A pamphlet I wrote about the visible and invisible presence of capitalist values in games, and how we could go about representing more community-oriented values.
Under the PDF-viewer below, you can find some of my personal reflections on this paper written close to 2 years later.
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Since initially writing this paper back in 2021, I’ve done a fair bit more research about Marxism, its derivatives, and its critiques. I’m planning to write a follow-up paper that takes a more grounded approach towards more concrete, potential ways to promote socialism as a science, as the natural step after capitalism, within games.
- How can we help players to pry loose from the grip the ruling class has over their imagination of a better future? How do we give back the players’ figurative weapons of rebellion, instead of letting them be pacified by the ruling class using Che Guevara t-shirts to commodify their actionability?
- How can we display that an individual’s struggle to survive (ethically) under capitalism is not just a personal struggle, but a universal one? How do we rekindle that connection people tend to feel for others in the same position? How do we promote more collectivist, internationalist ideals?
- Can we (implicitly) demonstrate the core values and principles of socialism as a political philosophy, without resorting to our associations with it from the early 20th century?
- Can we imagine and demonstrate effective, non-violent revolutions in the fantasy settings we create?
- How do we expose collaboration as an inherent aspect of human nature, suppressed through modern society? Can we demonstrate the cycle of social dynamics that cause people of each generation to still believe an insatiable hunger for power is part of human nature, and not a result of the extremely competitive environment upheld and sustained by the generation preceding them? Can we imagine a fantasy setting where this loop is broken?
- Can we demonstrate how simple it really is to be more collaborative and empathetic with one another, and that imagining a better future does not require everyone to have a deep understanding of political theory?