tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4707060365299116177.post4442399221165743891..comments2023-10-19T05:45:13.953-04:00Comments on The Parafactor Factor: A Utopian Society: Living a Dream or Beginning a Nightmare?The Parafactor - Live Paranormal Radio That Abducts and Probes Youhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03316900263525160106noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4707060365299116177.post-2900681193116841272010-02-20T22:28:06.274-05:002010-02-20T22:28:06.274-05:00I see Rapture as a crack at an apparently "Ob...I see Rapture as a crack at an apparently "Objectivist" society- but when you look at it, that's not entirely true. I've played this game and enjoyed it massively, partly because I'm a game artist and would spend too much time just looking at the environment. Not to read into it too much, but I think it does a diservice to Objectivism. The society is obviously not set up in the way Objectivism would promote, which is an actualization of what America was supposed to be- a society in service to the citizens and charged solely with the protection of their individual rights. Obviously, the most important component of that sort of system is a constitution protecting individual rights- that means a republican form of government, where mob-rule vote cannot vote away individual rights. A government with three primary functions- police, military, justice system- all to protect individuals from criminal behaviour,from outside threats to the group of individuals, and arbitrate disputes between individuals. Rapture, if Objectivist, would have had a police force that would prevent and retaliate against what the creators of Bioshock call "darwinian in-fighting" via splicing. In an Objectivist society, force is not a valid way of "trading" or "competing" because it invalidates a person's ability to reason/function as a proper human being. The only proper force is retaliation against initiation of force. Thus, though the sayings used in the game to describe Rapture seem to portray the principles of a free society, the game creator's Rapture is an anarchistic society easily prone to brute-force tribalism( which is why it fell.) <br /><br />In any case, I've taken my share of philosophy courses (none, mind you, even mentioned Objectivism- I had to read up on it myself), and Objectivism seems to be the the Occam's Razor of ethics and has definitely added a lot to my personal philosophy. I'd like to see an honest depiction of an Objectivist society- I have read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged just recently but sadly what she portrays is not under the Atlantic ocean! It's also lectury- I prefer the Fountainhead. Rand is a bit too beligerant to me- but I guess that helped her ideas get notice. It's worth a deeper look if you're interested. <br /><br />Oh and don't give up on true change in America- as long as we aren't censored, revolution can be had through ideas. Plus I don't know about you, but I don't have super advanced hunter drones whose exponential technological enhancement is artificially stimulated by an unlimited budget provided by infinite taxation of every single individual for the benefit of "the public." <br /><br />Our other option is to create a real Rapture, but lets learn from the mistakes of Bioshock's depiction and establish a society without the "freedom to kill other people" clause.bellnoreply@blogger.com