For the first time in my adult life.
Edit: But don’t get me started on California, which I’m ashamed of today.
A blog on virtual worlds, games, and digital content, from Matt Mihaly
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 by Matt
For the first time in my adult life.
Edit: But don’t get me started on California, which I’m ashamed of today.
Saturday, December 27th
I’m not so interested in when a book is released, so this is a list of the books I read in ‘08 that I enjoyed the most, regardless of when they were published. “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” - Junot Diaz. Fiction. I rarely re-read books until at least a couple of years have […]
Tuesday, December 16th
I don’t post most of our job openings here, but this one is a good opportunity to potentially break into design. You can find the job specs for this junior-level position here. If you’re someone who loves the idea of designing content for MMOs (quests, NPCs, items, etc), are in the Bay Area or willing to […]
Sunday, December 14th
Gene Endrody penned a comment in my “Games Cannot Be Evil” thread that got sparked a brief thought. He wrote: “In many MMO’s the premise is genocide if you take a step back and look at it from a high level. I think that’s more an accident of the grind mechanic and it’s not done with […]
Sunday, December 14th
I know I’m late to the game here, but I’ve recently started watching the reality series Survivor, and I’m addicted. The current season (not sure which one that is…11th maybe?) in Gabon is the first I’ve watched and I’m enjoying it far more than I thought I would. The gamesmanship is fascinating to watch, and […]
Friday, December 12th
Raph has a post up explaining why, in his view, a torture minigame taken in isolation is evil, which he seems to believe quite strongly (even going so far as to invoke the Holocaust…). I don’t buy it, at all. I’m a big opponent of torture in the real world, but I don’t believe that anything […]
I’m Matt Mihaly, CEO and Creative Director of Iron Realms Entertainment. If you want to know more, click on the ‘About’ link under the big tower graphic at the top of the page.
27 comments
November 5th, 2008 at 4:05 am
Eric Lamy
Been a long journey, but there’s plenty left to come. My greatest hope is the enthusiasm engendered by the campaign doesn’t die with the campaign itself. The sort of energy I’ve seen at rallies I’ve attended and with the volunteers I’ve been around can be a powerful force, so I hope that spirit stays strong for a long time.
November 5th, 2008 at 5:19 am
Irune
Had my doubts until the very last moment though, since I don’t fully understand the american way of thinking “globally) but I am very glad of the result even if they weren’t my country elections
After all, whatever America does affects everybody else…
November 5th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Garrett
Fuck you.
You’re finally proud of America because it elected the guy you like? So if 2% of the populace changed their minds America would still suck?
Do yourself and America a favor. Where ever you could be proud of for the rest of your adult life, go live there. Because sometimes you side will win in America and sometimes the other guys side will, but if you can’t be proud of her no matter who is the president is then this isn’t the place for you.
It’s just an election. The country is still made up of the same people yesterday as today. Or 5 years ago, or 10 years ago. Why weren’t you proud of America then?
November 5th, 2008 at 8:54 am
wowpanda
The only regrets from me are, if all my friends who voted McCain would vote for Barr, it will be a huge impact to the republican party ….
Yet they voted for McCain because they are afraid Obama would win.
The 2 friend I did pull to vote for Barr didn’t go because they are busy at work. So over all I made no difference at this election
The only thing we need to worry about is now Democratics got both President and Senate, they will rot (already rotted) just like the republicans.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Matt
Garrett wrote:
Fuck you.
*hugs* You’re a lovable guy and people like you, don’t worry.
You’re finally proud of America because it elected the guy you like?
Nope, I’m proud of America because it made the right choice. I’d have been reasonably ok with either Nader or Barr winning too. However, I’m proud of America because a country that was founded by slavers has elected a man whom many rednecks in this country still look at as inferior by virtue of race.
And I’m proud of America for rejecting Palin and her whackjob fundamentalism. More than anything else, I’m proud of that. The idea of that idiot with her finger on our nuclear arsenal was my #1 reason for voting for almost anyone but McCain/Palin, and it’s heartening that half the country got its act together and kept her away from the White House.
Where ever you could be proud of for the rest of your adult life, go live there. Because sometimes you side will win in America and sometimes the other guys side will, but if you can’t be proud of her no matter who is the president is then this isn’t the place for you.
I’m not into being a blind jingoist. I’m proud of America when it does things to be proud of, and I’ve seen precious little of that. The last 8 years in particular have been quite disheartening, and even today my pride is tarnished by the passing of the homophobic prop 8.
