Mirror's Edge

Like I said, some of this blog with be devoted to guy stuff and video games definitely count. So here goes. Recently I picked up an X-Box 360 game called Mirror's Edge and was pleasantly surprised by the game. I had been reading reviews and most said that the game wasn't very good, but then again, every time something different comes out someone's bound to complain about it.

The world of Mirror's Edge is a rather interesting one and represents a nightmarish possibility for the future. In Mirrors Edge, big brother has been implemented to the highest degree. The streets and the roofs are watched, peoples phone conversations being scanned, their Internet use being monitored and the government system rules with an iron fist using propaganda and coming under the guise of public defense. Basically, the information network is under complete control and you better disobey, but, that's where you come in. You play the game as a runner and what a runner does is secretly transport written information via parkour on the rooftops. Any ways, game goes on with your sister being framed and arrested and you rescue her while simultaneously killing some of the people in charge and simultaneously taking out the monitoring network. But that's not the interesting thing about this game.

What it did was get me thinking about how much different from our world this imaginary one really is and the answer is: Not very different at all. As of right now London is ruled by street cameras and I'm sure that other cities want to import their system, the government monitors your Internet usage and phone conversations for "terrorist activity" under the guise of homeland defense and they definitely used propaganda to push these monitoring systems. The funny thing about this is that most people are okay with it, most people have been convinced it's a good thing. But it's only going to get worse and as the saying doesn't go "It gets darkest before it gets even darker".

So what can you do? Virtually nothing. You're freedoms and rights are only going to last for so long as they are going to be slowly and willingly stripped from you with propaganda and legislature. Enjoy them while you have them, because one day, maybe not for a while, but one day, you'll wake up and realize they've disappeared.

A Beautiful Mirage

Rewind the tape, let's say, about half of a century, to the beginning of what we now recognize as feminism. Back then, not many women worked and if they did they worked minor jobs. The family was a healthy functioning unit. Nearly every child was raised by both parents. Not everyone had a lot but everyone had what they needed and they were happy with it. Enter feminism.

Feminism came under the guise of equality and liberation, something that no one with western values could be against, and spoke of getting women into the workplace, making the world a better place for women and everyone else. At first this would seem great to most people, the general idea being: If the wife is working then the family unit will have more money. A sound, simple and fool proof thought. But, as we all know, the majority of people are nothing but fools and fools will think in the hear and now and examine the surface but he will rarely look passed his first presumption or have the foresight to imagine the future consequences.

Back then there were more jobs that needed to be done than there were people to do them and as my grandfather used to tell me "Alex, I tell you, back when I was young, you could quit your job in the morning and have another one before supper". But all of that changed. In a rather short period of time the working population grew, now women were coming in. This made it harder to get a job, but on the plus side, those families with two incomes were well off.

So now there was more money in the system. People could afford more and as a result they spent more. Prices were on the rise and so were wages, though rising much slower. Fast forward a few decades and we find people buying things they don't need, that they can't really afford but will buy on credit. Young families taking on huge debts to buy big houses for the two kids that they plan to have in the future, maybe three, but most can't afford that many kids. Nearly no one is happy with what they have. The kicker: raising a family to the average standard now requires two average jobs, leaving women to busy being men to be proper moms.

The damage is done and it would be extremely hard to reverse even if the masses wanted to reverse it. What can you do? Well there isn't much you can do, but here's what I suggest: The next time someone offers you a pretty flower and says it won't wilt, at least, at the very least, check for thorns before you grab it.

P.S. I'll try to post a few times a week, so check back often enough for new articles.

Why Pollitical Correctness Is Evil

We are all told growing up that we are free to believe what we want, free to say what we want and free to express ourselves in whatever manner that we personally deem necessary. We are told that it is our right. But as you grow older you notice something funny, you notice something a little bizarre. Theses rights and freedoms that we're told to have are being violated often and easily from the moment that we enter school.

Suddenly, it seems that our rights only matter as long is no one is offended. You aren't actually free to say what you think, you're only free to say what others are comfortable with you thinking and be careful not to say things that people are uncomfortable because there will be consequences. This brings up the story from my little sister's first year of high school. She had recently purchased a blue t-shirt with a bottle of white milk, chocolate milk and strawberry flavored milk on the front of it, coupled with the slogan "Celebrate Diversity." Midway through the day she was pulled aside by the principal of the school who had told her that she is not allowed to wear that t-shirt any more and that she would face detention if she did. The reasoning behind this was that someone took offence to the milk on her t-shirt because my little sister is well endowed and the milk may have referred to that. Talk about misconstrued interpretation of a comical anti-racist shirt.

This doesn't end at high school either. In fact it merely gets worse the higher up you go. Enter the workplace, where an offended someones trip to human resources can have you sleeping in the streets. Take a step higher into the political sphere, where one wrong comment can be a danger to you're life. Venture into the public eye via stardom or publishing and be prepared to be sued if you utter an "inappropriate" phrase. You might just end up joining a religion you don't believe in to avoid persecution (Scientology any one).

The point of all of this is that PC is a legalised tool for controlling people actions and thoughts. So when did you're freedom of speech end? I personally can't tell you, I can make an educated guess on it but I might be wrong. Instead I'll let you figure it out. That way you can get just as pissed off about it as me.