This thread is the reason why I don't engage with the Gog community.

Good posts by Canuck_Cat though.

If you mean a study, article, etc....I don't have one atm...but I do have life experiences/etc.

It's called watching the world & things around you and elsewhere, and then forming/coming to conclusions....i.e. what humans used to do much more of before relying on "authoritative sources".

(not trying to nag on ya with the above btw....just saying that imo one shouldn't rely only/mostly on such sources and that one should more so use their own mind to interpret things around them/others)

We could keep stuff like halloween, valentine's day, the holidays, etc.

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I'd be up for such a sale(or two), but I doubt GOG could call it that...gotta find a more marketable title. ;)

While i doubt that's GOG's intent, this isn't the first time i've heard the argument that identity isolation and celebration leads to the segregation that these groups claim to fight against, thus that these groups create the problem that they're fighting to always have support and power. I really can't come up with a counter-argument to it.
It's, well, 'cause those with a closer connection to communism obviously do such a better job of equality, right? ;)

Yes, they are quite good.

It's super easy. If you tried.

A good point here, I actually tested it myself, no mention on the Russian storefront.

You've done a great job convincing me. =p

I just assumed, obviously there isn't an arbiter or anything. Reasoning is that of all the things to take pride in, its the uncontrollable things that someone should take pride in? Instead of making or working towards something to be proud of why take pride in an aspect of ourselves that we had no hand in choosing? Are humans amazing just because of existing?

I don't see any relation between festivals done within a religion to pride festivities today. The cause of any given religious festival isn't pushing the religion into the public conscience or to make people think about them. Basically, they're not PR or educational in nature. Either way, what I'm saying is that taking both festivals described in old books and festivals that celebrate who one has sex with too seriously is dumb.

I don't know why I bother, since you deny science (including climate science, whilst promoting controversial race science theories and anti-scientific theories regarding COVID). So fact-based argumentation and/or logic won't cut it with you.

An appeal to emotion? Then again, you've shown a chronic lack of empathy already, so I doubt it.

But just for the hell of it, let's amuse each other, eh?

The whole thing of equality, for example with LGBTQ+ people, is that people forget the reality of the world. We already live in a world with gross inequality, there's no denying that. Some places may be a bit better, some outright horrific, yet no country is immune to this. Therefore we need to talk about equity, that dreaded word that purported non-prejudists revile, yet is the reason we celebrate minorities.

So let's explore Equity vs Equality a little.

Regarding whether it's discrimination. Of course it is. Positive discrimination is still discrimination. I mean. It's in the name. But. If there is no other way to achieve equality, wouldn't equity be the way to go, temporarily?

Here's a Star Wars example. Episodes 1-3. The Anakin Skywalker story line, right? In the beginning the good jedi are overwhelmingly in power and there are no evil sith lords. Anakin is supposed to bring balance to the Force. What happens? He murders most of the good jedi, and begins a reign of evil. Of course that would happen to bring balance. Is what he did wrong? On some moral ethical level sure of course (though this whole example is completely extreme). Did it bring balance? Yep. What have we learned here? You need a big enough force to affect the balance. If things are imbalanced, you can never achieve balance (net zero sum) with a net zero force. It has to be biased one way or the other.

Equity as is, is a noble idea.

Equity is a means of achieving equality. Eventually there is no need for equity, in an equal world. We do not live in such a world.

The thing where it gets very iffy and controversial is when it comes to race or sex/gender/sexual preference. Is the fact that 98% of CEOs are men (hypothetical) enough to warrant a sex quota, and mandate certain number of women? This would still be by choice mind you, as there are no federal or otherwise actual binding laws mandating that your CEO MUST be female, to my knowledge.

Then the question becomes, are women disadvantaged due to some factor currently, whether it be bias, prejudice, or harder early life conditions. If you can show this, then equity is indeed warranted for equality. Otherwise you will never achieve equality.

Going further in my example, the three supposed candidates for the CEO job are almost identical on paper. In my opinion then it would be fine to select even a 'token' female to represent the company, as there would be no opportunity cost, all candidates are basically as capable as each other, but women are under-represented and it might even score them PR points and boost morale of female workers.

