Thoughts of a Random Gamer

As I ponder what sort of resolutions, if any, I will make for 2009, this game blog came to mind.  No, not that I am going to start getting my articles finished the night before my deadline, as opposed to 30 minutes before the deadline (though I’m sure Grundy would appreciate it).  No, not that I am going to start buying more new games for the purposes of this site, because if anything, my budget editorial a few weeks back would suggest the opposite.  Also, I’m not going to make the ridiculous resolution that I’ll finish every game that I buy (GTAIV is just too big!).  Instead, I am resolving to make a difference in my community by… wait for it… playing less video games.

“(GASP!) Less video games?!”

Yes, that’s right.  Let me give you a bit of history on this.

Here in America, we have an overabundance of wealth.  I could quote all the figures stating how Americans are so rich, (even if you only got one video game for Christmas) compared to the rest of the world.  However, would most likely leave you and me feeling guilty and that isn’t helpful.  Trust me, after reading the statistics and I felt guilty and overwhelmed in that “how can I possibly make a difference,” sort of way.  After the guilt subsided, it left me wondering how I could help.  I thought about how I could possibly make a difference.  As these thoughts lingered in my mind, it lead me to you, the ToaRG readers.

As I see it, we have three options for dealing with this imbalance of wealth (I’m leaving it at three for simplicity’s sake – there are numerous more).

1. Do nothing:  This isn’t our war to fight, is it?  Why should we sacrifice what we have worked so hard to achieve?  After all, we are entitled to these things because our society requires us to have them.  Video games?  We need them to kill my free time.  New stuff?  We have to have new stuff so we can remain relevant in our social group or workplace.  If the homeless and poor worked as hard as we have to attain our wealth, then they would have wealth of their own.
   
2. Pay our way out of guilt: We have been conditioned to believe that we can just buy our way out of any condition.  When we’re sick, we go to the doctor and buy some pills.  If we’re unhappy, we go buy ourselves a new toy (video game, car, time-share).  When we’re lonely, we buy some friends by throwing a big party that costs money.  If we feel guilty about how much we have compared to the rest of the world, we can just donate a bunch of money to Organization X so we can have some peace of mind because we helped.
3. Do something: This is our war to fight! Just because we have so much wealth doesn’t mean that we should hog it all to ourselves, does it?  Sure, we’ve worked hard to attain all of these cool things, but don’t we now have far more than we need?  We should share what we have with those that have nothing.  Video games?  We can enjoy them because our basic needs are met.  New stuff?  We can afford it because of the opportunities we’ve had.  Not everyone has had their basic needs met.  Not everyone has had the opportunities we’ve had.  We can do more to help address these issues.

Obviously, I’m not going to push the first option.  That doesn’t achieve anything except further pervert and perpetuate the idea that we are entitled to our overabundance.  Doing nothing is kind of like fighting a war in another country and ignoring the problems in our own.  Doing nothing says, “What’s mine is mine.  I’ve worked hard and I’m going to protect my personal gain by not sharing it with anyone else.”  There are hints of things we learned in kindergarten in that last statement.

Please don’t get me wrong about the second option; it is very important for us to share our wealth and there are many organizations that allow us to do this.  Some people have more money than time (hint: you are probably not one of them), and the best way for them to help is to share that money.  If you’re looking for an organization, the Child’s Play Charity is a great organization that benefits children.  One organization that I am familiar with (and has been featured on this blog in the past) is called Outreach International, which focuses on sustainable good, kind of like the “give a man a fish or teach a man to fish” ideology.  These and many other organizations have been established to benefit children, homeless, the sick and people from all walks of life both domestically and abroad.  It would be impossible for these organizations to exist if people didn’t donate.  There are numerous opportunities for us to share our wealth by writing a check, using our PayPal account or putting our loose change in a red can next to a skinny Santa every December.

But should we stop there?

Have we done our part by giving $.37 to the Salvation Army?

Have we earned the right to go home to the ‘burbs,

pull the car in the garage,

sit in our big houses filled with everything humanity can make,

but completely void of the things humanity can’t?

This is not a religious article but yes, the author is a minister.  He also plays Call of Duty and Left 4 Dead.  He slept in this past Sunday and didn’t go to church (on vacation).  He’s been known to do things that some Christians would consider very un-Christian.  Ask some of his college friends – he made very “college” decisions. Just like you, he still struggles with a lot of personal, moral, theological and societal issues.

