I know how to ruin anything. For now, it's videogames. Now, many people will say, "Oh they're just games," and yeah, they are for most people but they are incredibly influential. Today, I watched live coverage of E3 and the unveiling of Modern Warfare 3 gameplay. One in the long and almost universally recognized Call of Duty war-game franchise, this game takes war to the homefront in an epic urban battles against the Russians. Now, don't get me wrong, I'll play it if I can but I can't help but feel like the Modern Warfare series presents a huge danger to our political future.
By virtue of taking place on American soil fighting a foreign occupant within the near future, by virtue of the game containing modern weaponry and modern enemies by virtue of the games intense realism, it will have an incredible ability to inculcate an obsession with military culture and patriotism in today's youth. In Nazi Germany and fascist Italy similar obsessions were encouraged in an attempt to build support for the military industrial complex and the fascist state. There, participation in organized sports, boy scouts and military rallies were used to create this military obsession in everyone young and old. Here today, we have millions of young men fighting in simulated battles that could theoretically occur. What will the effect be? This will fundamentally change the public's view of the military. This will create less opposition to military action and more of a sense from the public that military action can be just.
When kids play Call of Duty, especially Modern Warfare 3, they will associate glory, patriotism and freedom with their military and yes, maybe those are things that the military should stand for; however, I can't help but feel that anti-war messages will be drowned out and that we will find ourselves incapable of seeing the military in a bad light. Call of Duty is the most politically irresponsible thing ever to happen when you consider the impact it may have on the security of our freedom and democracy in the Western world and to think, it was the people who made it and the people who chose it. Farewell freedom, I feel the Fascist fanfare.
Videogames, ruined. But seriously, I'm going to play that game for sure but let's all keep an open mind and don't let it change us.
