Politics – Bioshock – Collectivism

Highway To Mars

Collectivism is a funny thing. We have given it a go in various forms with varying degrees of harm to those involved. Generally collectivism is implemented by force because while Objectivism is arrogant when it comes to the ability for society to operate without rules, Collectivism mostly seeks to override the other truth, that we rarely will act completely for the collective good and not ourselves.

My only (small) beef with Bioshock 2 is that it chooses a relatively narrow form of collectivism, the religious cult. I guess like Ayn Rand, the cult is a collectivist format that belongs on the fringes. Maybe that is the point, it’s the deliberate choice of ideologies that belong at the fringes that defines parts 1 & 2 of bioshock.

Faith in a divine being that will save us all is such a rational position and all.

The problem I have in pitting Sophia Lamb against Andrew Ryan is simply the fact that Ryan achieves something of Substance, Sophia Lamb really doesn’t get close. She is, like many cult leaders a total nutter.

Ryan is not exactly all there but his failing is his blind belief that what he built and his ideology will always win out. Lamb on the other hand just wants to use the bones his failures to unleash a psychological experiment on the world.

God knows, that is what we need, more people fucking with our heads.