Now, I have no idea where you are from, but in Europe for whatever reason (we can speculate it's due to low immigrant/differing ethnicity populations whatever) we don't seem to do quotas by race, for universities for example. There is 'positive' discrimination for impoverished kids, i.e. scholarships because they were disadvantaged when growing up and going to worse schools in worse neighbourhoods etc., but even you cannot object to that, right?

In the US I am told it is different. There may even be black/latin/native american quotas. Here again, if you can show that natively, the black population has been disadvantaged in general compared to the white population, equity is the only way to achieve equality.

Lemme dig up an illustrative youtube video about advantages, disadvantages, privileges and different starting points in life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps

So you see, celebrating minorities and groups that have been persecuted, is the way to achieve actual equality. Your method hasn't and doesn't work. Hence, this is all super easy if you tried to explain it.

If GOG was determining prices by sexual preference or minority status -- or if all sales were based on some external status -- that would be a problem...

... or if GOG was promoting a game that highlighted a dangerous real world issue (ie Tonight We Riot as riots are happening right outside our windows)...

... that's a problem.

But I just don't see an issue with highlighting minority populations.

People do not need to like LGBTQ people -- or even condone their "lifestyles" -- but people must accept that LGBTQ people are a part of society and deserve the same rights and respect as others. With that said...

... the current "pushback" to LGBTQ people by elements of mainstream society is directly related to "otherness." Society at large wants minorities to become a part of the whole -- to join in a common dream, a common focus. The problem has come in where these communities have -- for a number of reasons (some valid, most not) -- decided #@$% society. When the minority doesn't share the dream -- and attacks the whole -- the whole will "fight back."

Sadly, what we have are a lot of young people who want to fight for change but don't understand the dynamics of how real change occurs. IMO the reaction to sales like these -- or these topics -- is directly related to this.

I could argue all against this, but it would be going down the rabbit hole and allow you to dodge the acutal point that was being made: that the pride stuff, racial history studies, etc, only reinforces group mentality which in turn upsets the out group which in turn keeps the groups against each other.

I mean, we could talk about these things, but my guess is it's all from some classroom instead of down in the dirt. Do you even know what poor is like? Have you ever lived on welfare, only to strive to leave the system only for the system to come after you because you chose to leave it and work instead? Hell, i got charged for cash i never saw, and that sure as hell had nothing to do with my race or ethnicity. It had everything to do with my mother claiming i lived with her and continued to get SSI for my disability when i wasn't living with her, so they came after me since it was in my name. Meanwhile i get to look up to all the people who were doctor's or business owners' sons and daughters all lecture me about how I benefited from this, while they get a free ride to "higher education," and some of them not even white. Yeah, sorry, i can also tell you why my black relatives were living in poverty: their mother was addicted to heroine. They're all doing better not living under their white mother's roof since she died. The one whose best off was doing great until he got busted selling weed, but now he's in the bee business (gee, wonder where he got the money for the land, and you wouldn't believe who his customers were back when he was selling weed). The other two have more legitimate lives and are doing fairly well.

But, hey, i know all about all these people being held back and it was all my fault, right? These people who were held back, man, they have no way to move up the ladder except by me taking a hit, right? Oh, wait, none of them actually threw me under the bus. The only people who threw me under the bus was the people lecturing me about race. My mistake was trying to do this honest instead of joining my uncle in his herb business. In america, the ones who actually get held down are the ones that bother to stay clean but don't tow the ideological lines. Then again, ACAB, 'cause cops keep catchin' the people like my uncle. Yeah, these cops who were buying weed from him busted him up so bad, and ruined everything for him, right. I'm sure all these people who never picked up a shovel in their lives know precisely fix the poverty problem, too. 'Cause, you see, people couldn't possibly have problems in schoool due to the home life, instead of constant racism in the schools i'm sure. Surely, though, all these people at the bottom who don't benefit from the quota system will never get vindictive and racist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_gay_propaganda_law

Don't you know? There's a black way! A hispanic way! All these races an ethnicities just can't quite break out of their way, and heaven forbid anyone try to change this. But, hey, while we're sticking to the almighty way, it's our race, not our way that's the problem. Oh, we're talking about LGBTQiA+ people? Who's being left out for being gay?

