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| We have gone where no MRA has gone before. |
I suppose it was inevitable.
The toxic reach of the reactionary culture war has now officially affected over 54,000 people thanks to an Internet drama started by the jilted boyfriend of a game designer that is called "Gamergate".
According to Wikipedia, Gamergate is the latest battle in the culture war, as those fearful of change rallied behind the dubious banner of defending "video games journalism". This was correctly debunked as a smoke screen to hide the nasty MRA and anti-semite roots of the people behind the "movement". In other words it's the latest in a series of political scams originating from the fringe right to exploit the gullible, in this case naive gamers who think feminists are stealing their video games. Kinda like the Gun Rights folks, but with World of Warcraft.
My experience with close encounters of the creepy sort, having been the target of a political fraud, it comes as no surprise that many of the players have been exposed as liars, Holocaust deniers or tolerant of exploiting children sexually. Oh and trans-phobia cranked up to the stratosphere. In fact this cluster of symptoms seem to be a reoccurring recipe for the Libertarian conartist with delusions of grandeur. As I saw this toxic nightmare leaking into my Twitter feed, all sorts of alarm bells went off. If you've been tricked and manipulated by fringe political propaganda before, and you've managed to see through it and escape, its not hard to spot. I worried for a bit that no one could connect the dots.
Thankfully real journalists were on the ball once enough information got out. It was all a con, from the start. Gamergate's mainstream credibility is destroyed. And it gets sleazier and sleazier day by day, as it embraces the MRA element publicly. (Ironically, the Gater charade brought more attention to feminist issues in the computer and tech industries than Sarkeesian's videos ever did) The only people left will be hardcore cultural warriors with nothing left to lose. That's what the media needs to watch out for: people radicalised by the Gamergate movement who will act out violently. Nazi apologists and propagandists pioneered asymmetrical attacks with devastating results. And it's already been proven Nazi apologists are part of the core of Gamergate culture.
So why am I writing about Gamergate now, as it's cultural relevance declines into the Internet toilet? Because some idiot has decided to put my name on this SJW blocklist that has over 54,000 people. (!)
For those who haven't followed github, this is a response to Randi Harper's excellent ggautoblocker that made a truly amusing ruckus from Gaters who don't know how to computer. Now they think they'll retaliate by blocking what they think are SJW(Social Justice Warrior) accounts, little realizing most so called SJW's will be thrilled not the be sealioned by Gaters.
Making me wonder if Gaters can really be that dumb. Or could there is another goal behind the SJW blocklist? Like making a data base of people to stalk and harass with death threats and worse like they did with Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian?
That's why I'm finally blogging this. It is not my first rodeo with fringe right lunatic con artists, and these people are never as clever as they think they are. As a result, I have a scorched earth policy with anyone trying to start trouble. It didn't end well for the last conartists that unwisely recruited me into their political scam and it won't end well for anyone afterwards.
My advice to the "leaders" of Gamergate? Only contact people who want to be involved with your "project". Leave everyone else alone.
For once take the smart way out.
Steven Colbert with Anita Sarkeesian
