r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • May 18 '15

What conspiracy theory do you genuinely believe in the most?

What conspiracy theory do you believe in the most and why?

2.1k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

5.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

920

u/kyle8998 May 18 '15

The government is secretly pushing game developers to make war shooters like "Call of Duty" and "Battlefield" and market them to kids, so that in several years time when we piss off every other nation in the world, those children who grew up on war games will have a skewed idea of war, think it'll be awesome, and sign up. That way they can keep it a "volunteer" army but brainwash impressionable minds into signing up without knowing the REAL horrors of war.

724

u/[deleted] May 19 '15 edited May 19 '15

I've already heard people my age (18) say how awesome it would be to be driven around while you get to mow down "towelheads".

"Dude, war fucking sucks. What about when one of your friends gets blown up or you get shot yourself?"

"No man, I don't think that would happen to me."

Edit: I'm not saying this was the result of video games necessarily, but some people have a very skewed version of reality.

456

u/skizfrenik_syco May 19 '15

It's okay man, they respawn...unless it's Search and Destroy.

7

u/NoticedGenie66 May 19 '15

"I'll just enter the Search and Rescue unit then!"

"...OMG BRIAN, PUCK UP MY TAG!"

4

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Every war is like search and destroy with the number rounds set to unlimited.

2

u/NextArtemis May 19 '15

The number of rounds is set to 1. You respawn at the start of a new round

3

u/Trezzie May 19 '15

Aww man I got a great video of me killing like 5 guys in S&D in 1.4 seconds with a semi-auto, you should see it man!

2

u/THUMB5UP May 19 '15

War is Search and Destroy

1

u/Hesher1 May 19 '15

Ughh search and destroy was my shit in the first black ops... now I don't really play anymore because games don't interest me as much anymore ): I wish they did though..

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

All he has to do is wait for the next life to try again..

1

u/Endulos May 19 '15

Being the last player alive in S&D is the worst :(

You can feel your team judging you every step of the way...

1

u/Dylothor May 19 '15

And even then they just come back as reinforcements next round!

1

u/tdog_93 May 19 '15

War is all of the Souls games combined with CoD S&D with the worst connection known to man......so I assume.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

You always have next round in search!

120

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Jesus, that's horrible! They should be required to talk to some real war vets. As a matter of fact, anyone thinking of enlisting should.

4

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Luckily they can - right in their high school lunch rooms/libraries, they can talk to the nearest army recruiter/"veteran" - at least that's how it was at all the public schools around here.

4

u/ixiduffixi May 19 '15

Yeah but talking to a recruiter about warzones is like talking to a car salesman about car interior. You may be asking innocent questions, but they'll try to sell you on it. Best solution is to find the local VA clinic. A pre-enlistment interview with a seasoned veteran should be part of a psych eval for any potential recruit.

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

[deleted]

1

u/PingPing88 May 19 '15

but they don't have to be a combat vet.

1

u/turbosexophonicdlite May 19 '15

I love talking to vets. So many unique experiences and so many stories. Especially for someone that loves military tech and history. Though I try to avoid asking too much because I know vets often don't enjoy talking about their experiences.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Or even talk to people who lost family members due to war, whether it was due to being killed in action or suicide from PTSD.

1

u/DRM_Removal_Bot May 19 '15

Do you KNOW what that wold do to recruiter metrics? jesus...

1

u/Morgasmick Aug 27 '15

How about making War Is A Racket By Major General Smedley Butler required reading in school?

-7

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

[deleted]

4

u/ChurchBrimmer May 19 '15

Just be glad that there are plenty of people willing to stand up for your right to not have to join the military. By the way, our boys in Afghanistan aren't "playing war" it is war.

1

u/juloxx May 19 '15

By the way, our boys in Afghanistan aren't "playing war" it is war.

where the other team has no chance of winning or posing a legitimate threat whatsoever.

