I’m talking in the context of the “capitalist rules”. If you say the aforementioned sentence, you remove the responsibility of the player by dismissing the fact that the winner makes the rules.

PS: Doesn’t work for every context: if the player aims to change the rules because he doesn’t like them, he might see winning as a way to change them. “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” I guess…

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24 points

I can hate both. Morality is not subject to the whims of legislation. If you’re a billionaire, you’ve done something immoral. Playing “within the rules” does not absolve you of all morality.

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5 points

Legislation is not the only game being referred to by this saying.

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-1 points

No, but it was OP’s example. Use it in any ither context, and I’ll tell you why the player is also a shitty person, regardless of the game.

Is it a guy being emotionally manipulative to have relationships with multiple women? Yeah, he’s a shitbag.

Is it a business resorting to underhanded, but profitable, practices to corner the market and boost income? Shitbags.

Is it the kid cheesing that one move to win every battle? Shit. Bag.

I mean, there are degrees of being a shitty person. But anyone saying “don’t hate the player, hate the game,” knows they are doing something shitty and are doing it anyway because they can.

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5 points

If a game inevitably leads to billionaires unless you can count on all individuals being moral people, I take the liberty of hating the game that sets things up like that.

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3 points

Any system can be abused. Amoral assholes will always exist. We have a system that rewards amoral assholes with wealth and power. Hate both the player and the game.

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3 points

Of course you can hate both. But I think the phrase tries to make you focus on systemic issues instead of individualising them.

I can hate Elon Musk. But if he wasn’t there, someone else would fill the dipshit shaped hole the system leaves for him.

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1 point

We have a system that rewards people for producing value. You can see the effects of this system all around you, in the absolutely massive wealth that surrounds and serves you every day.

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20 points

The reason that doesn’t make sense, is billionaires are the only ones with the power to fix the economic system thru political donations.

The saying isn’t meant for your example, because they’re not just players. Their also the refs and the ones who wrote the rules for the game.

Like:

It is what is

That makes sense if said between prisoners about how shitty jail is. But if a prison guard beat an inmate and then said that, it doesn’t make sense.

Just because it’s not true 100% of the time for 100% of people doesn’t mean it’s worthless. By that logic no phrase should exist

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9 points

I agree, I’ve said that about this phrase before! I can hate the player too. Not one of my favorite maxims.

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