Playing War

 My friend Steven (bigboygametime) just released issue #3 of BOSSFIGHT (Playing War) and I wrote an article for it on things you can do to protest war in real life and still enjoy playing war in the hobby. A part of the article talks about boycotts, but for some reason there are anti-boycott laws in place in 38 states in the US (hmm.. if boycotts aren't incredibly effective, why would there be a need to ban them?). To prevent the need for Steven to change his handle to bigboyjailtime, part of the article is blacked out and I decided to post the full article here. 

Another thing I feel the need to point out during these times of ICE raids in the US, is that there are boycotts happening against companies aiding ICE. A quick internet search lead me to this article, which is behind a paywall, but it does show a list of corporations that have contracts with ICE or are working with them in other ways. Some examples are DELL (they have a massive contract with ICE that ends in March 2026) and Home Depot and Lowe's (their parking lots are regular sites for ICE raids), but there are many more collaborators with ICE.

 Anyway, here is the article!  

I don't know about you, but I find it genuinely difficult to say I'm playing wargames when friends ask me what I'm doing next weekend. I found it hard before, but with out current time getting more and more grimdark it's getting even harder. It's hard to explain to people that these 'war games' aren't an endorsement for war, but an elaborate excuse to spend hours with friends, and exponentially more hours of hobbying. Yet I still can't shake the feeling of guilt 'playing war' in a world where war becomes more and more prevalent every day. I used to think that I was pretty much powerless besides casting my vote every 4 years, but the last couple of years I learned that there are a lot more ways to exercise your power to not just say you are against war, but to also act against war.

1. Speak up!
This one is maybe the easiest, but I know it can be scary. People screaming at you to "keep politics out of the hobby" can be very intimidating and social media algorithms actively work against anything that strays from the status quo. However, along the negative comments, you will also find likeminded people that might be encouraged to speak up as well. These people will encourage others, creating an ever growing group of people that will become impossible to ignore. I have lost a few online hobby friends, but I have deepened friendships with so many more.

2.Protest!
People organize protests for all sorts of reasons, war being one of them. Protests work because they show people in power what is on the mind of the population. The more people show up, the harder it becomes to ignore them (they'll still try though). However, there is another reason why I go to protests that I found even more convincing. Watching the news and learning about atrocities around the world is not fun. I get angry, sad, and even more angry. Enough to make me lose hope. Going to protests helps me to find hope again. Being around so many people who feel equally maddened is a wonderful tool to channel these negative emotions into hope.

3. DON'T do your own research!
Okay, hear me out. You don't have to be an expert to see wrongdoing. To me there is a huge distinction between learning about different conflicts and actually doing research. Unless you are a journalist, historian or human rights expert, you are not doing research. Nowadays, people that tell you to do your own research are more than likely peddling in misinformation. What you do need to do is to keep a critical look on the news and media you consume. For the love of god, don't just read the headlines. Read the full article, and then read another article on the same subject by another outlet. How do they differ from each other? And more importantly, why do they differ? This is a lot of work, but essential in my opinion. Luckily, you will get better at this and you'll be able to spot difference in coverage faster. Misinformation is around every corner, and I think it's made worse by people getting stuck in echo chambers. It is your responsibility to stay critical and make sure you are not in one of them.

4. Boycott!
A major reason for the end of Apartheid in South Africa were consumer boycotts against South African goods. By not buying certain goods a large group of people can force corporations that profit from exploitation and war to make changes. The lost economic activity from these companies make the war efforts less sustainable.
The BDS (Boycott Divest Sanction) Movement is a similar movement against the Israeli occupation and genocide against the Palestinian people. I would urge you to check out their website, you will find which corporations are targeted, and detailed information on why exactly they are targeted! Hilariously, some countries have anti-BDS laws, trying to make it illegal when you choose NOT to buy certain goods. Luckily you don't have to register anywhere to participate in the BDS Movement, so no worries there.
For the war in Ukraine a lot of governments and companies already boycott Russia, either with sanctions or through not doing business (I feel like this makes it even clearer that boycotts do work). For other conflicts boycotts are harder because there is no organized movement (or at least not that I know of). The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Congo and Sudan are an example of this. Conflict resources (resources extracted in conflict zones) play a big part in both of these countries ongoing crisis. Minerals like cobalt in Congo and gold for Sudan are used in consumer electronics, but a boycott on these product is very hard because they play such a big part of our daily lives. Asking everyone to give up their phone isn't a viable method. What I try to do is to make my electronic products last as long as possible. Repair, buy second hand or refurbished if possible, and don't buy something if you don't need it. If a lot of people would do this it would not only benefit people in conflict zones, but it will also be better for the environment (the links between climate change, capitalism and the military industrial complex become very clear the more I learn about all these ongoing atrocities).

I hope this text can help you in finding ways to act against war. It is very short, but I hope it inspires you to learn more. If I had more time and a higher word limit (thank you Steven) I would like to get into more detail on AI use in war zones and how they relate to AI use by everyday people (DO. NOT. USE. AI.), but maybe that's for another time. Oh, and another topic I wanted to address is how tone deaf some companies in the miniature painting scene can be when it relates to war, but with this sentence I'm officially over my 1000 word limit.. 

Thanks for reading,
Arjan