I’ve been accused of being a liberal. Hell, even an online quiz–always a source of truth and accuracy–has accused me of being a liberal. I’m not a liberal. I’m just John.
I’ve also been highly critical of the Republican party. I’m not a Johnny-come-lately to this dance. A quick look through my LJ should demonstrate a complete lack of confidence in the Bush Administration since the election and a general lack of confidence in Republicans since then as well. Although, I have to say, it isn’t a sweeping judgment. I have friends who are members of the Republican party. We have discussions, debates and disagreements; then, we sit down and game. No, I do not have any problem with most of the ideological stances of the Republican party.
No, I have a problem with what The Good Doctor called "anti-intellectualism." And it seems the Republican Party has embraced this philsophy right up to the hilt.
Asimov’s term is a little lofty for most folks, so I’ve come up with something that’s a bit easier to understand. I call it "Proud to be dumb." Willful ignorance. A desire to remain detached from the world.
***
Quick aside here. A gamer reference. Don’t worry, it’ll pay off in the end.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. I don’t understand any sentence that begins with the phrase "I don’t want to learn…".
"I don’t want to learn a new game system," is the one I heard most when pitching the L5R CCG. Folks were so invested in M:tG, they didn’t want to learn something new.
I mean, it was so common, it was a cliche. In the office, we could go through the conversation word-for-word.
"Yeah, your game is really cool, and I like it a lot, and I see how it imiproves on a lot of things from Magic, but I’ve got so many magic cards…" and then they’d trail off. That’s because they didn’t want to say what logically follows:
"I’ve bought so many Magic cards, I’d feel like a sucker if I didn’t keep playing this game. I’ve already spent thousands of dollars on Magic. I don’t want to learn another game."
It’s the investment that makes them step back. They’ve invested time, money and memory to a card game. They don’t want to learn another card game–even when they recognize that they’d like this new card game more."
If someone didn’t like games as much as Magic, that’s a different issue, and I respect their choice to dance with the girl they brought to the dance. But if you don’t like it anymore, if you like this new game more, and the only reason you’re sticking with the old game is your "investment," then I have to say, "Grow up."
Again, I’m not talking about sticking with a game because you like it. I’m talking about folks who really didn’t like the game anymore, but they play it because their friends do, because they already have a ton of cards, because they’ve already spent a ton of time… but don’t really enjoy the game. And they see a game they really do like, and now they’re unwilling to ditch the old one because… well, of all the reasons above.
Investment. I heard it time and time again. I especially heard it from Warhammer fans. They’d complain about the rules, they’d complain about the army lists, they’d complain about the cost of miniatures, they’d complain about the other people playing the game, they’d complain about the lack of playtesting… and they’d keep playing. Why? Because they were already invested.
And I’d ask, "Okay, so I understand why you don’t want to get into another game, but why do you keep sinking money into something you don’t like."
"Oh, I like it," they’d say–moments after admitting they didn’t. They’d immediately backslide and go right back into justifying why they kept playing a game they didn’t like, weren’t enjoying, etc.
Invested.
Magic fans. Warhammer fans. They’d sound identical.
They’d sound exactly like the Republicans I knew.
***
I told you this would go full circle.
Invested.
There’s another issue here. An issue of pride.
In picking a favorite CCG, there was always a sense of pride. Maybe because CCGs are so competitive, we’d always wear our choice like a badge of pride. (Like a Clan mon.) You could always tell a Magic player or an L5R player. Same thing with the folks I know who play in Vampire LARPs. The hate spewing forth between Camarilla Club and OWBN members is toxic sometimes. Why? Because your choice is a matter of pride.
Just like choosing a CCG. Just like choosing a LARP org. Just like choosing a political party.
Invested.
I know a lot of people who are invested Democrats or Republicans. And when something goes wrong, when one of their own makes a tragic mistake, they know the right spin to justify it. They aren’t willing to look at their party and say, "Yeah, that was a gaff." No, everything is intentional. Everything is part of a larger plan. And I can’t switch to another party. No.
I’m too invested.
The current incarnation of the Republican Party looks and sounds like a parody of the last eight years. You don’t need to tune in to The Daily Show or The Colbert Report to mock the Republican Party. They’re doing it all themselves. And while there are Republicans who aren’t towing the line–watch Hardball with Chris Matthews and you’ll see one Republican who is pissed off at his party–too many are marching along, lockstep, arm-in-arm, right up the gangplank of that famous ship called The Titanic. Why?
They’re invested.
They can’t admit their party is going through a civil war. They can’t admit their party has been overcome by religious fanatics and idealogues. They can’t admit the Reagan "de-regulate" mantra has failed-failed-failed. They can’t do it. They just can’t do it.
They’re invested. They’ve already bought thousands of dollars of cards/miniatures and all their friends are still doing it and I really don’t have a bad time playing the game. It’s not a bad game.
I just don’t want to learn anything new.