Did anyone not see the open bisexual in this thread push against the whole thing? GamezRanker is his name. I personally know alot of people who would normally fit into the alphabet soup who say they want nothing to do with that community. I don't think it's otherness, really. I think it's the confrontational attitude. I noticed the people who are encompassed by pride but reject it say they have nothing to be proud of, and they don't see the point in the... well... Just look at it. But don't worry, the company has their back, as the company really cares.

Societies do run on a degree of conformity. And when you catch that you realize that in the west, now, there are 2 separate societies, and they're fundamentally at odds with each other, tothe degree that one's trying to wipe the other out. Obviously there will be clashes.

I disagree, the "T" part in LBGTQ+ is a huge problem imo. This isn't about tolerance of homosexuals anymore, about granting them the right to civil unions or marriage etc. (which is indeed probably relatively uncontroversial by now in most Western countries), it's about forcing all of society to accept an ideological agenda with very dubious tenets ("more than two genders", "gender has no basis in biology" etc.). And there's real harm involved here. Do you really believe it's natural that it suddenly seems to be a thing among teenagers (teenage girls especially) to believe they're trans? Do you really believe it's good to encourage them to take hormones and have irreversible surgeries (which, to put it bluntly, involve the amputation of body parts)?
To claim this is just about tolerance in a "live and let live" sense is quite disingenuous imo, it has moved well beyond that.

Why am i not surprised?
You see, live and let live gives way when misery loves company. Your children exist in your house, you pay the bills, but you're not to teach them your values. That's the government's job, now. Don't worry, they'll make sure to make it as inclusive as possible. Your only job is to pay for it all and to make more soldiers for the military machine. Don't you understand we're building something here that's more important than those who came before us ever imagined?

That said, it's way worse than just convincing people to engage this stuff on a hormonal whim. You see, now we can invade certain spaces, too. Thirsty lonely incels deserve love, too, and as long as they can adapt to pronoun changes, we can shame those who still aren't interested in those incels.

Speaking of dodging the actual point and appeals to emotion - you didn't even bother replying to my (admittedly lengthy) post content and were instead content to divulge some personal anecdotes to...what? Prove a point? I'm not sure anymore.

Look, your *entire* point relies on the fact that your way of equality (which is allowing the powerful majority responsible for persecuting the minorities to continue business-as-usual) would work. News flash - it doesn't and it hasn't. There's still a ridiculous amount of inequality and prejudice in the world and no matter how loud you shout 'true equality for all! no discrimination against straight white men!' it will still be the case, unless we do something about it. That something is equity.

Pride and the celebration of minorities fits right into that. Why do we celebrate it? Why do *you* think that is? The common argument (which I will no doubt hear from you soon) is that why aren't we celebrating straight people too? Surely we are all equal? Why are the LGBTQ+ people 'special' and deserve 'special' treatment? I'd like to hear your answer to this, because the actual answer is very simple and clear for many people. Empathy, solidarity and compassion, hint.

The fact that you think this celebration 'keeps the groups against each other' showcases that you think the prejudiced in the majority are so rigid and brainwashed and stuck in their ways, that nothing will deter them from hating fellow human beings based on anything non-conforming. Well, some people have more faith. It's not the fault of the victims that inequality is perpetuated, or prejudice. You can't just go "Well, if they kept it in their bedrooms, out of sight, we would all get along'. No. That's you burying your head in the sand and allowing injustice to keep occurring. You wouldn't say anti-semitism is the fault of Jewish people, now would you? Same thing here. It's not the fault of people celebrating Pride that people hate it and turn against them, the blame is squarely on those people themselves.

You think we are discussing some hypotheticals from some social studies class? That's why you went on with your personal anecdotes (that actually were really hard to follow and had little semblance of a point)? Real people are affected, and many draw upon what they write from their own experiences, or friends' or families'. Just because I'm not sharing my childhood story and detailed income level and bracket growing up, doesn't invalidate my points.