Roleplaying and politics.

[Green Knight]

It's just a game. I don't see how it could possibly produce better politicians. It's about as useful as Warhammer 40,000 is for producing better Generals (I.E. not much).

 

[aurance]

The worst possible and worst imaginable situation for any country that runs itself along any sort of democratic principles.

I absolutely agree.

 

[James Heard]

I think the idea of a gamer politician is a FINE idea. Here's what I've got, you all send me a thousand dollars and swear to obey me with unswerving allegiance. Next we assassinate all of the 'troublesome' leaders of the world that are in place already, storm the offices of WOTC and release PHBs to the masses as political primers. Next, everyone else sends me a thousand dollars or else I send you all to burn down their houses and kill their families. I rule with an iron fist, have 'declare a neighbor an NPC day' and 'monster hunts' in which we give unpopular people orc masks and short swords and then chase after them with high powered rifles.

I think it could work. Who's with me?

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

I think role playing helps out people in many professions. I know in customer services jobs, it is done often to help the trainees learn to see what it's like from the customer's perspective.

Not too hard because in almost all customer service jobs, there is a set way service people are trained to deal with all kinds of customers. And the rule is almost always to try and resolve the problem. It's not really an opinion. It's the way your job works.

I think in politics it is a little different because on many of the issues, there is no one right answer...just differing opinions. I'm picking an issue at random here...

Hopefully one that won't cause a stink...

Affirmative action...

One camp says it's the way to go for women and minorities to get good jobs, one camp says it is not right and rather offensive to hire people to fill quotas.

Say you're in the latter camp. You are, IRL, a white middle aged man. You role play the part of an Asian college grad woman looking for a good job. You can still say you feel the same way about the issue, and come up with reasons why. You may not be able to come up with any reasons why you would be for it. It is really hard to change someones opinion on an issue they feel strongly about. Not impossible, but hard.

I don't know if that makes any sense. Kind of hard without actually getting into a discussion about actual politics.

 

[Dogbrain]

So, yes, i think that any sort of RPing, or even just empathy, would make a politician a better representative of the people. But, sadly, in the current system it'd probably make them a poorer politician. That is, they'd fall into the same sort of situation as Carter, where the ideals are so much at odds with the reality that the idealist actually does less good than the enlightened pragmatist.

Compromise is a hallmark, the veritable stock-in-trade, of the pragmatist. Rigidity is the dominant trait of the idealist.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Wanna see a gamer in politics? Vote for me!

I belong to the Ninja Party. Our entire mission statement is to flip out and kill people, with REAL ULTIMATE POWER!!!