 So Boycott Walmart is trending and ESPN just cancelled an Apex Legends tournament because apparently people still think that video games contribute to mass shootings and this is a major issue that we need to discuss right now. What is up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem but focus on the solution. If you're new to my channel what I try to do is take different topics going on in the world and try to see what lessons we can learn from them. So if you're into that stuff make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. And real quick note there is a 99.9% chance that YouTube has demonetized this video because we're talking about violence, video games, mass shootings. So if you like what I do here at this channel, video visit my website www.thewiredsoul.com, grab one of my books or become a patron, whatever you think is going to help you out to help support the channel. I like to give things in return for your support but YouTube has just been on this rampage of demonetizing everybody. Anyways, let's discuss. So this is something I've had a lot of requests about to discuss the ridiculous debate about our video games contributing to gun violence and mass shootings and everything like that. And those of you who don't know me I'm really big on mental health, I love learning more about psychology and everything like that. So a little bit more about me that a lot of people don't know because I don't talk about it that much. Not only have I been a gamer my whole life. I'm 34 now. I started playing when I was about 5 on the original Nintendo. But I was also in professional esports for many years. The game that I was involved with was Counter Strike. I was a professional writer. I used to travel all over the world. I went to Sweden and France and Spain. I also coached one of the top teams in the world at the time. Alright, so I've been very involved in video games, specifically first person shooters as well. So this is a topic that I'm very passionate about especially because my son, he has been playing video games since a young age as well. And I'm so glad that this is something that we get to do together now. Alright, but anyways, you saw like Phillip DeFranco covered this, a lot of people covered this. When the recent mass shootings in El Paso as well as in Dayton just happened, a lot of people, this is typically a right side talking point where they bring up video games and mass shootings. Which is absolutely ridiculous. Whenever this happens, study after study and statistic after statistic comes out showing that there is no correlation. There's especially no causation, but there's definitely no correlation between playing video games and mass shootings. Like those things are just not anything. In the 90s, it was that darn hip hop music. In the 80s, what was it like death metal and stuff like that? You know what I mean? This is an ongoing issue that we've had as a society and I think it's because the people up top don't really want to look at the real issues. They want to push it and focus on everything else rather than looking at common sense gun laws. They want to say, oh no, it's the violent video games. But anyways, Boycott Walmart was trending today because they have decided to take down quote unquote violent video game promotions and ads and like cardboard cutouts and things like that. And one of the reasons people have a major issue with this is because Walmart sells guns. And this is an issue. Just taking those things down. I feel like a lot of companies and things like that, they do it because it's more of a PR move. And in a minute, I'm going to talk about science and statistics and why doing things like that actually hurts the real cause. You know what I mean? But they took these things down. And here's the thing that we need to discuss about Walmart. Walmart is not a great company. Yes, Walmart has those low, low prices, but they're not a great company. This is something that a lot of people have been talking about is how Walmart pays their employees so little that they need government assistance. Meanwhile, the Waltons are one of the richest families in the entire world. So don't even for one minute, no matter what kind of PR moves they use and the fact that they're still selling guns, that they're actually these good people. It's absolutely ridiculous. And here's my personal opinion. A lot of you aren't going to like hearing it, but let's do this. Let's give some tough love. All right. When I see Boycott Walmart, or even when John Oliver did his episode on Amazon and right before Prime Day and the working conditions in the warehouses, everybody converts you signal all they want of Boycott Walmart, Boycott Amazon. But here's the thing. Here's the reality that a lot of you won't admit publicly, but I know this about you because I know this about human nature. Your morals and saving money, like saving money kind of goes like that. And unfortunately, because of the shady things that places like Walmart and Amazon do, they're able to have those low prices. But this is something just about cancel culture and internet mob mentality. Everybody on Twitter can use the hashtag Boycott Walmart. I was telling my beautiful girlfriend, Tristan, I said, I almost guarantee there's at least one person out there hopping on the Boycott Walmart hashtag bandwagon. Who's currently in a Walmart while they're tweeting that hashtag out. You know what I mean? Because on the internet you convert your signal all you want. Like nobody's going to track down like John Smith, 895 underscore TV. You know what I mean? Like nobody's going to find that person and see if they've actually stopped going to Walmart. So that's just like one of my own little gripes that I have. But anyways, ESPN was apparently going to host an Apex Legends tournament. I'm a fan of Apex Legends. My son and I would play a lot of Fortnite together, Apex Legends. Pretty cool. I haven't played in a little while. But anyways, they did the same thing. They decided not to broadcast this tournament. I believe ABC was going to do it too. But in light of the mass shootings. Now let's talk about why this is just absolutely ridiculous. It's fundamentally wrong. And it's not helping us get any closer to the solutions. I'm going to use climate change as the example. I am absolutely amazed that we're in 2019 and people still do not respect scientific evidence. That blows my mind on a daily basis. So I remember a couple of years ago, I think it was like Bill Nye. Like Bill Nye was debating climate change with somebody from the right like a couple of years ago. And I remember people covering this. Because this was a huge deal. I think right after Trump got elected around 2016, 2017. Like I know some of you remember this too. But a lot of people are saying like you shouldn't have these debates. This is why a lot of people don't like mainstream media. Because when you have somebody debating science versus opinion. You're giving them a level platform. And it's not equal. Okay. There's science and then there's opinion. Okay. So to even give like a platform to someone who argues against the scientific evidence of climate change hurts everything. Right. To even say that there might, might even be just a little bit of truth to what they're saying. It hurts everything. Like what we need to do is say, okay, what you're saying is not based on science. You are not allowed to come back here until you have actual facts. And that's the thing that we're seeing with video game violence as well. All right. So when you have companies like Walmart, when you have places like ESPN being against violent video games, when every single scientific study out there shows that there is no correlation between mass shootings and gun violence. When they do these things, it's hurting the cause because especially these places with such large influence. Right. Everybody knows about these places. It's trending on Twitter right now. This gets into the minds of people and they say, oh, maybe violent video games do lead to gun violence. And trust me, I'm not worried. I'm not worried in any way, shape or form that the government is going to take away our video games. The issue that I have is that it's this kind of like smoke and mirrors thing. So we don't focus on the real issues that we don't focus on the fact that we don't have common sense gun laws like you guys. Oh my God. Even Lindsey Graham. All right. One of the most conservative mofos out there. Even Lindsey Graham is for common sense gun laws. All right. Like let that sink in for you real quick. Like Mr. Like right to bear arms is for common sense gun laws. Like this is something that most people on both sides of the aisle agree with. But the NRA is just throwing money down people's throats. So nothing ever changes. But like I said, like for the for anybody to even give merit to the argument that video games lead to gun violence. Like we're taking away from the conversations around common sense gun laws. Like we're taking away from the conversations about mental health care. If you want, watch my last video about how mental health is a factor in mass shootings. And then watch my last video I just did about Andrew Yang being one of the only candidates regularly talking about mental health. All right. But anyways, please do not perpetuate the idea that things with no scientific evidence are causing the problems that we're facing here in the United States like mass shootings. All right. But anyways, let me know your thoughts on this about people blaming video games for violence and mass shootings and things like that. Let me know down in the comments below. All right. Anyways, like I said, this video was probably demonetized by YouTube. So make sure you check out the description and the pinned comment for other ways to support your boy in this channel. All right. But if you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up if you're new. Make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell and a huge, huge thank you to everybody supporting the channel over on Patreon. You're all amazing and everybody else supporting the channel by getting books and all that kind of good stuff. All right. Thanks again for watching. I'll see you next time.