Point Taken

I’ve never been good at playing video games but these video games are simple enough and interesting enough that I liked figuring out how to manipulate their behaviors. The first game I played was called Oil God. Oil God is fun and indicative of all the angst we have towards oil companies and the assholes holding it as leverage over the rest of the world. But I digress. I found that it is more challenging to jack up the price of oil if you go about the routes of destabilizing the economy and changing the politics than if you go to war. How reminiscent is this situation to our current? The answer seems very and their point is easily noted. When I first began playing I had all my ducks in alignment on how to hike up those black gold prices, I spent a long time trying to do this. I found the game a little tricky and there’s definitely a learning curve, however once you get it down you can see who you have battling who and so forth. After a while of destabilizing economies and creating civil unrest I found that if I began civil wars the prices went up very quickly and I went to strictly war the prices went up even faster. Are they trying to say something? Huh, I think I get it. And hey, I agree.

The next game I played was Airport Security. Very funny and hilarious concept, that’s one of the reasons I picked it. Somehow it seems like it would be fun to have that type of job and just be considered the “ambivalent screener.” I would like to first give my opinion on this intrusion upon our civil rights. We don’t need the government snooping through our belongings every time we decide to board a plane, it’s unethical and violates everything the constitutional values of low government intrusion into our personal lives is all about. They develop this mock entity that they call Homeland Security, which is an albatross of beurocratic b/s. If they were sensible they would allow the airlines and airport to monitor their passengers themselves. That way if there is an incident it reflects on the inadequacy of the airport and not the government. They flew the airplanes into private property from private property. What business is it of the government in any of these affairs? I’m pretty sure we’re all convinced and aware that there is adequate reason to believe that an airplane did not crash into the Pentagon also. I hate to tote the free market, but it is a reasonable solution to the issues concerning airport security. Again I digress from the game, yes, let’s talk about the game.

Obviously the point of the game is to illicit frustration in how difficult it is to constantly check the bags and keep up with the ever changing new items which cannot be carried on board anymore. Is this supposed to make me feel more understanding of the people that are running the security? Am I supposed to feel sympathetic for them? I don’t. I think the government did a good job of hiring a bunch of slackers to do the work. And it’s not the slackers fault; they’re within the price range of what the state wants to pay. If this was open to private organizations you better believe it would be in the best interest of the airport and airlines to check their passengers adequately before they get on board. Otherwise who’s going to patronage their service?

I thought the previous game was supposed to instigate frustration, but the last game I played caused even more. I played Activism, the public policy game. I think they’re trying to say that it all a matter which mouth you’re most inclined to feed. This is definitely directed towards Democrats and their desire to control most of everything regarding our nation; education, military, immigration, economy, security, and social security. Perhaps this is part of the issue with the altruistic philosophy; no specific group is capable of running everything. Furthermore if they do, can they do it accurately so that no specific group loses out to another. Also what becomes of the people that become dependent on these programs? But more about the game; it’s obviously frustrating keeping up with all the people to take care. Is this game supposed to evoke sympathy for the altruists that somehow feel it’s their responsibility to care for me and everyone else in society that they feel needs help? It’s not even people that need help; they want to help people that may be capable of helping their selves, if given the chance.

I swear ever single one of these games is massively frustrating. So I get the point, living in a completely over governed and restrictive nation is a full time job. I get it. The last game I played was the farming game where you are supposed to harvest foods and monitor and clean up any troubles you have with terrorists, farm wastes, and Mother Nature. So what happens is you plant crops and along comes your little customers and they get a few good pieces of vegetables but then comes along some terrorists and evil mother nature, and what is equivalent to the potato famine and you give your little customers, which are children, ecoli and diaherrea among other things. So what are they getting at? This one I agree with somewhat, I feel like we are being poisoned by the food we have to choose from and the worst part, the organization that is supposed to protect us, the FDA is massively influenced by lobbyists and other industries that have a vested interest in profiting from our need for food. That is a game I would consider developing, a game that influences politicians. Laws get passed by the powerful, mainly the industries that are paying the lobbyists, and all the other laws that are getting passed are ones that keep the politicians in office. These would be the laws that support their constituents.