Michael Berry says it best on why the GOP loses elections

The whole video is excellent, but if you want to get to the point, skip to the 5:15 mark.

Bioshock and Social/Political philosophies

Amongst seeing old friends and scraping together plans for things to do, I’ve also been replaying one of my favorite series: Bioshock. I’m really fascinated with the games’ critiques of various political philosophies.

From what I can tell, the first game’s message bids a warning about the fragility of libertarianism. As Fontaine makes Ryan paranoid and tries to enslave people via socialist/mob practices, Ryan’s desire to protect his libertarian utopia becomes its own undoing. It’s a powerful message that the United States should take heed of.

The second game, while not nearly the same as the first one due to 2K Boston (now Irrational Games) working on Bioshock Infinite instead of Bioshock 2 (made by 2K Marin), built upon the fragility of libertarianism and the difficulty to return to it. In the years following the first game, Rapture has deteriorated farther as a religious, collectivist cult led by psychologist Sofia Lamb further destroys the society Ryan had already watched crumble. Socialism really is a slippery slope.

Bioshock Infinite’s release date inches closer, but is still so far away. Not much about the actual story is available, but it appears to have criticism of both fascist capitalism and socialism. Bioshock Infinite’s Creative Director Ken Levine even mentions that the Occupy Wall Street movement has greatly influenced the development of the Vox Populi movement. Even more interesting is the rest of the interview with Levine, in which he states he’s more asking questions than pushing philosophies.