–matt
November 5th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Eric Lamy
Unfortunately, my excitement today has been thoroughly tempered by the gay-marriage ban being approved in California. This is something I don’t see ever coming to my state of Massachusetts, thankfully, but it sets terrible precedent.
November 5th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Zell
I don’t get this thing in the US, where if you’re not beaming with pride for your country no matter what it does, you’re a traitor. The people who feel this way, don’t they realize you’re speaking as an American who wants America to be as great as it can be? Blind loyalty is moronic and helps nobody.
The 2% argument is an interesting viewpoint, but it’s not a valid argument. It’s what actually happens the matters. If you murder somebody it doesn’t matter that with 2% less adrenalin in your system you wouldn’t have. You still murdered somebody. We fulfilled the promise of the nation’s founding ideals last night and that matters. You can toss demeaning statistics at this fact all you like but it still matters.
November 5th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
wowpanda
It is hard to understand why people don’t take pride in US. It is the world largest democracy, was the pillar that win over Nazi and Japanese invasions in WWII, raised from a colony to world’s super power, and has never failed to correct itself when it is wrong, the only non-African country with a black president.
US does has short comings, but its benefits is way over its harms. If people can’t see that, I don’t know what to say.
Buddha once said, what you see of the world is a reflection of yourself.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:12 am
Eric Lamy
I think it’s a bit naive to say that America has never failed to correct itself when it is wrong. I love this country, but we’re not infallible, and there are certainly a lot of wrongs we’ve committed and are still committing that have yet to be addressed.
November 6th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Ben
The US has been the largest contributor of aid (monetary and otherwise) to foreign countries for your entire adult life as well, but you were never proud of the US then? This pride hyperbole is ridiculous. You can be proud of the US because of some of the thing it does and be disappointed in others, but to say that just because voters elected someone you like you are proud for the first time is absurd.
November 6th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Matt
We’ve been the largest contributor of aid because we have the largest economy. On a per capita basis, many other countries exceed the US, by huge margins in some cases. Here’s a chart from 2002 (didn’t have time to dig up something more recent). You’ll note that Norway, for instance, gives seven times per capita what the US does: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0930884.html
And again, it’s not about whether someone I supported won or not. It wasn’t a matter of pride to me either way in 2000. In 2004, I was ashamed to see Americans vote back in such an objectively bad President.
In this election, I wouldn’t have cared all that much if if Obama, Nader, or Barr were elected. The important thing was that a majority of the country rejected the ticket Palin was on. She’s a dumb hillbilly who actually believed Africa was a country, not a continent, and who couldn’t name the three North American countries that are part of NAFTA (canada, US, mexico). Her crazy fundamentalism combined with her boggling ignorance made it absolutely urgent that she never have access to our military and nuclear arsenal.
America is so subsumed in religious nuttiness that it DOES make me proud that our country rejected the whackjobs and installed someone capable of thinking into the White House, and that someone happened to be a person who was formally discriminated against just a few decades ago. I can’t think of another single act in my adult life that offered me that kind of unadulterated pride in my country. You may feel free to disagree, or to find examples of America’s actions which you believe I should have been proud of, but pride’s a feeling and it exists or it doesn’t. It hasn’t previously for me.
–matt
November 6th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
wowpanda
Even from that graph, I have to say I am impressed by the American people. Government spending is spend others money, so the best representation is private spending.
US is the third largest on pre-capita, which if you think about the size of US and the diversity of its people (including new immigrates etc) is incredible. It will be a very interesting read to see which region/group of people are the most generous.
November 7th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Zell
I know it’s boorish to post links, but this editorial from The New Republic struck a cord in me and seemed appropriate to the topic: http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=1945c380-a40f-44dd-b8d2-5f95e7017263
November 7th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Matt
Great article!
November 9th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Hans Otterson
“has never failed to correct itself when it is wrong”
Like Matt, I too am incredibly proud to call myself an American right now, but the truth of the matter is that the above statement is not true. We *still* have not officially apologized for slavery or the stealing of Native lands and genocide of Native people. Hopefully that will change under the current President-elect.
November 9th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Matt
And further, a mere apology can never be a “correction” to a horrible wrong. We could apologize to the native people but it wouldn’t change the fact that by any measure, native populations in America are terribly poor and disadvantaged thanks to America’s past actions and present inactions.
