Why do people blame social violence on video games, when violence, strife and chaos existed centuries before any video game?

Because Suburban mothers are too afraid to blame their parenting and have only video games left as a scapegoat.

Because they don't want to have to take responsibility for themselves, their offspring and their society, and because they have no concept of history as a whole. I was talking today to a pre-teen who is not generally allowed to watch even PG-13 movies, and had never heard of Stalin. I'm sure her parents are the types to blame video games for violence... but I blame ignorance.

I think the reason is, generally, nothing more than ignorance. All of a sudden, thanks to the media, we're overwhelmed with stories about rape, murder, dealers pushing hard drugs to little kids, abuse, massacres and so on. So it's no wonder that, now that we are all more informed about what's going around us (often to the point of exaggerating how bad things are), some people try to figure out what could be the cause of this "influx" of crime (whether real or perceived) and end up blaming video games/music/films etc with violent themes. Seeing as countless studies have been undertaken for decades, yet there is still no solid proof of a connection between crime and digital violence as far as I know of, I am not concerned.

Probably because sarcasm alone doesn't seem up to the job

Perhaps because the more one is exposed to violence, the less impacting it becomes? Just a guess in today's world.

Social violence is an outgrowth of a lack of INDIVIDUAL responsibility within the society. There are multiple facets to this: There is the individual responsibility of each parent to raise their child to respect and adhere to the rules of the society in which they live. There is the individual responsibility of each person for their own actions. There is the responsibility of each child to learn and adhere to the rules of society. For any group of people to co-exist with each other (form a society), there MUST be rules to govern their interactions. Otherwise there is anarchy, violence, and failure. For those rules to be meaningful and successful, every individual has the responsibility to uphold them and, should they require it, be corrected and/or punished for not. This whole concept of blaming things on others or, better yet, on nebulous concepts such as 'society', 'corporations', 'governments', or 'video games' has the effect of shifting personal blame away from the individual and, ultimately, away from ANY given person. The "It's not MY fault, it's HIS fault" eventually becomes "It's not ANYBODY'S fault". Which is tripe. Admiral Rickover had it right: "Responsibility is a unique concept... You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you... If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at the man who is responsible when something goes wrong, then you have never had anyone really responsible." For your information, Admiral Rickover is commonly referred to as the 'father of the nuclear navy'. He is THE man responsible for the nuclear propulsion systems on our submarines and air craft carriers AND their unparalleled safety record. He stood before Congress and told them, in no uncertain terms, that HE was PERSONALLY responsible for EVERYTHING about the entire program, most especially for ANY failures. He would not allow fingers to be pointed at anyone else but himself. The solution to social violence (which is what's important here...not BLAME) is to realize what the root cause is and to affect changes to remedy that. And the root cause is a lack of personal responsibility of the individuals within the society.

Because it makes them feel better to have something or someone to blame. Lots of this random finger pointing when, of course, the problem is never just one simple thing.

Maybe because in some cases, with "some people". Some video games may increase it.

i don't think anyone blames video games for causing violence, strife and chaos, but studies are numerous that they encourage acting on these latent tendencies