The Urge to Kill

"GTA made me do it,"

And just like that, GTA IV was pulled from the Thailand shelves following the 18-year old confession, who robbed and stabbed a 54 year-old taxi driver to death.



How the government could ban thousands of innocent people from playing, merely because one sick act of a deranged teenager is beyond me.

But above all, is economic restriction even the way to go?

With the ban in place, the rarity of possessing GTA IV is valued significantly by consumers translating into willingness to engage in illegal trading, even at higher prices. Smugglers, gangsters, mafias and the breeds now monopolies the GTA IV market, further wrenching the problem of piracy and illegal markets in Thailand - all thanks to the government.

The devils that they planned to kill just got bigger and richer.

The thing is, rational human beings have instinctive moral compass and would not in their right mind kill one another. When one commits such act, would we rest in believing that it is a simple video game that destroyed his morality and rationality? To put the blame on a simple video game is to downgrade human’s intelligence and our capacity to live civilly.

Perhaps banning is just a government's shout to the society that they are doing their job. But whether they're doing their job right is a different story altogether.

For a country that legalizes prostitution, making GTA IV illegal is quite a laugh.

Xx.

Your harmless GTA IV fan (I love doing this kan? ;) )