Quote Originally Posted by bipper View Post
Some adults are not even responsible enough to be considered adults. Some people are just flat out impressionable. Actually, a lot of people are. Thus BRAND MARKETING. Collectively, people set a trend of impressionability; regardless of those idealists and artisan's that are not impressionable, and have the perception to see past such influences.
Well yes, I see what you're saying, but if the influence were that strong - were are all the murders caused by Manhunt 1? By Grand Theft Auto? All the grisly murders caused by Mortal Kombat? And I mean the genuine thing, where the judge, cops, and shrinks agree that was the cause - not when Jack Thompson is trying to make more fuss, or when a grieving family is looking for something to blame.

Freedom and responsibility, huh? That is the magic combination. To have freedom, one must have the responsibility to see the reasoning in laws, or whatever system we find will work (not putting any system on the pulpit at the moment.) The problem, right now, seems that we balance freedom with accountability. This basically says that freedoms can be hindered by certain individuals, as long as they are held accountable for their actions. Noble, but without the premeditated responsibility, I do not thing true freedom will ever be viable.
I feel that responsibility can be forced onto people quite easily; make them free, ensure there are robust systems to intercept the criminals, and ensure people are aware of those systems. Everything else will follow naturally; the strong and intelligent will prosper, the responsible will remain free, and the weak, stupid, and irresponsble will usually suffer one way or another for it, whether through direct legal intervention, or simply through the fact that their actions make them difficult to employ at any level higher than janitor.

I'm certainly not willing to approve censorship on the unproven chance that people will be influenced to murder and mutilate by something; I'm not sure I'd be willing even if it were proven, because the numbers of people are so obviously miniscule even if EVERY crime attributed to the media is actually the media's fault.