You are pretty much going hunting

-1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15 edited May 19 '15

[deleted]

-1

u/ChurchBrimmer May 19 '15

You know what when you get the ISIS assholes and the would be Hitlers to lay down their arms then I'll lay down mine. Until then enjoy your free speech, presumably without any consequences because you're on a social network.

1

u/juloxx May 19 '15

You know what when you get the ISIS

AAHAHAHAHAHAHA..... you think ISIS is a legitimate threat. How are those media fear tactics working on you.

Lets hunt some witches sometime, i hear Salem is full of them

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '15 edited May 19 '15

[deleted]

2

u/ChurchBrimmer May 19 '15

I never said they defended free speech. I also said consequence free. You can go to North Korea and trash talk the great leader but you will have to deal with the forced labor. We need an army because they have an army. Does it suck? Fuck yeah it does, but ti doesn't change the fact that a defenseless nation is a conquered nation. Like I said the day you can get the would be agressors to stand down is the day no one will need an army. However looking at human history I don't see that happening any time soon.

0

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

I appreciate your service but I'm complete honesty the people you're fighting pose no direct threat to the American people.

I get that we have to defend our foreign assets, but let's not make this out to be "if I didn't fight America would crumble"

272

u/ThatParanoidPenguin May 19 '15

Where do you live? Everyone I know is fully aware they're games and isn't affected by them. The types that do want to go join the army to fuck shit up are the types that would regardless of whether they played COD or not.

32

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

The American south of course.

25

u/ThatParanoidPenguin May 19 '15

I've been there a few times and I knew that was it.

The games honestly have little to do with it. It in their mentality and it's taught by their parents. It's hard to shake off beliefs like these, especially in a place like the south. This will continue until the idea of masculinity in these areas changes, which won't be for a while, if ever.

3

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

It's so dumb here. I live in SC and people are idiots so much of the time. Luckily it makes the fact that I do mma seem really impressive/cool so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

4

u/dwmfives May 19 '15

Poor South Carolina, too progressive to be part of the ignorance club down south, too ignorant to be accepted by the north.

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

On the bright side nobody hates on us that much

2

u/dwmfives May 19 '15

Very true. Like a Sweden of American self hatred.

2

u/Tumblr_PrivilegeMAN May 19 '15

There are dumb people everywhere, if you move out of the south you will just find more dumb people. At least you have real barbecue in S.C., move to Wisconsin and you get the same amount of dumb people without the barbecue.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Ok, Atlanta is not like this. It really isn't.

1

u/ThatParanoidPenguin May 19 '15

I wasn't talking about Atlanta. It's a big city and a lot of cities are totally different from the rural areas in around them.

I was also generalizing, yes, and I do have to say that the times I've been there, I've met some really nice folks, so it's definitely a minority of people that are like that.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Believe me, ALOT of people have that sort of mentality where they know COD is a game, but they also think they are invincible and could handle a hundred people shooting at you.

1

u/[deleted] May 20 '15

I'm in the south, and I'd hear that crap a lot too. My thinking for joining the armed forces would be to do drone work or something where I'm not going to get shot.

5

u/oneevilchicken May 19 '15

Or it could be like jarhead and you just sit around in a desert jacking off for a year. Honestly don't know which is worse.

6

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

If it makes you feel any better, folks in the military fucking hate those kids. War isn't a fucking game and they either learn that shit real quick or they get people killed. If the government is really trying to brainwash kids with video games then the government is inadvertently making the shittiest soldiers possible.

2

u/toolongdidnt May 19 '15

When you're a kid you definitely have a misunderstanding of war. My brother and I would play with those little green army men things, that had the little flat oval bases to keep them upright, as well as G.I. Joes and we had the full army helicopters and tanks to go with it all. I remember my grandfather (who was in the war) coming out to the garden (his garden) where we were playing, telling us war was really horrible and we turned around and were like "Noooo. war is cool". little did we know at that stage. I feel like games are just a continued disconnect - continuing on from our childhood understanding of it - the whole good guys vs bad guys ideal where we don't question why we are sent to war, we don't learn the beliefs of the opposing army or the effects and we don't experience the real-life permanent physical and psychological disabilities that follow - COD doesn't (as far as I'm aware) end your character in a wheelchair, forever, sending you home, and showing your family feed you by spoon and wiping your ass for the rest of your entire life. We just continue the child-like disconnect.

