Why I Care, Part 2: The Snobs Progress Society

Note: This is part two of three. For part one, click here.

2. The Snobs Progress Society.
To a certain degree, being a snob is not a bad thing. Having standards is a good thing! If you don't have any standards, you're reading Twilight(Hey-oh!)! If you don't have any standards, you're playing My Little Pony: The Movie: The Game. If you don't have any standards, you're watching movies like "Meet Dave" or "The Last Mimzy".

Snobs get a bad rap because people don't like being told that what they are reading/playing/watching is not up to snuff. And it's true, some snobs do take it overboard, and are complete jerks about it. That's not right either. People confuse snobs with people going with the crowd, too. That's not right. Snobs will go against the crowd, and point out flaws with the sacred cows of culture.

But snobs have a very important place in our society. Technology gives us the tools to progress our culture. Art actually does progress our culture. Artists are pushed forward by the snobs. The people who care. The people who critique. The people, like me, who will write articles about why the most successful game of last year sucked.

Without people who care, culture would stagnate. And a culture that stagnates inevitably dies. I firmly believe if one thing will kill the country, or any society for that matter, it won't be a recession, it will be a lack of caring. Once a culture stops caring, the death stops being a matter of if, and starts being a matter of when.

Yes, I'm being very alarmist again. That's because it's alarming.

Don't understand me? Let me explain. Every generation has something new, that the generation before hates. If people from the new generation don't speak up and prove it's not actually evil, then the culture will stop progressing, and stagnate. If you can't progress, other cultures will, and then they will overtake you. Why do people from the new generation speak up against their elders? Because they care.

Think about it, movies were called evil back in the day. People said they were corrupting our youth. People from the next generation pointed out that wasn't true. Society moved on.

TV was corrupting our youth. People spoke up. Society progressed.

Comic books were corrupting our youth. People spoke up. Society progressed.

Now, it's Video Games that are corrupting our youth. If people, like me, don't speak up, society will not progress.

Don't buy that our society would stop progressing with movies, comic books, or TV? Last I checked, a lot of people became interested in the career they chose because of a movie/TV show/comic book. What if some kid becomes interested in medical science because of medical games like Trauma Center, and ten years from now, cures cancer? Well that can't happen if no one cares enough to speak up.

You may think it sounds like a stretch, but you never can tell. And it'll never even have the chance to happen if no one cares.

Note: This is part two of three. For part three, click here.