This issue is societal. This issue is moral. This issue is what is right versus what is wrong.

Maybe your head is spinning.  Maybe you’re a little pissed about the ideas I’m presenting.  Maybe you already do something, and that is great – this article might not be for you.  Then again, it just might.

How can we make a difference?  How can we as gamers – men, women, young, old, every race and every religion – make a difference in our world?  In our country, state, city or neighborhood?  We can make a pledge to do it – that’s how.  Then, we can work together.

New Year’s resolution

I recently asked a friend what their New Year’s resolution was and they said that it was to not make any resolutions.  If you don’t have any expectations for yourself, I guess you’ll never be let down, or, you can realize that if you worked hard and fall short of your resolution, it’s probably because you’re human.  You didn’t fail your resolution, you just aren’t perfect and that’s OK.  With that in mind, here’s the resolution:

Take 10% of your weekly videogame-playing time and do something for someone else.

This seems like a pretty small resolution, but if you really think about it, it can be huge.  Just looking back over the week before Christmas, I probably put in three to four hours a night playing Call of Duty.  That could be at least two hours the following week of volunteering at my local soup kitchen, helping out at a nursing home or helping to clean a homeless shelter.  That may not even be much, but I play Call of Duty online.  For the uninitiated, hardcore team deathmatch has two teams of six.  If the other 11 people on the server played just as much as me and decided to donate 10% of their time, we could do almost a day’s worth of man hours working for the less fortunate.

Do you see what I did there?  Let’s multiply the impact.  Do you game with people in your area?  Ever have a Halo party? Get all those people together on a Saturday, volunteer somewhere in your area for a couple hours and then go about your gaming business.  You could tally the hours for a month, spend – per my example – the entire day at the local soup kitchen or homeless shelter.  If you and all your friends are there for the whole day, you can have fun by helping someone less fortunate.  Afterward, go to someone’s house and game it up!

I don’t have time

Yes you do.  Remember, the idea is to take 10% of your weekly game-playing time.  Your free time.  You don’t have time?  Be honest – you just racked up two hours last night.  That’s only 12 minutes of time to donate.  That’s going to the grocery store and buying a bag of groceries to drop off at a local relief organization.  You keep tally through the week and you’ve racked up 10 to 14 hours?  That’s anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half.

If you play games for a living, this approach may not apply to you.  Maybe you could take 10% of what your free-time leisure activity is and donate that amount of time.  The principle remains – sacrificing what you do in your free time to help someone that can’t afford free time, let alone a hot meal.

“Yes, we can”

This isn’t a political issue.  The government has made it fairly clear that they don’t want to have anything to do with this sort of effort, aside from a line-item on a budget (see option two above).  This is our time, as gamers, to unite together and say that we don’t agree with the way society has impacted those at the bottom.  This is me (and maybe you) realizing that my custom-built computer, work laptop, new cellphone, Xbox 360, 42″ LCD TV, surround sound, new car and three or four new video games I bought over the last couple of months are all things that I have because of the opportunities in my life.

The money has been spent, but the time has not.

We can still put down our game controllers and pick up a ladle.  We can make this world a better place.  How much more will we enjoy our video games knowing that we’ve done something completely selfless for our fellow person?

Are you willing?

Gamers have gotten a bad reputation over the years.  Back when I was in high school, we got pegged because a couple kids that had a few screws loose shot up their high school.  Since then, every time a young man committed some sort of heinous violent act, the media wanted to pin their behavior on video games.  The discussion would immediately go to the games he played and the programs he had on his computer.

Let’s correct that perspective.  Let’s show the world that we aren’t violent savages.  Let’s show the world that we care about the less fortunate.  Let’s show the world that we, as gamers, won’t stand for the mistreatment of the poor and disadvantaged.  Let’s show the world that, for as much violence and evil that has been acted out by gamers, so much more good is being done.

Here’s how

If this is going to be successful, we need to organize.  We need to identify with people in our area that are on the same page.  The internet is a great place for us to find out where we can meet.  We can identify people in the same city and go from there.

I’m in Lansing, MI.  If you’re with me – if you want to make a difference in your community – leave it in the comments.

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