Leo D.M.J. Aurini - July 17, 2015


Bioshock & Objectivism


Episode Stats

Length

21 minutes

Words per Minute

133.53171

Word Count

2,842

Sentence Count

202

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

7


Summary

This is a sequel to my recent video on Objectivism, in which I discuss the plot structure of the hit video game, "Rapture" and how it reflects the philosophy of Objectivism in the world of "Bryoshock."


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Music
00:00:12.000 Music
00:00:16.000 Music
00:00:20.000 Music
00:00:24.000 Music
00:00:28.000 Hey folks, this video
00:00:32.000 is actually a follow up to
00:00:34.000 the Irini's Insight video
00:00:36.000 I had requested on objectivism.
00:00:38.000 I can't believe
00:00:40.000 I did a video on objectivism without
00:00:42.000 mentioning Bioshock. I've actually
00:00:44.000 been planning to
00:00:46.000 look at this game
00:00:48.000 for over a year now, I just
00:00:50.000 have never really got around to it
00:00:52.000 and I think it is a very
00:00:54.000 genuine and
00:00:56.000 decent exploration
00:00:58.000 of the philosophy.
00:01:00.000 Now, I'm not recommending it as a video game
00:01:02.000 I don't think there's been a decent first person
00:01:04.000 shooter since Max
00:01:06.000 Payne 2.
00:01:08.000 They all suck, nowadays.
00:01:10.000 The only redeeming features
00:01:12.000 of modern shooters are that they have
00:01:14.000 really good storylines in them.
00:01:16.000 So, spoiler,
00:01:18.000 the game's what, 10 years old?
00:01:20.000 Yeah, there's spoilers, deal with it.
00:01:22.000 So,
00:01:24.000 Bioshock.
00:01:26.000 Two, there's
00:01:28.000 two interesting
00:01:30.000 things going on in the world of Bioshock
00:01:32.000 that kind of reflect what I was saying
00:01:34.000 in my video on objectivism.
00:01:36.000 And, if you don't
00:01:38.000 know, the entire universe
00:01:40.000 of Bioshock, the city of
00:01:42.000 rapture under the sea, is essentially
00:01:44.000 an objectivist paradise
00:01:46.000 that falls into ruin
00:01:48.000 because of the adherence
00:01:50.000 to the philosophy.
00:01:52.000 The over-adherence
00:01:54.000 to the philosophy.
00:01:56.000 Now, the very first thing
00:01:58.000 is the plasmids.
00:02:00.000 The plasmids in the game,
00:02:02.000 they are basically magical superpowers
00:02:04.000 that have been discovered
00:02:06.000 through science.
00:02:08.000 And, what happened
00:02:10.000 in the narrative of the game
00:02:12.000 is that, because
00:02:14.000 everybody was taking these plasmids
00:02:16.000 and overuse of the plasmids
00:02:18.000 has negative psychological effects,
00:02:20.000 it eventually
00:02:22.000 devolved everybody
00:02:24.000 into junkies.
00:02:26.000 Into...
00:02:28.000 into smart...
00:02:30.000 Like, if you think of an objectivist junkie.
00:02:32.000 So, they weren't some loser
00:02:34.000 hanging out in the street corner,
00:02:36.000 you know, getting drunk
00:02:38.000 with a needle hanging out of their arms.
00:02:40.000 These were uber-mensch junkies.
00:02:42.000 So, they wind up being extremely dangerous.
00:02:44.000 Constantly seeking a fix
00:02:46.000 of more...
00:02:48.000 Adam, the thing that powers the plasmids.
00:02:50.000 Absolutely desperate for that.
00:02:52.000 Only working in teams
00:02:54.000 when it's beneficial
00:02:56.000 to them in the short term
00:02:58.000 and being completely willing
00:02:59.000 to betray one another.
00:03:00.000 It winds up with a society
00:03:02.000 fallen into ruin.
00:03:04.000 And, ironically,
00:03:06.000 this is one of the brilliant aspects
00:03:08.000 of the game,
00:03:10.000 for you to survive in Rapture,
00:03:12.000 you, the player character
00:03:14.000 that arrives in the city
00:03:16.000 not understanding anything about it
00:03:18.000 and just getting introduced to it,
00:03:20.000 you are forced yourself
00:03:22.000 to take all of these addictive substances
00:03:24.000 just to compete,
00:03:26.000 just to be on par
00:03:28.000 with all of these
00:03:30.000 downgraded uber-menschs