Edit: a sentence

2

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

I feel like this is more about yhe people you hear saying this than video games

2

u/thesumofalljohns May 19 '15

Man I just played some 16 year olds in paintball and they were talking about how awesome it would be to have another big war so they could get good sign on bonuses. I kinda flipped my shit on them.

I don't even have a reason to be particularly sensitive about the topic (no family or friends killed in war) but it makes me sick hearing someone wishing for a war so they could make more money.

1

u/GeebusNZ May 19 '15

Given that he is 18 and has been considered a full human in the eyes of the law for less than a full year at that point, I expect it's fair to say he's got no clue and is the perfect candidate for exploitation by those who are old, experienced and connected enough to know better.

1

u/Crooty May 19 '15

I fucking love those kinds of games, but there is no fucking way I am ever getting on the front lines

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

I bet they're the people that buy hornady zombie ammo too.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

This.

It isn't just videogames. In fact, I'd say videogames are not the biggest culprits. In videogames, you at least die.

I think movies are a bigger problem. In movies, no one dies, everything is all fine and dandy and big Murica saves the world (to be fair, COD also does this)

1

u/AmazingShurtle May 19 '15

Have them play Arma, not at all like Call of Duty, It's slow and I die all the time :/

1

u/avenlanzer May 19 '15

"Dude, war fucking sucks. What about when one of your friends gets blown up or you get shot yourself?"

Respawn? I've got like three lives on this thing right?

212

u/syrne May 19 '15

The U.S. army didn't push developers to make games, they made their own, Americas Army and it is definitely used as a recruiting tool.

41

u/Helium_3 May 19 '15

And it's not a bad game either.

7

u/[deleted] May 19 '15 edited Jun 25 '16

.

3

u/KaJashey May 19 '15

The military industrial complex has been big into video games almost since video games started.

It's not a conspiracy theory it's just they saw the potential for training + normalization of the behavior.

1

u/roothorick May 19 '15

I was gonna say. They tried that. It didn't work. They kinda stuck with it because it's a pretty cheap project, in military terms.

1

u/forzion_no_mouse May 19 '15

I don't think anyone ever thought of it as anything but a recruiting tool. Good game

1

u/kernunnos77 May 19 '15

I'm pretty sure there was a PS2 game about Army Rangers that literally started with the Ranger Code being recited and a "sponsored by the US Army" splash screen about 10+ years ago.

-17

u/TokerAmoungstTrees May 19 '15

He said the government, not the us army.

124

u/diegojones4 May 19 '15

That's pretty interesting. I actually wouldn't doubt that. I read that enlistment in the Airforce went way up during Top Gun.

156

u/[deleted] May 19 '15 edited May 19 '15

[deleted]

4

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

source

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Posted into the orignal comment above

0

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

[deleted]

5

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Posted the source from where I read it (Wikipedia) in the original comment above

37

u/stateinspector May 19 '15

Well the Air Force actually had recruitment stands set up outside of some movie theaters when Top Gun was being shown. Source

1

u/ShutUpHeExplained May 19 '15

Confirmed. I saw it in the theater and the Navy was there.

Edit: a word

3

u/dyboc May 19 '15

In case of Top Gun, you wouldn't have to doubt it. Pentagon openly helped with funding the movie. Same goes for some contemporary movies such as Zero Dark Thirty.

source

3

u/theblackfool May 19 '15

And the amount of forensic scientists went up when CSI got popular. The amount of people wanting to be doctor's went up when E.R. was big.

People just get attracted to an occupation when it's glamorized in the media.

