Objectivism meets Video Gaming in BioShock

Objectivism meets 18 year olds in an award-winning BioShock video game. The game can surely be seen as an attack on Ayn Rand's philosophy, but Brian Crecente has written a good article on the positives of bringing the philosophy to a mass audience in a new way. And it's not just any game, it's one a slew of Game of the Year and Best Story categories.



The game isn't a 'serious' look at objectivism, but the philosophy is a strong thematic element. The president of the Ayn Rand Institute, Yaron Brook, has some positive analysis of the issue in the Crecente article. I'm pleased that my son has been assigned both Anthem and The Fountainhead in his high school, and I look forward to further discussion with him after he 'experiences' the game. Here's a quote from the article:

"The sunken city of Rapture, a world of art deco aesthetics, neon sales pitches and looming architecture, is home to more than just murderous splicers and lumbering Big Daddys, it's also a surprising breeding ground for introspection.

BioShock may have been conceived as a study in nuance, a place for gamers to discover and explore at their own pace, but its dip into the ethical morass of Ayn Rand's objectivist philosophies has brought her beliefs back into the mainstream spotlight and even piqued the interest of the Ayn Rand Institute's president, Yaron Brook."

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And here's the 4th installment of the political-photoshopping fun:

Collective Punishment vs Fairness

Szandor Blestman points out the 'unfairness' of collective punishment in schools. I remember those situations as happening at least weekly, sometimes daily, during elementary and middle school. Szander also talks about the misguided attempts to create fairness through the use of government force, and how individualism has time and again proven to be the system that offers the most opportunity to all participants.

American Chronicle Fairness and Life, Collectivism and Freedom: "Collective punishment is always going to be unfair to someone. If some person or group of people commit a crime, only those directly involved in the crime, those who knew what was happening and/or intended harm, should be punished. If everyone associated with them, no matter how innocuously, is punished, then innocent people end up being punished."

And here's my third installment of getting the political point across through the wonder of photoshop:

Hillary as Comrade in Chief

I have no idea what the original Russian says on this poster, but I thought it was a good fit for the expression Hillary has. (If you know what it says, I'm all ears.) I don't think Hillary is a Stalin by a long shot, but when leaders embrace socialism and collectivism, they are leading us down the path that will bring us a Stalin eventually. The fact that they should know this gives them culpability. Maybe they didn't hang us from the tree, but they plant and water the seed of the hanging-tree.

Barack - Leader of the USSA

This will be the first in a series. Photoshopping is just a pasttime, but pictures do get the point across quickly. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are promising all sorts of new entitlement plans, and want to expand existing ones. They want to move us significantly down the path towards becoming the United Socialist States of America. The fact that thousands show up to listen to them promise free gifts for all is a testament to the need for the public to be educated on the hopelessness of collectivism, and where it inevitably leads in the end.

Freedom: Struggle for Individualism

Below is a blurb from an article that promotes Individualism and explains why Ron Paul is their man for US President in '08. I'm not promoting Paul, but I thought the article expained some core truths well...

Freedom: Struggle for Individualism:

Voluntary altruism is moral.
The threat to individual human liberty occurs when altruism is institutionalized in the form of government. Institutionalized altruism is the tipping point when the needs or wants of the masses supersede rights of the individual. When the earned rewards of individual labors are involuntarily taken, and redistributed to those who claim to have the greatest need.

Compulsory altruism is unjust.
Compulsory altruism is called socialism, communism, or fascism. Collectivism. Every form of collectivism requires a hierarchy of leaders who determine how collective wealth is redistributed as welfare, or subsidies. Those leaders form an oligarchy — whether appointed or elected — and the circle is complete: the will of the few once again controls the behavior of the masses. This oligarchy seeks both foreign and domestic control.