Was gamergate a turning point in your life, in your philosophy or in your worldview? From what to what?
I'm contemplating on how it has affected me (very significantly). Some of the friends I made during gamergate seem to have not changed so much. What was it like for you?
Share your stories.
Nice format, Im-a copy.
Like you, shy and awkward growing up, kept my opinions to myself mostly.
Step 1 (2008) Joined Chanology to take down Scientology. This was the first time I really felt that "Fuck it, I have things to say and I'm gonna say them". I realised that being assertive and confident was actually part of my character if I just let go of my fear of being judged by others.
Step 2 (2014) GG happend and right away I saw parallels with Chanology: The same smear tactics, SJWs advocating cutting ties with problematic people etc. I wouldn't say it was any kind of turning point for me but I realised that a lot of people on the left (where I am, politically) were batshit crazy. One example that stood out to me was that I realised that all that time when we complained about Fox News being propaganda, I was pretty much alone in being opposed to it because journalism shouldn't be propaganda. All the others were just upset it wasn't propaganda for **their **cause.
Step 3 (2016) Trump vs Hillary and all the crazy shit that I noticed around 2014 and earlier have ramped up a lot. I see constant lies in the press, friends saying that anyone who supports Trump will be unfriended on social media. I was of the opinion that Trump was "not that bad" and had a lot of good suggestions like term limits and see him mainly as a center-right figure, whereas most people on the left and who just casually read news think he's Hitler incarnate. After he got elected, the left ramped up their BS even more, TDS is real. But the more they screech and lie and smear and threaten, the more people see through their BS.
Step1: For me I distinctly remember a moment in like 10th grade where I said, oh that guy is an idiot and agrees with me. It was the first moment I called into question my political beliefs as a liberal.
Step 2: Was asking questions about obvious hypocrisy over a few years. Namely stuff like why girls get math help when boys don't get writing help. This was important to me as I was still ashamed that I was bad at spelling. But all I ever saw was token lip service and uncomfortable answers.
Step 3: Gamergate. Where people I had agreed with politically had decided that the hypocrisy was exactly what they wanted. And I suddenly rejected the foundation of ideas they had.
Step 4: Trump's election. I called it like a year in advance. Not that I was happy about it. But I recognized the undercurrent that gamergate was with Trump. Where everyone that felt marginalized by the approved hypocrisy was left smolderingly angry. And that Hillary had alienated the Bernie supporters without even attempting to build community support. Now I see TDS, as a comicbook youtube suggested, as brain-damage. Because it proved the world did not run off what the propaganda says and that the foundation of their worldview was flawed. And the stress and fear from that made them double down on it.
So here I am now. A classical liberal that sees a complete lack of either party attempting to promote liberty.