I had one of my posts removed from Reddit earlier today in which I tried to “unionise” GameStop employees. You can read it below, as well as my correspondence with the moderators who then proceeded to ban me.
Irrespective of the ban, I think the following post can be applied to pretty much every single retail employee who works in the videogames sector, and who believes that their parent company isn’t working in their best interest (**hint** CEX **hint**).
Also, and for your information, I wasn’t trying to be like Neo and unplug people from The Matrix. And I also wasn’t trying to be like the philosopher who attempted to unchain people from their existence in “Plato’s cave”. But as you can see, I was met with resistance, and was ultimately crucified (metaphorically speaking) for trying to unchain people and bring them into the light.
I guess that’s the problem when one is attempting to engage with people who spend far too many hours playing videogames, and not enough hours reading books. Marx would support this as he would argue that videogames are the opium of the masses, and that gamers would rather spend 400 hours playing some rubbish Nintendo game (like Animal Crossing), as opposed to spending those same 400 hours in learning the fundamentals of business and working a side hustle. And then one wonders as to why so many GameStop employees complain about their “pitiful” wages, and are so badly treated by their parent company. It’s because they don’t value themselves or their own time, so it’s hardly surprising to discover that GameStop doesn’t value them or their time either.
According to the Indeed website, the average retail sales associate at GameStop earns $12.04 per hour. If they were to spend 400 hours working a “side hustle” (ie overtime) as opposed to spending those same 400 hours playing videogames, then they would have earned $4,816 (which is nearly $5000, and I refer to this figure below).
Marx would argue that in an exploitative society that’s controlled by the ruling elite (although a retail business like GameStop could also be used in this context), we need capable “organic intellectuals” who will rise up and lead the masses, and who will pave the way for a better tomorrow. These organic intellectuals could be capable “managers” and “retail sales associates” who would either look for opportunities in wanting to change the system from within, or break away and carve out their own perfect utopia.
In any case, you can read my post and correspondence with the Reddit moderators below:
How come none of you have decided to band together and form your own GameStop competitor?
With everyone on here complaining as to how they’re grossly underpaid and not appreciated by their parent company, and that they’re thinking of leaving and taking their wealth of knowledge / experience with them, I’m just surprised that nobody on here has asked their district team members as to whether they’d like to band together and go all in on their own (co-op style) store / company.
I’ve seen a number of posts on here where everyone in an entire GameStop store has upped and left. Why doesn’t the entire store team just pool their resources together and set up their own store? That way, everyone gets to share in the spoils, and no-one gets to feel cheated.
It’s almost like forming a union… Or better yet… Seizing the means of production (to use a Marxist term)…
There’s so many people on here who think that they’re “sticking it to the man” (when they quit), when all they’re really doing is cutting off their own nose in order to spite their faces.
I mean, how much is the cost of setting up a store and website? Looking at Youtube videos, and depending on the State and size of store, you could get away with setting up a store / company for around $20k.
How do you expect anybody here to start a business on GS salary?
If there’s 4 of you who are loyal to each other… And I’ve seen enough posts on here to prove that… Then that’s only $5k each… Which is nothing.
If there’s 4 of you… Then I’d suggest to not quit… Hunker down and work those extra 3 more months… Get that $5k.
Worst case scenario… Get a $5k bank loan… Because what’s $5k? A glorified credit card bill.
There are sooooooo many comments on here where GameStop employees wish for something better to exist on the market than GameStop… Well, why don’t you take the onus to form that better GameStop competitor?
It doesn’t even cost that much to set up your own company (especially if you form a co-op)… Instead, all I see are a bunch of whiners who are content on being under-appreciated wage slaves.
There are so many of you on here who have so many amazing ideas… So much underutilised talent and experience… And I’m just thinking that it would be a serious waste if you go down with the ship.
Like, seriously… Just ask your fellow team mates if they’d like to chip in, and together you can go on to form what could be a better tomorrow for games retail and the entire industry as a whole.
And if not “a better tomorrow for games retail and the entire industry as a whole”… Then maybe just think about yourselves….
Start small… Because all mighty oaks from little acorns grow.
Even a juggernaut like Reddit started out small… Where it was formed by 2 people.
If Reddit can do it… Then so can you.
After the moderators removed my post, I contacted them, and you can read our exchange below:
PRANKSTER101: Hi, why did you remove my post?
It was a perfectly reasonable post…
Maybe the people commenting are really stupid, but it’s not too hard to have a retail outlet in the #CurrentYear…
One can start small… By setting up a market stall… Or by setting up an internet website.
So many major retailers have started out small…
Grainger Games… They were a major retailer in the UK… And they started out small… They started out as a market stall. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grainger_Games
I think the people who commented on that post… Which your moderating team removed… Were being morons.
Maybe it’s the dregs of GameStop who have been left behind… Because everyone else is busy setting up their own ecommerce emporium via https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/
REDDIT MODERATOR: Spam. Lot’s of misinformation and you already posted a similiar post just a few days ago.
PRANKSTER101: Hi, with all due respect… It’s not “spam” or “misinformation” though, is it?
Spam implies “unsolicited usually commercial messages sent to a large number of recipients or posted in a large number of places”. My message wasn’t commercially orientated, and I haven’t posted my post to a large number of places.
Misinformation implies “false or inaccurate information, especially that which is deliberately intended to deceive”. How have I supplied false or inaccurate information, and how have I deliberately tried to deceive?
Facebook started out small… Reddit started out small… Grainger Games started out small… Apple started out small.
All these big companies started out small and in someone’s bedroom, garage, or local market… Cost to rent something like that is waaaaay smaller than $20k.
Apple, yeah… Industry juggernaut, yeah?
“To generate the $1,350 in capital they used to start Apple, Steve Jobs sold his Volkswagen microbus, and Steve Wozniak sold his Hewlett-Packard calculator.
Although the Apple I was sold mainly to hobbyists, it generated enough cash to enable Jobs and Wozniak to improve and refine their designs.”
You see that? $1,350.
Not $20k… $1,350.
Maybe there’s a reason why the people who commented were GameStop “employees”… Because they don’t know the first thing about starting or running a business.
So yeah… I wasn’t spamming… And my post wasn’t misinformation.
REDDIT MODERATOR: k, then bye
REDDIT MODERATOR: You have been temporarily muted from r/GameStop. You will not be able to message the moderators of r/GameStop for 28 days.
REDDIT MODERATOR: You have been permanently banned from participating in r/GameStop. You can still view and subscribe to r/GameStop, but you won’t be able to post or comment.
If you have a question regarding your ban, you can contact the moderator team for r/GameStop by replying to this message.
Reminder from the Reddit staff: If you use another account to circumvent this subreddit ban, that will be considered a violation of the Content Policy and can result in your account being suspended from the site as a whole.
I take it that the moderators were uneducated Nintendo fans…