Counter Attack Against the NDP Party of Nova Scotia
		By Jesse Smith, May 14, 2004.
		http://slicer69.tripod.com/


	In the last month, the NDP party of Nova Scotia has made a mockery of
itself and, in the process, offended me on a number of levels. Having previously
been a supporter of the NDP party, I consider this unfortunate as I have often
leaned toward the left in Canadian politics. The NDP has managed to change my view point
on this issue.

	The first hint of change came in the form of a private bill from a Halifax based 
riding. A woman pushed forward the idea that video retailers should have to ID people who wished to
rent/purchase video games. This is, she claims, to protect the children from scenes of
adult subject matter. I say it is pure foolishness.

	First of all, the reason behind the bill is all wrong. The private bill, probably
soon to become law, came about when the lady's son brought home a video game she deemed
inappropriate for his age. Her push to ban such games from the hands of children is an
emotional knee-jerk reaction. This is not a mature, reasonable way to practise politics.
Do we invade any country not agreeing with our view point on human rights? Do we shoot
homeless people who clutter the streets? Do we place a curfew on the young people that
might harass us in our parks? No. Those are not long term solutions to the problems in
our world. Neither is banning material from children.

	Any (wise) parent knows that the quickest way to get a child to pick something
up is to tell them not to touch it. If the NDP does manage to pass this silly bill, it
will not only fail to keep violent games from the hands of children, it will also cause
them to lust after such games. Take into consideration the age most people start smoking;
it is below the legal age of purchasing cigarettes. Children will play "adult" rated
games, whether they are legal age or not. This bill would just give them all the more
reason.

	Secondly, putting a ban on renting games is likely to cause an increase in on-line
copyright violation. If a minor cannot rent a game at the corner store, he or she will
just as likely download a copy from the Internet. This would have a negative impact on
both retailers and the video game industry as a whole.

	Third, just what sort of images are the NDP hoping to protect our children from?
Movies which show frontal nudity, bloody death and sexually explicate scenes are often rated
as low as PG-13/14. Keeping that in mind, it stands to reason that any fourteen year old
should be able to purchase/rent any video game on the market.

	Lastly, I realize that children will rebel against their parents. However, if a parent
is not aware, or not monitoring, the images their child sees on a regular basis, then that
is the fault of the parent, not the government. If the lady who is pushing this half-assed
bill spent half as much time with her child as she did drafting this properly-sounding drivel,
then maybe he wouldn't shock her by bringing home inappropriate material.

	Even as I put together this opinion piece, I took time read some local news. The NDP
is now taking a stab at video lottery terminals. What, does the NDP hate television screens?
Ten problem (Nova Scotian) gamblers, they claim, committed suicide in 2002. Thus, VLTs must be 
evil and made illegal. Again, this knee-jerk reaction to a non-problem.

	That same year, over 150 Nova Scotians committed suicide. Ten of them happened to have
gambling problems. Just ten. There are over fifty thousand regular gamblers in this
province, they spend well over $100 million a year. This money helps pave our highways,
keep our taxes low and helps to pay the government's large salary. One out of fifteen
people who killed themselves happened to be gamblers. What other problems did they have?
Depression? Poor home life? Lack of education? Keep in mind that ten out of 50,000....that's
less than one one hundredth of a percent. That's not a lot of gamblers taking their lives.

	Gambling is addictive. Sure, I agree. Which is why we try (unsuccessfully, I might add)
to keep children from gambling their money. That's why the ALC hands out booklets on the
risks of gambling and tips for responsible gaming. And, you know, most people follow those
guidelines. Ten, just ten of the thousands of gamers took their lives in incidents that may
or may not have been gambling related. For this, this?, the NDP wishes to remove VLTs from
our province. Lots of things are addictive. Coffee, cigarettes, sleeping pills. Yet
they choose to focus on gambling. People go into gambling with open eyes. It is a choice. No
one is forcing the public to toss their money into these machines and there are plenty of
help groups to get them to stop. Let the People make their own choice.

	I say better to get rid of the NDP than our video games and gambling. What's next?
No more fast food, it might kill us? No more books, they might corrupt us? No more
sex with our loved ones, they might have diseases?