Politics and Post-Apocalypse

There has always been something distinctly intriguing to me about the Fallout series. There is a lot going for these games. Ideas and themes that are not entirely original, but awesome none the less. Innovations in game play that make the American post-apocalyptic wasteland an interesting place to be. But the one thing that always caught my imagination is the setting. I remember reading somewhere that Fallout is based in a world parallel to ours, differing only in that sometime in the 1950's the fashion and society had stopped moving forward, and instead technology progressed at a much greater rate, freezing culture in the 'golden era', facilitating the production of robots and laser guns.

Let's be honest, this adds a cool theme to game play and makes things a little more original. I was such a simple yet effective idea that it was later imitated by the creators of Bioshock who captured another era of vibrant architecture and high fashion with great success.
It wasn't until recently, however, that a deeper current became clear.

 Having sat through a crash course on Neo-liberalism as a part of my study, I can now claim to have an understanding of questionable depth on such matters.

As such, I would like to inform you about something you may have missed:
There was once a time when most aspects of society were controlled by the government. This time encompasses, of course, the 1950s. However in the 1980's one President Ronald Reagan began selling off state enterprises into private ownership, a move commonly referred to as "Reaganomics". A more familiar term for my fellow countrymen is "Rogernomics" as our Prime Minister of the time, Roger Douglas, followed in the footsteps of the dominant superpower of the time, the USA. This was a left-field (no pun intended) move from the Labour government that went against their slightly left views, but that's getting it bit political for my liking.
What this resulted in is the advent of Neoliberalism and private ownership of everything. Basically, private corporations now controlled the operation of such things as power, railway, telecommunications, and air travel. While mostly unimportant to my point, Taxes were consequently reduced so you the consumer could choose what to spend your money on.

The capitalist society we now live in was born. The development of technology is driven no-longer by national rivalry and competition, but by consumerism and public interest. You choose what technology should be researched and how much money should be spent on it simply by buying the things you like. Money the government could have put towards making 2001: A Space Odyssey a reality has instead been poured into making technology that is small enough to carry around with you, but has the capacity to hold hundreds of Cd's.

Basically, you (yes YOU) are the reason the hottest news in technology this year will be that apple released the iPad. You could be living in colonies on the moon. You could have your very own robot to do your chores, You could own a freaking hoverboard! The list of things you could have is vast, and clearly detailed in the works of movies, late 20th century sci-fi novels, and video games. Which brings us full circle. So here is the point that I am, in a very round about way, trying to tell you is the one thought that has been bouncing around in my head all day. And that point is: The technology and technological prowess of the world of fallout is a socialist glimpse at the world as it could have been.

This isn't a political blog. I'm just musing.

A Customary Obligation

Hi, I guess...

I feel obliged to write something about me, but really I don't want to.

Why start a blog?
Because I can. Let's just say it's a place for me to offload all the bits and bobs that float around my head. My imagination is wild. If I can be bothered, I'll show you a little of what goes on in there...