Politics and Gaming

You may have heard that M$ is now banning the confederate battle flag and banning anyone from painting it or placing it on their cars. This includes the 'General Lee' Dodge Charger clones from the TV show "Dukes of Hazard."


https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/30/21308677/microsoft-forza-player-ban-confederate-flag-hate-symbols



As most of you know, I'm not from the South.  I was raised in Ohio and Minnesota, both union states, and were this a 158 years ago I would have been a Union soldier.  But many of my relatives are south of the Mason-Dixon line and I have a good understanding of what Southerners think.


Though I oppose actual racism (who doesn't?) and would have been an abolitionist back in those days opposed to slavery, that doesn't mean that I support deleting my countries history today. I have no desire to wave the Confederate flag, but I will fight for your 1st amendment right to do so.


For many if not most in the South the Confederate battle flag does not represent what the extreme far Left labels it as today.  It is not an emblem of racism.  It is not a symbol of slavery.  It is a symbol of rebellion and independence.  This is why Union soldiers referred to Confederate soldiers as rebels, or "Johnny reb" and not "Johnny slaveholder."


Think about it.  If it was an emblem or symbol of slavery would CBS have allowed it to air?  Would the "Dukes of Hazard" TV show become the #2 show in America behind "Dallas" back in the late 70s? It's ridiculous when you think it through.  What, are you going to tell me all of America was rabidly racist back then?  Even those in the northern states? Even the TV networks?  Hollywood? This would have to be true for a show to become that popular (i.e. everyone would have to be racist), if what the far Left claims are true about the Confederate battle flag.  


But, you know that's not true, America is not a racist country. What's next?  Banning the Dodge Charger because it was used in the TV show with a Confederate flag?  Don't laugh! It's already happening!  Look at how many things are being banned that have nothing to do with why they are being banned.  Even in Forza, T10 banned the iconic SS performance emblem on all Chevrolet cars.  They deleted the emblem from the cars!  Why?  Because it somehow breaks their own usage rules. 78 years ago a Nazi German military unit called the SS existed in WWII, which has nothing at all to do with Chevrolet's acronym for Super Sport.  Innocent people have even been attacked just for having the same name as someone the mob deems is racist. So it is happening right now.


So what's really going on here?  Why is everything suddenly at risk of being falsely accused of systemic racism?  Why is America headed down this slippery slope that will continue to erode their 1st amendment rights?  Who is deciding what is or isn't acceptable and on what basis?  Who is curtailing your God-given rights under the Constitution without so much as a vote?


What if I decide along with a bunch of people who think like me that the g a y rainbow flag is a militant anti-straight hate symbol or as Forza might say, "notorious iconography?" Is it then okay for me to violently oppose people who display it?  Is it okay for me to burn their businesses to the ground?  Is it okay for me to outlaw its use and those who attempt to use it? Is it okay for me to destroy their culture and history as a group because I don't like them or their flag?


This is what is being done in America to American's today.  A small mob minority with the loudest voice amplified by social media and a willing press is convincing the masses that America is and always has been racist to its core.  And that the only solution, the only vaccine for this virus, is to completely destroy everything it stands for and start over.  Why?  Because (they will tell you) America has never been good let alone great.  Because America is a flawed experiment from the very start and has only succeeded and become the greatest country in the history of the world because of luck and unfair advantages and exploits. 


So who are these people making this case against America and her people?  It is the same America hating people it always is.  It is people who are against individual freedom and liberty.  It is the statists, socialists, communists, Marxists, anarchists, and totalitarians of the world, people who fundamentally believe the power of the state (or mob) trumps the rights of the individual.  They are in fact the same intolerant people who accuse everyone else of intolerance.  These are the same tyrannical people who oppressed our founding fathers and provided the impetus necessitating the creation of America in the first place. They are the same people who say they are against racism but want to obliterate monuments and statues dedicated to peace and equality.  The same people who say they oppose violence and then burn your town down and kill cops.  The same people who claim injustice but refuse to accept the rule of law. 


And just who is the supporting cast of this loud violent intolerant anti-American lawless minority and their efforts to fundamentally not just change America, but to entirely remake it in their own image? Corporate America (Microsoft, Apple, Sony, Exxon, Walmart), professional sports (NFL NBA NASCAR), the entertainment industry (Hollywood, TV), the national press (NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, NYT, LAT), social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google), liberal Democrats, higher education, intellectual elites, communists, terrorists, and our geopolitical enemies China and Russia, that's who supports our downfall as a country.  That's who wants to destroy all that America is good or bad. 


Whether willingly or unknowingly it should be clearly understood all of these groups have something in common, they all are in some way in support of taking away your unalienable rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and in particular your right to free speech. If you don't defend everyone's right to free speech, then it's only a matter of time before your own right to it will be threatened as well.


Americans, I tell you, it's time to take a stand. Silence won't make it go away.  Though not yet a perfect union, will you allow the American experiment to end at the hands of its envious enemies, or will you protect your rights as a free people and stand for liberty and justice for all?  


Just read below what the hero of all leftist's (Karl Marx) says about private property rights and then contrast that with what our founding fathers said.



“the theory of Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”
― Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto



"It is no accident that a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to justice for all protects property rights. Property is the foundation of every right we have, including the right to be free. Every right claim, after all, is a claim to some thing — either a defensive claim to keep what one is holding or an offensive claim to something someone else is holding. John Locke, the philosophical father of the American Revolution and the inspiration for Thomas Jefferson when he drafted the Declaration of Independence, stated the issue simply: “Lives, Liberties, and Estates, which I call by the general Name, Property.” And James Madison, the principal author of the Constitution, echoed those thoughts when he wrote, “as a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights.”
Much moral and legal confusion would be avoided if we understood that all of our rights — all of the things to which we are “entitled” — can be reduced to property. " --Roger Pilon


GTDon

Don - I must say. Very well written. I agree 100%.

So do we boycott Forza 8? lol. Asking for a friend.

latte speed wrote:Don - I must say. Very well written. I agree 100%.

So do we boycott Forza 8? lol. Asking for a friend.

Thanks Latte.  It's quickly coming to this isn't it.  Little by little you start to see your freedoms being marginalized and replaced by expediency, access to services and products, and the "greater good."

Already I know people who have done just that, they have boycotted the NFL, all Chinese made products, and Walmart to name a few.  I personally will not be patronizing NASCAR anymore.

You have to ask yourself a simple question; when is enough, enough?  When do you say my freedoms, my liberties, my rights as a US citizen are not for sale to those who would compromise them for their economic benefit?

I believe that just as your rights are being eroded slowly, the reverse can also be true, we can erode the profit of those who would trade with our rights slowly too.  Over time as they see fewer and fewer people watching NASCAR or buying made in China, or Walmart, they will begin to change or go out of business.

We don't need to go into the streets and burn the place down, we simply need to withhold our capitol from them and go elsewhere.  I shop at my local grocery store, it costs more, but it weakens Walmart's grip too.  I refuse to buy anything Chinese if at all possible which supports American manufacturing today and for the future. I won't be watching any NASCAR anymore until they change their tune and allow free speech again.  If my Minnesota Vikings start taking a knee (which they haven't so far) I'm done with them too. If T10 and Microsoft get too stupid I will go to iRacing, rFactor, ProjectCars, Gran Turismo or whatever.  I will not allow these corporate entities to dictate what my Constitutional rights are.  I will not stand idly by and allow anyone to infringe on my rights either.  They will pay a real price for biting the hand that feeds them.

GTDon