Difference is, everyone knows bioshock is entertainment. And no one bases their actual political philosophy on it.
Comment on Anon has a problem with Bioshock
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today 3 weeks agoDoes he though? In Atlas Shrugged, which Bioshock seems to be somewhat of an antithesis to, it’s not the capitalists that go crazy, but the socialists, who enact more and more draconian laws depriving the productive class of all their profits in order to funnel more money to the unproductive, which ultimately makes working entirely unprofitable.
Both works are basically at opposite ends of the spectrum — Atlas Shrugged depicts a communist utopia gone wrong, while Bioshock shows a capitalist utopia gone wrong. They’re both myopic in their own way, but the common thread seems to be that absolute power corrupts absolutely, which is a truth no one can escape. In reality, a functioning society requires a delicate balance between both forces, not a winner-takes-tall approach. Unfortunately, that idea seems to be lost on both of them, which is probably what anon is trying to hint at.
julietOscarEcho@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
LOL
LMAO, even
SamuraiBeandog@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
This is not at all the intended message of Atlas Shrugs.
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Perhaps not, but that was what I took away from it.
Sue me, I guess.
neukenindekeuken@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
The entire theme of Atlas shrugged is about how capitalist oligarchs are the critical class desperately needed in the world to make any real progress.
That they should be handed unregulated power because they’ll do more with it than the “workers”.
It’s the polar opposite of what you’re describing as the takeaway, and it’s not even subtle or mysterious about it. It repeats that point ad nauseum from about chapter 2 until the end of the book.
So my question to you would be: are you sure you’re thinking of the correct book? If so, it might be time for you to refresh yourself on it because there’s not another interpretation about the point of it. It’s not a hidden meaning or left up to the reader. It literally beats that into the reader during every capitalistic sychophantish chapter.
MacNCheezus@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Yes, I get that, and it’s just as cringe as communist power fantasies if you ask me. Like, I understood what was bad about the communist dystopia she painted, and I didn’t resent her heroes for trying to escape that and rebuild society from the ground up, but I also didn’t think they were good people. Rand’s heroes are just as insane as the villains they’re fighting.
That’s not to say they didn’t have a point, though. Excessive pandering to people who simply will not lift a finger to change their own condition is just as harmful as excessive pandering to those who will.