“Human Nature” is a funny concept, because animals widely regarded as dumber than humans have been able to dramatically alter their behavior and social structures in response to changing conditions without having to have a whole goddamn culture war about it.
I guess by “human nature” they mean being petty crybabies easily manipulated by culture war nonsense.
“Humans are bad…therefore bad is good and good is bad.”
- Average fascist.
Well you see human nature means how humans would act in nature, so we just have to look to pre-agricultural societies, where societies tend to be more egalitarian and private investment didn’t exist.
“Human Nature” debatebros when I inform them that what’s considered “Human Nature” changes alongside Mode of Production:
Fallout has always been Anticapitalist, but unfortunately never commits. New Vegas is the closest, the more based factions are socialist and the 2 main sides are fascism or declining Imperialism, but there’s no true Socialist options other than headcanon with Yes Man.
but there’s no true Socialist options other than headcanon with Yes Man.
In my mind, that’s the dividing line between toothless
anticapitalist media and actual anticapitalist media: whether it portrays an alternative to capitalism as both possible and desirable. Not surprisingly, there’s a whole lot more of the former than the latter.Outer Worlds is a massive example of this. It nails the aesthetic of corporate domination and capitalist oppression, but completely fails to properly advocate for a better alternative, beyond “capitalism but nice”. And it actively punishes you for taking more “radical” approaches, instead of seeking compromise with the oppressors like it wants you to.
I remember that the one anarchist companion is described as extremely childish and averse to books. Which would be funny in a game like DE, but since Outer Worlds defangs any real alternatives to capitalism, what could have been funny satire becomes text
Me gunning down every person in Byzantium: “Wait, you didn’t want me to do this?”
FOR FUCK’S SAKE
“WAR NEVER CHANGES” IS A COMMENTARY ON THE DESTRUCTIVE NATURE OF WAR REGARDLESS OF ITS INTENT
IT’S SPELLED OUT IN THE OPENING OF THE FIRST GAME, I SWEAR TO CHRIST THESE FAKE FANS ARE GONNA GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK
OP in this post is also apparently Fallout co-creator Tim Cain
Damn, kinda fucked. But also recontextualises it as “Fallout the first game” instead of “Fallout the series” as he wasn’t much involved past #1. I’ve no idea how accurate that statement is then as I’ve never played 1 or 2.
New Vegas is more overtly Anticapitalist and more friendly towards Socialism, but it never goes the full way.
New Vegas is more overtly Anticapitalist and more friendly towards Socialism
G*mers: “Ceasar’s Legion FTW”
I like the authors take, at the end.
Fair enough, I suppose. Cain’s still been responsible for some of my favourite games even if he doesn’t share my read of them. Plus, if there’s one thing the Marx-adjacent among us don’t need help with, it’s reading anti-capitalism into literally everything
Lol I’ve been hit!
Roland Barthes stays winning. Authorial intent is bullshit and worthless when it comes to interpretation and criticism. One can read a piece of media in its context, but one can choose to ignore the author and interpret the content differently.
Yeah, like, this isn’t to say that it make his opinion any more valid, I just thought that was interesting context
“War is human nature.”
“Ok, then I choose a class war over a race war.”
“Aww shucks, why we gotta fight?”
i can’t say fallout is explicitly anticapitalist, but it definitely is the libbed up version of being anticapitalist, in that, you know “there are problems with ‘the system’”, but you think you can fix the system rather than coming to terms with the fact that it needs to be dismantled and replaced with communism- because as a liberal lacking an ideological lens to analyze the world through, you don’t actually understand ‘the system’
I enjoy the fallout mod to Hoi4. It’s got a lot of good content in it. That said, there’s an absolute infestation of enclave worshipping fash gamers lurking in it. To the mod’s credit, the it doesn’t jerk the enclave, and generally depicts them as scum. It’s even got some communist factions in it that are positive.
But there’s an Enclave submod, made by someone else, that they all obnoxiously larp with, circlejerking about their “ironic” fascism. I fucking hate it.
The unironic Legion fans…
The “ironic” legion fans…
thinks
I haven’t played F2 a lot because it sucks but it seems to me like the US is always the brutal aggressor in the Fallout universe.
I haven’t played F2 a lot because it sucks
Ooh, my little heart
Sorry but the game is bazingabrained in writing terms. Unbearable teenage 90s cringe.
The way it treats the indigenous proxy characters is also pretty yikes.
Massive yikes! Relatedly the introduction of slavery as a concept to Fallout… eh not a great move.
Yeah idk what they’re on about, it uh … it has a car
Generally yes, though Beth leans heavier on the “spooky scary Chinese commie” angle
Bethesda are Cringe, example #10595823
Bethesda holding some of my favorite fictional universes IP hostage…
Death to IP
Death to IP
I have come to the conclusion that must readers/players/watchers/media consumers are so indoctrinated by neoliberal capitalism that it’s just not worth it to listen to them talk about anti-neoliberal capitalism media. So many of the dumbest motherfuckers on the planet are stuck in the system and loudly defending it and see it in places it isn’t. These are the same morons that think Squid Games is anti-communist or whatever.
It’s more like capitalism-skeptic than anti-capitalist but in the extreme pro-capitalist hellscape of the world post-USSR even the mildest criticism of corporate oligarchy can be seen as a critique of capitalism despite it really not entirely being that. I mean, this is the country that is still extensively populated by folk that think socialism is when the government does stuff and communism is basically the Borg but with the color red.
That said, it is extremely funny that the rebuttal hinges on things being bad all over which means fuck-all when capitalism is a global system that fucks with everything and everyone, and is the only world the majority of the franchise’s fans have ever known.
Does that mean they identlfy themself as ridiculous capitalist, as Fallout show them ?
Reminds me of people who watch Star Trek and don’t realize how critical of capitalism the show was, especially DS9.
