The Right Dishonourable

I’m old enough to recall when the establishment was opposed to video gaming. Derided as the hobby of nerdy teenage boys, the links to anti-social behaviour only increased as graphics became more realistic and games more violent. Some titles, for example Manhunt, were even linked to real life murders.

Such real life violence was played up by the likes of activist lawyer Jack Thompson, who sought to ban the latest filth. It was also common to view the hobby as unproductive, rotting the brains of the yoot. But lately this has changed, and one game that exemplifies it is the ‘social deduction’ hit Among Us.

Our politics have an unhappy habit of falling into language debates during crises. You’ll recall – and I won’t tire of repeating – the kerfuffle about whether ‘China virus’ was a racist term for what became better known as Covid-19 or the coronavirus last March.

I blame the surfeit of humanities grads who fill our media organisations, which were previously more likely to be staffed by those who had come from school via the local newspaper. The trade has an interest in hiring wordsmiths, but often wordsmiths’ interests hurt the trade.

In the past fortnight we’ve heard suggestions that the local elections scheduled for 6 May will be delayed, some for the second time since the Covid-19 pandemic erupted. Local authorities tasked with running them are cash-strapped and unsure they can do it safely, and such elections have dismal turnouts anyway.

As I argued in The Article earlier this week, such thinking devalues democracy. Officials like London mayor Sadiq Khan have been holding office without a mandate for months already, and voting is the most fundamental function of any democratic government – not an optional service.