The Truth of the Editorial

by Mistress Nightshadow 

Ok, let's get to business... In the editorial "No free Speech for you!" I hear a particular mention of the fact that people shouldn't be talking about such issues because "We are merely doing the same thing."

Valid, but there is only one problem with that.

What makes people really think that everyone's going to just shut up about a certain topic? Not from just our side of the 'fence', but from all sides, the observers and those who believe the exact opposite we [RPGamers] as a whole do?

If it was a completely inactive world, where nothing ever happened, that'd actually work... but this is the real world, where events will trigger off debate. No matter how hard both sides will try, SOMEONE will suggest, "X point is bad." How educated that person presents the point varies, but it WILL come up.

Now, the question is, what do people do about it? Do we just shut up? Do we ignore them? Do we discuss it?

Let's examine each of those possible reactions...

First, the silence and the ignoring. It's dead easy to just shut up and hope the whole thing blow over... We all do it every so often. But there are certain implications that are suggested when one shuts up after being accused of something. Like that we're admitting [By refusing to discuss it] that they're right [and by implication, we're totally wrong.] Also, it also suggests that since we're just going to take it, it makes us easy targets for any further criticism, based on their assumption that since we can hammer them, and they won't say a thing, that we can hammer them even more and they still won't say anything.

There's the other option, and that is to discuss it. There are many ways to discuss a point. We could just run mass protests, we could write letters to people, we can talk about it, see both sides of the story.

Well, that is the essence of Democracy, isn't it? Discuss an issue, and [hopefully] reach a consensus. We can talk about them, presenting two or more different sides of the issue, and we can come up with something reasonable...

That's all theoretical of course. In real life, most people don't want to listen to each other. Case in point: The Middle Eastern situation there. There's no way some of the more extreme factional groups want to compromise. [Jerusalem anyone?] I'd like to think that they'd talk about it, but I can't seriously say I hold much of the future.

But that's what it all comes down to, doesn't it? If we're going to just pout our heads, ignoring everyone else, and just spit at each other, I really don't think we're going to get anywhere.

On the other hand, if we get their attention [I'll be the first to admit that I was VERY sarcastic when I wrote the thing] but encourage other sides to present their views, maybe, just maybe we might be able to pull what seems to be impossible. To get people to understand our side of the story, and to get people from the other side to write... and maybe, just maybe we'll actually understand each other, and we'll move forward into the future, where we don't have this ignorance, where we don't have to break a million fingers to get somewhere because the other side opposed us just because they don't get what we're doing.

That all depends on the fact that we have reasonable people out there, and those who will think beyond their own border. Not likely, but I think it's possible that people do indeed think.

This is one reason why the RPGamer editorials section is there for. This is the platform for RPGamers to discuss their side of the story, like how newspapers and the media is for the general public. This is where we can voice our ideas, where we can show that we want to discuss points, instead of ignoring the public and their concerns, that we care about the issues at hand, and won't just agree with the other side by the use of silence.

And to say that discussion should be squelched just so that it'll vanish out of sight... Conflict will always be on everyone's lips, and many will be unwilling to stay silent. It is best for one's grievances to be heard and dealt with, rather than stay silent and to suffer with them for the rest of one's life.

Well, this is RPGamer, and this is the Editorials section, and most importantly, this is where I feel where debate belongs. If you wish to comment, be it that RPGamer has every right to represent the readers, that you think that the Eds section doesn't deserve to exist, that I should be flamed out of the Editorials section, or you're just plain curious on how I managed to sneak out for a good hour or so during training at Kodak and write something, drop a line at nightshadow_007@angelfire.com. I'd like to hear from all of you... particularly postcards!

Just a note: This is RPGamer's editorial section, and this is where debate belongs. I encourage everyone to write something about RPGamer... be it the games, the players, or the people influencing them. We want to represent ALL of RPGamer.