You know, the article The Washington Post released earlier today struck me as an attack, at first glance (OK, it is an attack, but bear with me). It compares Donald Trump and his candidacy to GamerGate. Well, actually it flat-out says Trump is the GG of the GOP. Now, the column is riddled with smears and inaccuracies, and I’ll certainly talk about those in a second. But the fundamental premise does seem to have at least a little merit. I see GamerGate as a band of disaffected consumers from all over the spectrum, and that reminds me a lot of Trump’s coalition. There are even some supporters who don’t even care for gaming at all. They just like taking on the moralistic scolds who are trying to take over public life. That’s always been fine with me. I don’t care why you’re here, so long as you’re contributing. Since GamerGate is the biggest (semi) organized movement to ever take on these SJW scumbags, of course it will draw some non-gaming supporters.
Now, how does Trump’s troop of voters remind me of GG? For starters, many Trump fans see him as a rebellion against mainstream politics. A sizable number of them aren’t your traditional Republican voter, either. Hell, some of them might even be disaffected Democrats. The point is, they’re all rallying around something they see as an elevated cause. It’s not about Trump personally, although a lot of people love his showmanship. It’s about what he represents.
The political class in the United States has failed us so miserably that people legitimately hate politicians now. It used to be a joke, but the hatred is now very real. They make all these promises on the campaign trail, only to go to Washington and act in a completely different manner. Not only that, they’re also a bunch of liars. Sometimes, they’re outright criminals. All of this could be overlooked, if things were going well. The people are willing to forgive a lot if the country is running smoothly. It’s not. Think about it…Congress is completely gridlocked and the presidency is a reckless behemouth at this point. The Supreme Court isn’t much better. The citizenry has given up on its institutions and it’s very easy to see why. Absent some big changes within the next decade, we’re headed for much worse times.
That’s the same sorts of issues that have propelled GamerGate, albeit on a smaller scale. We’re dealing with the media, not the ruler of the free world. But, you see overlap all the time. The structures that used to have respect are failing: the old media, gaming journos, even gaming companies. So, while the author of this Washington Post article was completely off base with most of her retelling and rhetoric…
…the underlying theory still has merit. Will Trump end up snatching the nomination and then the presidency? I have no idea, but his candidacy does remind me of GamerGate in those key areas. Let me know what you think down below, while I go grab dinner. Thank you for reading, and I appreciate all the work we’ve had from the various contributors over the last few days. I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I have.
(cover h/t to @adudeinaplace)