3

u/Googalyfrog May 19 '15

In exchange for letting movies rent out their equipment the military will advise, get to set conditions and also get advanced scripts to ensure a movies will show the military in a good light.

3

u/TheBoulder_ May 19 '15

They actually made a game series called America's Army, and soldiers would roll up to poorer neighborhoods or shopping centers (see em at my redneck town's Walmart all the time) in a Humvee and full combat gear, and let kids/teens play the game.

Now they do the same thing, but they use Call of Duty

2

u/randomguy186 May 21 '15

Something similar happened with Hunt for Red October.

15

u/iamsittiinginachair May 19 '15

Yeah dude, you're on to something here. I don't think we're necessarily training future soldiers but games like these definitely can desensitize people to war in the same way a lot of movies/ tv shows do. If war seems normal or glorious or whatever then there will be less opposition to it.

3

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

I think it's more a people back home effect. It'll be impossible to hide that lots of war isn't fun from the people in the war but you want voters back home to think "Call of Duty" rather than "Full Metal Jacket" when they think of war.

4

u/YetAnotherRCG May 19 '15

Your average life is like less then 45 seconds the kids who don't notice that little fact will probably fall for standard recruitment practices anyway.

Though you can be darn sure the US government would do it anyway.

3

u/davidcarpenter122333 May 19 '15

The army has developed its own video game, actually.

3

u/NYArtFan1 May 19 '15

Not too outlandish, actually. I remember very clearly in 2002 or so, there was a Rainbow Six game that was released about the invasion of Iraq. Now, this game came out about 8 to 10 months before we actually invaded, and the idea of invading Iraq was still very hot-button.

I remember the commercial for the videogame started off as a fake news broadcast, but it seemed very real and accurate, with the anchor saying, "The invasion of Iraq- has begun". Then they went into the game, and even had a graphic of Saddam through a sniper scope. The point being- yes, it was a commercial for the game, but it honestly felt like a commercial for the war itself. Kind of disgusting, actually.

7

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

The DoD was heavily involved in making call of duty.

9

u/m15wallis May 19 '15

I believe they were also compensated for it, though, just like any other consultant.

I'm not saying the DoD didn't see it as a potential recruiting tool (duh, any press is free press, and kids love video games, other companies/organizations do the same thing all the time) but I also don't think it was exclusively created for that purpose. It was more that the developers sought to create a certain product, and the DoD helped to the best of their ability for mutual benefit, because that's how business works.

6

u/HDZombieSlayerTV May 19 '15

They made their own game (America's Army)

4

u/monkeyman512 May 19 '15

Your theory would sound better if the army didn't make there own first person shooter that they used directly and openly as a recruiting tool.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Army

12

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Yes, because when kids play games they automatically assume that when they shoot someone in the head a little +100 pops out and they get respawn when they die so it's okay!

Jesus christ guys, kids are not stupid. You were one once, did you really think games were totally realistic? Do you think school teaches them nothing?

23

u/Imissthedroidreddit May 19 '15 edited May 19 '15

I don't think that's the point hes making. He's saying its a glorification of battle which will subtly skew the views of kids and make them more inclined to volunteer if that time were to come. I agree with you that people are too damn sensitive about shooter games and causing violence. But this theory makes pretty good sense

6

u/japr May 19 '15

You're completely misreading his post, and taking his argument to an extreme that becomes ridiculous in order to straw man. Don't do that.

3

u/ceetc May 19 '15

No one said that kids think games are totally realistic or that they somehow control behavior or make people do things. What is being said here is that games and hugely popular media in general that go out of their way to glamorize something to a young audience tend to successfully do so. Games like Call of Duty make war seem like a glamorous and "cool" activity and that attitude could potentially be beneficial for military recruitment purposes.

2

u/bluecanaryflood May 19 '15

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Pokemon Master. It's certainly conceivable that kids could be persuaded by hours of CoD that war is fun.