–matt
November 12th, 2008 at 8:28 am
wowpanda
No matter which nation you are from, there are a lot of wrong doings in the history. You can either bury yourself in shame or go forward and try to do something beneficial to the world.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Matt
The responsible thing to do is certainly not to just sweep the horrific wrongs this country has committed (in recent memory too, not remote history), but to openly examine them and atone for them. Saying, “Well, lots of OTHER nations do horrible things too” isn’t even a sliver of an excuse, any more than it is for a murderer to say, “But other people did bad things too, so let’s just forget about my crimes!”
–matt
November 12th, 2008 at 10:47 am
wowpanda
You didn’t get what I meant. I didn’t say forget them, as history is your best teacher. America didn’t forget the horrible things that happened, nor did it cover it up like some other places. In the history book you can see clearly what America has done. You should reconcile with your past, and try to do the right things from now on, instead of fall in the shame and commit suicide.
Just an example, would you remove yourself from this land and return your home to the Indians? Weighting on the rights and wrongs of this nation, would you say that this nation has done much more rights than wrongs?
November 12th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Matt
Sticking something in a history book isn’t atonement and doesn’t do a damn thing to rectify the wrongs we’ve committed and are still committing.
What’s important is what actions a country takes to atone for its wrongs.
Tell me: What has this country done to atone for the millions it murdered in Vietnam? What about the people who are still, today, being maimed by the bombs we dropped on Laos? How much effort has America spent cleaning up those millions of unexploded bombs that we dropped forty years ago?
Words are just words. Actions speak, and America has a terrible record of even trying to right its many wrongs.
–matt
November 12th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Matt
(Unfortunately, I don’t see this changing under an Obama administration either.)
November 12th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
wowpanda
Americans during Vietnam war are trying to help the Vietnam government to fend off the communists. If US didn’t pull out so quickly, we might see another contrast of a free south Vietnam vs north Vietnam just as in Korea.
You also need to check your sources about US murder million people in Vietnam.
To me the failure is US failed to defend the south Vietnam people. In every war there will be causalities, the US has bombs that hurt their own too, so US are murders of their own as well.
There are a lot of unanswered questions. Should you be shamed for US not defending the free south Vietnam people? Should the US be shamed for the Chinese civilians it killed when it was helping china against Japanese? Should the US be shamed for the Philippians it killed during WWII? Should US be shamed for the civilians it killed in Nazi Germany?
November 12th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Matt
I cannot believe you’re defending the Vietnam war, much less the war the US conducted against Laos (and lied about for years).
I don’t think there’s really a productive discussion to be had if you actually believe the US had any right to invade Vietnam and bomb the living hell out of Laos. Clearly, our moral compasses are built very very differently.
–matt
November 12th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
wowpanda
The south Vietnam gov asked US for help, just as the south Korea government asked US for help. The only difference between the 2 is US stayed in Korea but abandoned Vietnam. I actually meet decedents of people from Vietnam in school, they are doing pretty well here, compare to their relatives back home.
So you don’t see any difference between north/south Korea? Do you think the Vietnamese refugees in US blame US for their situation? Do you think the Chinese/Philippians/German people hate the US because they are “murderers”?
Let’s ends here and reflect upon ourselves.
November 13th, 2008 at 6:01 am
Doogal
Wowpanda, great comments. It’s true, we were asked to help in Vietnam, and we were winning in Vietnam but the impeachment of Nixon happenend, and the Case-Church amendment was passed due to overwhelming public outcry. Because of that, Saigon fell and over 200K south vietnamese were put into “reducation camps” where they were tortured.
Matt, Should we hold Clifford Case and Frank Church responsible for the torture of 200,000 South Vietnamese officials?
November 27th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Gray
However, I’m proud of America because a country that was founded by slavers has elected a man whom many rednecks in this country still look at as inferior by virtue of race.
How can you expect people to take you seriously when you make a statement like that? You clearly dislike the group of people you call rednecks. At least part of that dislike stems from their perceived attitude towards another group of people. You claim the moral high ground, but you demonstrate the same attitude towards them as they demonstrate towards the group they dislike. This makes you no different. So you’re not a racist. Congratulations. You’re still a bigot, and a hypocrite to boot.
I’ll be proud of this country when we can get past the red state / blue state bullshit that has torn us apart over the last decade. In that time I’ve had significantly more problems with people because of political disagreements than race differences.
November 27th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Matt
The difference, friend Gray, is that one group (bigots) dislikes people because of things that are fundamental to someone else - color of skin, sexual orientation, etc. Aspects that someone didn’t choose and cannot change.
Disliking a KKK member or a rapist or an Al-Qaeda member or just a redneck racist is disliking that person because of beliefs he/she chooses to have and, in some cases, act upon.