisive political figure. So it isn't surprising that it gets a lot of negative reactions.
 
Last edited by Xzi,

notimp

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2007
Messages
5,779
Trophies
1
XP
4,419
Country
Laos
Also, because conservatives are morons, that always have to take illegitimate credit for stuff they didn't do, because they want other people to look at them (and their stories) and be impressed. ;)

Proof:


Again, thats trolling, but with a kernel of truth. ;)

See proof.

src: PBS: Chasing the Moon, Part 3
 
Last edited by notimp,

UltraDolphinRevolution

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2016
Messages
1,806
Trophies
0
XP
2,436
Country
China
Non-Theists tend to be left-leaning. I have not noticed it with regards to gamers. Then again, politics is not something I would bring up in a game.

Maybe conservatism is associated with censorship in games, but things are changing. I recently played through Scarface (a 13 years old game) and I could not imagine any developer today would dare to include a mission in which you have to kick transsexual "whores" (language within the game) in the nuts because they are ruining a brothel's business.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Deleted User

mezz0

Well-Known Member
Newcomer
Joined
Mar 10, 2009
Messages
66
Trophies
0
Location
::1
XP
601
Country
Belgium
You can't just assume most are left/right based on behaviour. Look at brexit, they were 100% SURE people would vote with their head on straight... guess they assumed wrong.

Until a study gets factual numbers, it's all speculation.
 
D

Deleted User

Guest
OP
I just remembered now about the uproar that Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman had about games such as GTA, and how that could have shaped people's images on this in the US.

Being from the UK however I have a lot of friends that are gamers and we all pretty much support the conservative party, mostly due to a rift caused by the Labour Parties fixation on cultism and socialism.
 
D

Deleted-401606

Guest
OP
It's probably just as you theorize: right-wingers seem to have a need to be perceived as more masculine, so they seek hobbies which will perpetuate that image. Hunting, fishing, NASCAR, (American) football, auto repair, etc. It's largely illogical of course, I myself enjoy two of the five in that list, but most things colorful and creative tend to be viewed by the right as childish or feminine. Gaming included.

We all know "MAGA" isn't a neutral slogan denoting that you're a conservative, though. It's a slogan which denotes that you're part of a cult of personality centered around a singular, divisive political figure. So it isn't surprising that it gets a lot of negative reactions.

I appreciate this well written response and I feel like your response resonates well with me since according to your flag you are from America. Your explanation actually perfectly articulates why there might be a lack of conservatives playing games. I guess in a sense it would also explain why there isn't really an influx of gamers that display traditionally masculine characteristics.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Friendsxix

FAST6191

Techromancer
Editorial Team
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
36,798
Trophies
3
XP
28,284
Country
United Kingdom
To start with we probably have the endless definition and relative measuring fun and games (by way of example when the probably next UK prime minister who is about as right wing as mainstream big party UK politics ever really gets was leading the leave EU or not campaign he had a big banner saying we should use the money we send to fund healthcare, has generally voted for or been absent for votes on gay marriage and such like, has similarly been absent for abortion and when discussing the recent Northern Ireland stuff led with a "the people there should choose" approach, can't find any mention of gun control really... where would he land in the US republican party?). We will stick more to US approaches though.

To hear some in the gaming press and self styled academics tell it then gaming is overrun with right wing types. I tend not to find them having much worth listening to on that front though and don't especially see it.

As a general first pass then gaming is not a poor man's hobby per se but also not necessarily a rich one's. It is also largely a game for the young. I suspect it (or the self styled gamer side of things anyway) is also more popular in urban locations but I have not got hard data there. As US right wing/conservative movements tend not to appeal to any of those then that would pretty much mean you are assured of a more left wing/liberal slant. With that said I don't see too many games being a turn off for those with more right wing views -- gaming rarely makes an overt statement and most things that come close to that are more they happened to pick from a stock setting than care to have a deeper pondering of the things they are contemplating -- war may be hell but it is bloody sweet to shoot someone from across the map and account for the bullet drop, wind and movement to do it.

At the same time it has yet to reach a beloved status as far as mainstream politicians are concerned so those that are politically active (a somewhat small number) find themselves somewhat detached from politics, and with the constant thread of censorship until quite recently (and even then one Mr Trump was spouting bollocks about games following the then latest in the continuing failure of US peeps to distinguish a school from a firing range) that has left them somewhat standoffish or dubious.

I would like to also believe that gamers have something of the 90s hacker mindset about them ( https://joshhighland.com/2007/08/28/mentors-last-words-the-hacker-manifesto/ ), or at least that is what informs the "what the fuck are you chatting about?" response to said press and academics when they suddenly declare that all games must feature every demographic under the sun, that playing as a dude (especially a white one) is bad and that women should cover up their pixels or something.

This may change somewhat with the US right, and many a right wing movement, casting off their traditional role as the censor and the left attempting to pick it up, along with whatever nonsense that a lot of left wing politics in many places seems to be infected with. Certainly seems to be making various hacker types I follow contemplate doing whatever will not get censorship and attendant nonsense going on.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    SylverReZ @ SylverReZ: @salazarcosplay, Morning