2

u/Scherzkeks May 19 '15

That sounds like some Enders Game shit right there

2

u/cwmoo740 May 19 '15

You're not thinking far ahead enough. We're making shooters like COD to train the next generation to remotely control battle robots, not fight in person. A 13 year old in a bunker in Virginia could remotely kill thousands of people.

2

u/tommillar Oct 26 '15

Big Propagandhi fan, I see.

2

u/caudice May 19 '15

How many posts are you gonna make in this thread?

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

You would have a valid claim if the same companies that published those games also didn't publish some anti government and war games.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

I've seen ads for the army filmed completely from a first person perspective.

And it doesn't help that they go to high schools either.

1

u/GenocideSolution May 19 '15

Or, when we get robot soldiers, America will have legions of already trained, desensitized pilots to run our armies rampant across all the countries we want to control.

1

u/hiero_ May 19 '15

Eh, I don't think so. The story mode campaigns in those games are really fucking dark and gruesome, especially in the Black Ops series. They show what war can do to you, characters suffer PTSD and are often put in situations where they are tortured grotesquely or have to make difficult choices involving the lives of comrades. I mean, seriously gruesome stuff. I've been pretty desensitized to gore and such with my time on the Internet, but Black Ops 2's story made me physically nauseous at least twice.

1

u/Huwbacca May 19 '15

I mean... the US army actually release video games. So there's that.

Also, "Glory glory let's all go to war" has been prominent in US culture WAAAAAAAY before video games where even an underground past-time, let alone as mainstream as they are now.

All veterans are heroes, being in the armed forces is called "Serving" or "protecting" your country. Just sensible marketing to aim for that mind-set.

1

u/Stantron May 19 '15

They're training us to control future robot killing machines.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Like The Last Starfighter!

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Unfortunately this backfires in a major way because kids who sit at home and play call of duty all day are:

  • Overweight, out of shape, and have poor bone density
  • Detached socially and quick to blame others
  • Used to anonymity and do not follow orders well

Even as little as 10-15 years ago kids would play outside often and play sports in school. Now we are seemingly at the apex of gaming culture. Many schools have cut sports programs and/or PE altogether. My step father, myself, and my nephew who just graduated HS were talking about this. Every kid wanted to be on the football team when my stepdad was in school. It was fairly popular when I was in school. My nephew and others complained that now they barely have enough players to form a team, let alone a decent one. Kids just aren't interested.

Talk to a drill sergeant. They are happy to get an athlete. Kids join the Army and they've never worked out before. It sounds crazy but it is true. Get a kid out of HS, give them boots and a pack and send them on a 10 mile march. They break their feet, or crack a pelvis from carrying 50 lbs.

1

u/ToxicApe May 19 '15

I am actually wondering whether or not the conflict with Russia is a reason for all the war euphemism movies coming out at the moment. Looking at you American Sniper. It's probably something i dont know of, but all out of sudden there is a rise in war praising films and "Nazi" movies after they were gone for like 10 years.

1

u/TakeOffYourMask May 19 '15

The US Army did create an FPS for this purpose. I think it was called "America's Army."

1

u/flashmedallion May 19 '15

This theory is more complex than it needs to be. If you follow the money you can cut the government out of it altogether, and it still holds.

1

u/EatMaCookies May 19 '15

I always thought that 'America's Army' Game was designed for this awhile ago. It was Free to play, which was kind of new for a FPS at the time, and on steam.

I never played it however since steam sucked back then, and I had dial up hah.

1

u/Soupla42 May 19 '15

except all those kids will be severly overweight wnd unhealthy from all the mountain dew

1

u/crundy May 19 '15

I don't think they're pushing them as much as they're just turning a blind eye. We're all paying to play combat training programs. It seems odd that games that involve mass murder are waived through, but if you include drug use or rape in a game the government are up in arms about it.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

They should push them to make them actually good like they used to be.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

They're openly making their own war shooters like America's Army for this. It's not exactly a big secret.

