While its storytelling left something to be desired, Bioshock Infinite still has one of the most important political, economic, and social messages of any major game put out in the last few decades. Though a fictional narrative, Infinite’s presentation of Socialism, both in its revolutionary form and what Socialist governments are actual like, is amazingly true to life. At the same time, Infinite also shows what happens to a society that embraces violence as the vehicle of change and shows the ultimate holocaustal outcome of choosing violence. Herein, I look at how the true nature of Socialism is laid bare for all who play the game, whether they like it or not.
Category: Politics
Insights Into A Free Society From America’s First Great Novelist
In addition to be a novelist who managed to give form to the American identity in his tales, James Fenimore Cooper also had a keen insight into America’s social and political culture. His writings on politics, culture, society, and government also magnificently captured the early American ideals of liberty, humanity, and freedom, preserving the wisdom and insight into these concepts that so many of us so desperately need today, but have lost. Drawing from his work, “The American Democrat,” I explore Cooper’s insights into subjects such as social equality, liberty, the basis of good government, the limits of political power, and more. If more people understood these truths then the world would be a freer, safer, more prosperous place for all.
Book Reviews: The Dystopian Technocracy of “The Last Crime”
Herein I review Ian Kennedy Martin’s, “The Last Crime,” a near future dystopia that combines Orwell and Huxley’s insights into a single story. The story also reveals the true basis of the State and why almost every revolution is as bad, if not worse, than what it replaced.
Music For The Revolution, Volume 1: The Mixtape of Liberty
In church we are taught that the songs of the righteous are a prayer to God that He delights in hearing. (D&C 25:11–12) Elder Dallin H. Oaks has taught that because of the power of music to direct our thoughts is so strong we should memorize hymns as a way to move our minds away from sinful and temptuous thoughts and as a way to better learn and understand the doctrines of the Restored Gospel.
The same is true when it comes to promoting the ideas and values of liberty. f we want to buttress the message and values of liberty within ourselves, our homes, our families, our children, and our friendships, we have to be more conscious about which kind of music we are listening to and willfully choose to immerse ourselves in the songs of freedom which promote liberty and avoid music that encourages ideas of subservience to people, organizations, substances, and ideas that weaken and destroy our humanity and liberty (for you cannot do the one without the other.)
In an effort to do this I thought I would share some of the music that I regularly play, music which embraces and promotes the ideals of liberty, freedom, and the worth of the individual. That way you too can fill your home with the doctrines, values, and spirit of liberty.
The Lies At The Heart of School Shooting Reports
It seems like every month we hear about a new school shooting somewhere in the United States. Terror inducing, these reports are often followed by calls for greater government gun control from politicians, news agencies, and people across social media. Every year it just seems to get worse. But, can we actually trust these reports?
No, I’m not talking conspiracy theories like the so-called “Sandy Hook Hoax.” I’m talking about actual studies, with verifiable sources, originating with trusted agencies such as NPR, USA Today, and the ACLU. I’m talking about the independent reports they have release that have shown that out of hundred of reported school shootings less than a dozen could be verified while the vast majority of them were outright proven false.
I’m talking about cutting through the lies and distortions of news agencies to get to the manipulation and deceit at the heart of the way school shooting are reported and how that information is presented to us.
The Catastrophic Dangers of the Attitude of Servitude
Have you ever wondered why so many submit to the obviously stupid, destructive, oppressive, and insane demands the government makes upon them? Why are people so willing to allow the ruling classes to do everything from rob them to steal their children away to be slaughtered in wars? Why do people believe what they’re told to believe and think what they’re told to think by politicos, corporate talking heads, and others who so clearly have every incentive to lie to everyone for their own gain? Why do people allow themselves to be abused constantly? And why do they lash out so violently at anyone who dares even question the ruling elites and their systems of power, nevermind those who actually challenge it?
This article is about why all these things happen and what can be done to change it.
Save Jesus Only: The Greatness of the Prophet Joseph Smith
With December being the Christmas season I feel like we often get so caught up in celebrating the birth of Christ that we overlook the birth of the second greatest man in history – the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., born December 23, 1805. This year I wanted to take a day and celebrate his birth as well. Second only to the Savior, the Prophet Joseph is worthy of all the admiration, respect, and honor the Saints give him. This article was written to highlight some of the many ways that the Prophet Joseph was a paragon of Christianity, worthy of learning about, learning from, and following the example of in our lives.
President Biden’s Vaccine Mandates Have Been Smashed In The Courts
On Sept. 9, 2021, US President Joe Biden imperiously declared that his “patience is wearing thin” with those Americans who were not yet vaccinated. That same day he issued his first vaccine mandate with two others following in November of 2021. By December 2021 they would all be struck down by the courts, with judges ruling they were inept, nonsensical, unworkable, and – most importantly – deeply unconstitutional as they violated the separation of power and allowed the President sweeping illegal powers if allowed to continue. Here I explain these rulings and how they help us to truly understand exactly what the law is and how it functions, something too many are sadly ignorant about. These mandates are an attack on the basic ideals of individualism and democracy and a threat to the rule of law. Disobedience to them is not disobedience to the law, but preservation of it in the face of illegal power grabs by the US President.
Latter-day Saints Will Never Find Justice In The Legal System
The history of the Church of Christ is full of men and women imprisoned for putting the Kingdom of God before the kingdom of men. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego, Peter James, John, Paul, Abinadi, the brothers Nephi and Lehi, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum the Patriarch, even the Savior Jesus Christ – all of them were imprisoned because they loved God more than men and were loyal to His commandments no matter what the laws of men said. All of there examples, and many more, prove the truth that no follower of Christ can ever expect to find justice in the courts of men. This address from Apostle Lorenzo Snow, on the eve of his imprisonment by the U.S. government for obeying God’s commandments is one of these stories about how a true Christian acts when the demands of men contradict the commandments of Christ.
Bioshock, Ayn Rand, and the Horrors (?) of Objectivism
I am not an Objectivist (which should be obvious to anyone who has read any of my other articles.) But I have studied it in order to understand it. And I am constantly annoyed by the multitudes who have not and yet have very loud and very pompous opinions on Objectivism and Ayn Rand. In the video game subculture, there is no game widely held to be a definitive commentary on the “true” nature of Objectivism than the 2007 game “Bioshock.” There is only one problem with this belief: From start to finish, including all the lore, at no time is anyone in the game an Objectivist nor is there any time in which Objectivism guides the people in the story. While the game is magnificent in many ways it is an absolute failure as a critique of Objectivism. Here is the definitive explanation of why it fails so badly.