So you'll happily accept some random commenter's opinion of the piece? That seems rather arbitrary. Why not accept the original article just as readily? Or was the title enough to prejudice you completely, so that all you're looking for is someone to confirm your preconceptions?
No but the poster you are replying to is correct. The article is indeed a "shitpiece" against capitalism, it seeks to paint shitty video games that bilk their users of money as some sort of phenomenon that unique to capitalism. Therefore we need to enact "Big Government" to solve the problem. The author nor the readers generally could not care less about those affected, their only concern are the delicious condemnations of capitalism. Meanwhile in Venezuela, and the USSR, and Vietnam and North Korea and on and on and on... maybe in some fictional country where humans are perfect robots their ludicrous socialist fantasy is possible, just not in the real world.
Even if you abhor the remedies suggested in the article, it is still true that marketers in general are trying very hard to run ahead of the average person's cognitive defences against exploitation. Given that, much of the discussion in the article is interesting and useful (and by that I don't mean "correct".)
The problems cited by the article are real, and the game makers are shitty people with bad motives. Unfortunately neither government (nor anyone) can make the world idiot proof, sometimes people have to learn from their own mistakes.
I agree that gambling is indeed bad, but gambling is not some sort of outgrowth of capitalism. You do not need captialism to gamble and one does not beget the other. The "game" makers are simply bad people exploiting others. These bad people would simply be bad in a different way in a socialist country.
Fair point. However, there are a bunch of complex laws in the US around gambling and gambling as a business is often banned where doing the same things as individuals is more often legal. Old but interesting: http://fortune.com/2011/02/15/was-my-sports-bet-legal/
Which I think get's into the same incentives as these games. If the house get's a cut of from poker players without risks they have reason to promote addiction. On the other hand friends playing for bubble gum can enjoy betting without meaningful downsides.
I don't think their are clear cut answers, but special regulations for companies due to the nature of capitalism has precedent in the US.
I think that the danger is: you make a law to protect idiots from their own stupidity and end up breaking normal business activity somehow, or creating a regulatory environment that's a pain in the ass for entrepreneurs and whatnot.
There are no thieves or bad actors in socialist utopias? Of course there are. Socialism doesn't work now and never will work given human nature. Face it: bad people exist and they will do bad things in whatever context they find themselves in. You are just complaining about the ones you see in this context. However they would just be a different kind of bad actor in a socialist context.
Do people not speed even when there are red-light cameras? Of course they do. So does this mean we could start handing out rewards instead of fines, for speeding, and people would keep doing the same, because it's in their nature to speed or something? No, that's crazy. Of course that a system that rewards certain behaviours will result in a higher incidence of those behaviours, whereas a system that disincentivises them will result in the opposite.
Don't you see how basic your comments are? I would suggest you be a bit less sure of your own righteousness, and a bit more receptive to listening what others have to say. As it stands you're only embarrassing yourself, and worse, you're polluting this website with comments that clearly indicate you're not interested in an honest, thoughtful discussion, but only in blindly defending the position which you've already decided to hold.
"To look at people in capitalist society and conclude that human nature is egoism, is like looking at people in a factory where pollution is destroying their lungs and saying that it is human nature to cough." - Andrew Collier
In any case, why should society encourage qualities like greed and selfishness?
"Society" does not encourage greed or selfishness, nor does capitalism. I'll wager that you don't actually care about those things, that you only care about other people having more than you. You are simply wrapping your "concerns" in moral language to make it seem like some sort of altruistic concern. However, you already have more than most people on earth I would imagine, you can already give your money away to the poor. I'll eat my socks if that's actually what you do though. Are you greedy are you selfish? No, just a normal person.