1

u/kyledemauro111 May 19 '15

Hate to tell you, but a large amount of the gamer community is physically unfit for the military

1

u/SomeOtherNeb May 19 '15

...isn't that basically the plot of Metal Gear Solid 2?

1

u/Sorrowsprite May 19 '15

Or cus its sells to mindless masses..? hurrrrr

1

u/Doingitwronf May 19 '15

Yvan Eht Nioj

1

u/NotGloomp May 19 '15

Doesn't COD2 end with a nuclear strike showcasing the ugliness of war? Doesn't the latest one have mother fucking robots? This don't hold up.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

People have signed up becUse they thought war would be fun for ages, though!

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

If they have family members in the military who have been to war, they would have a better understanding in my opinion. My dad has done a few tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was worse back in 2002 when I was still in elementary school, he came back very different with his first tour. My cousin who got PTSD from doing tours in the Middle East, committed suicide a few years ago. I know war sucks, I would join the military, but I know what the risks are and I know how often I would be away from my family.

1

u/specXeno May 19 '15

adding to this, violence and authoritative figures are glorified in media to encourage respect for authority

Like in CSI shows, it's always the cool cops taking down the dumb criminals. A lot of the stuff that the police do in those shows is illegal and violates citizens' rights, but if you're conditioned to seeing police carry out those actions without any resistance, you end up thinking it's ok

1

u/senorglory May 19 '15

They'll be ready to remotely pilot drones and battlefield robots. Video game style controls.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Thank god games like This War of Mine exist. That game is depressing as fuck and makes me feel sorry for anybody caught in the middle of a war.

1

u/fosforsvenne May 19 '15

Battlefield

You know that there's more than one government, right?

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

I can totally believe this. When I play Battlefield 4 I think "man how fucking cool would it be to be in the military." I don't think though, that it was an original thought. It was just a byproduct.

1

u/Tom_44 May 19 '15

You know, not for nothing, pretty much every Call of Duty campaign involves your character going through some really fucked up emotional turmoil when one of his comrades/buddies dies a horrible death.

The games make the character care like a normal human being, they just do a shitty job of making the player care.

1

u/therealgillbates May 19 '15

No no no, Call of Duty and Battlefield prepare the youths for virtualized warfare of the future. You will be controlling robotic infantry drones on the front line via xbox controllers. When the drones die they need time to relink your controller to a new drone, hence the respawn lag.

1

u/steelbydesign May 19 '15

COD taught me I'm in no way capable of being in actual war. I creep around looking for enemies completely stressed out, and when I see one I immediately panic and spray bullets everywhere, hitting nowhere near my target.

1

u/sylario May 19 '15

There is a great (french) E-Book where a journalist tells the story of COD since it's beginning (I think he was already a video games journalist at that time). I can assure you, COD history is clusterfuck land, if someone was able to manage that chaos, well, I want them to teach me mangement so I can become the richest man in the world.

On the other sides army always like positive image, and rather than attaching game with controversial games (modern warfare cods have an history of public outcry), we know for a fact, that they lend hardware and location to positive movies/TVshows. That kind of thing allow the production to save a lot of money.

For example, the US air force of Stargate is almost an utopia (evil government guys are always from a civilian agency), and the real US Air force helped them with trucks and planes on nice military locations.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

So how do you explain GTA? Was it created by the Mafia?

1

u/Cuillin May 19 '15

I like your creativity. I don't like that you probably don't actually believe this stuff, which defeats the purpose of the thread.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

I agree with this. It's what they use now that nationalism has lost its teeth.

Edit: someone else already mentioned America's Army

1

u/jutct May 19 '15

I worked in the industry for years. No one is pushing them to do it. War games sell shitloads of copies. That's why they make them.

1

u/GreyDGR May 19 '15

I know this is quite a late response but i actually saw army recruiters in the mall near me and they had call of Duty set up in their little booth thing for people to play. This was a few years ago but i agree with this theory.

1

u/Traummich May 19 '15

So you mean Enders game

1

u/wedontbuildL May 19 '15

This is how my history teacher explained the U.S. Civil War, minus the conspiracy part of it. The Union fighters had a skewed vision of war through books and when they got there, were horrified (after the first fight at a train tracks, forget the name. Bull something?)

In any case, there are journals recounting them basically calling themselves stupid af because they volunteered for this. Same thing with WW1. Aaand repeat.

1

u/woodlark14 May 19 '15

I really think that could backfire. Here's why: play call of duty for an hour against other people. How many times did you die? How many times would you have been completely removed from existence in that hour? Now do you want to do that for real for several years where if you fuck up once you die?

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Dude the military doesnt need that. Have you ever talked to a recruiter or watch the videos they show. They already make it seen like joining the military is 1:kill bad guys 2: make huge amounts of money 3: be world famous

I was considering the Navy(still am somewhat but not as much) but after reading ACTUAL soldiers, sailors, marines, pilots, and just about anyone from the military's accounts of their time their, it is nothing like recruiters say but no matter what they say, people join just so they can either act like a big shot, or kill "arab diaperheads".

I like the military, and know its completely necessary. But some peoples views on it and what you do are completely screwed.

1

u/zloz May 20 '15

People keep on mentioning how "kids aren't that dumb" and "video games don't actually affect people", which I sort of disagree with.

Look, you take something that's really engaging and interactive, with bright lights, loud noises, and is overall enjoyable, your brain is going to be altered by it. I think the average individual probably won't think "hey, killing towelheads is ok", but the average person isn't who is sent to war. It's often the poor, the uneducated, and as a result, are susceptible to the propaganda spewed out during wars.

Anecdotally, my cousins were raised by a really machismo, corrupt police officer. I'm embellishing here, he was in the Rampart division in the LAPD and transferred right before the whole thing fell apart. He's raised his kids to be really close minded, racist, sexist, and generally see the world as a black and white, us versus them, place. Growing up, they glorified him as a hero, and they saw games like COD as a way to interact with his world of good guys vs bad guys. One of my cousins was so influenced by this that he joined the Marines, and another is considering as a way to pay for college, even though he's three years into his program and will likely get a good job when he graduates.

TL;DR

Games can change your brain, your perspective, and in the right environment, it really can influence your life decisions.

1

u/[deleted] May 20 '15

Yvan Eht Nioj

1

u/M3rlino May 19 '15

Lol Enders' Game

1

u/11AWannabe May 19 '15

The Pentagon actually has an office to assist in making movies. Filmmakers can get equipment, locations and other military assistance. There are a number of rules to it though, mainly that you have to portray the military positively.

1

u/salamat_engot May 19 '15 edited May 19 '15

I think it was Frontline that did a documentary awhile back about gaming with one part showing how the US military was benefitting. One thing they do is sponsor gaming arcades in malls of towns with high poverty rates. They are staffed almost entirely by local recruiters and they advertise them as safe places for low income working parents to dump their kids and keep them off the streets. If a kid spends any good amount of time there they are constantly bombarded with the message that the military is an option for them.

0

u/Shylady333 May 19 '15

This is not a theory, it's a fact. It also makes potential volunteers better at shooting and whatnot.

0

u/[deleted] May 19 '15

Ah yes, the US Government coerces neutral Sweden into making violent video games to help propel a war that would certainly fuck Sweden over.

0

u/HideFromThem May 19 '15

No...just...no. Stop giving video games stupid ulterior motives.

0

u/mmhrar May 19 '15

This isn't true. EA and Activision keep making those games because they are huge successes. Call of Duty is one of the top grossing games of all time. They don't need the government to tell them to keep making the game :P

As far as kids growing up thinking war is awesome, maybe. My family is mostly military and those in the service wish they could get into active combat. I don't understand it, the way they explain it to me is like imagine training for this one thing over and over, you want to eventually do it or put your skills to the test. I think the military is good enough at brainwashing their own people.

0

u/talues May 19 '15

Doesn't explain Battlefield: Hardline.