00:03:32.000 that have destroyed the civilization.
00:03:34.000 Now, I think that the plasmids...
00:03:38.000 Well, let's put this into a metaphor
00:03:40.000 that might make some sense
00:03:42.000 in contemporary culture.
00:03:44.000 I think of them like performance-enhancing drugs.
00:03:46.000 Now, I love performance-enhancing drugs.
00:03:50.000 You know, one of the sponsors
00:03:52.000 for the podcast is, of course,
00:03:54.000 Island Line Herbals Kratom.
00:03:56.000 Great stuff.
00:03:58.000 I love caffeine.
00:04:00.000 I love nicotine,
00:04:02.000 which has many beneficial effects
00:04:04.000 for the brain.
00:04:06.000 I love performance-enhancing drugs.
00:04:09.000 You know, if I...
00:04:10.000 I personally have nothing against steroids.
00:04:14.000 Personally, I am too lazy
00:04:16.000 to actually look into all the biochemistry
00:04:18.000 so I can use them safely.
00:04:20.000 So I don't use steroids.
00:04:22.000 But people that do,
00:04:24.000 they can be used safely.
00:04:26.000 They certainly help you bulk up.
00:04:28.000 Lots of potential benefits
00:04:30.000 from using steroids.
00:04:31.000 I have nothing against it.
00:04:32.000 However...
00:04:34.000 However...
00:04:35.000 Imagine your favorite sports ball team.
00:04:38.000 And yeah, that's a...
00:04:40.000 I stole that from Confused Matthew.
00:04:42.000 sports ball.
00:04:44.000 A hilarious term.
00:04:45.000 I love it.
00:04:46.000 Now, in professional sports,
00:04:49.000 steroids are banned.
00:04:51.000 And there's this naive libertarian approach
00:04:54.000 that says, well, why should we ban steroids?
00:04:56.000 You know?
00:04:57.000 Like, they're already genetic freaks.
00:04:59.000 You gotta be a genetic freak
00:05:01.000 to make it into the NFL
00:05:02.000 to play sports ball.
00:05:04.000 Yeah, they're already doing...
00:05:07.000 Whatever.
00:05:08.000 They're taking creatine.
00:05:09.000 They're...
00:05:10.000 All of this other stuff.
00:05:12.000 They're managing their hormone levels
00:05:13.000 through the meat that they eat, etc.
00:05:16.000 Why is it that we ban steroids?
00:05:21.000 Well, the answer is
00:05:22.000 because if you legalized steroids
00:05:24.000 in professional sports,
00:05:26.000 you would quickly have
00:05:28.000 the exact same spiral
00:05:31.000 that you get in Rapture.
00:05:34.000 You would not only have to be
00:05:36.000 a genetic freak,
00:05:37.000 you would also have to be doing
00:05:39.000 extremely unhealthy levels
00:05:41.000 of steroids.
00:05:43.000 You would wind up with people
00:05:46.000 that by the age of 40
00:05:48.000 would be getting prostate cancer
00:05:50.000 or their bones would be destroyed, etc.
00:05:53.000 You would turn every sport
00:05:55.000 into a blood sport
00:05:57.000 because that raw competition
00:06:00.000 that's not being mitigated
00:06:01.000 by anything
00:06:03.000 is going to wind up destroying
00:06:05.000 the sport itself.
00:06:07.000 It's going to demand
00:06:08.000 more and more sacrifices
00:06:11.000 from all of the players.
00:06:13.000 If you think of the Rocky movie,
00:06:15.000 for example,
00:06:16.000 where Rocky has to fight
00:06:17.000 the Soviet giant,
00:06:19.000 the genetically engineered man,
00:06:21.000 you know, this is a guy
00:06:22.000 that's just being pumped full
00:06:23.000 of all these chemicals
00:06:24.000 that are shortening his lifespan.
00:06:26.000 You know,
00:06:27.000 and it's kind of a metaphor
00:06:28.000 for the Soviet space program,
00:06:30.000 which was successful,
00:06:32.000 but quite frankly,
00:06:33.000 Yuri Gagarin?
00:06:35.000 Yuri Gagarin was not
00:06:36.000 the first man in space.
00:06:38.000 The first man in space
00:06:39.000 is unknown
00:06:40.000 because his capsule broke down
00:06:42.000 and he was relaying
00:06:43.000 a distress signal
00:06:44.000 and the Soviets completely
00:06:46.000 denied that he exists.
00:06:47.000 The poor bastard died
00:06:49.000 in outer space
00:06:50.000 in outer space
00:06:51.000 because the Soviets
00:06:52.000 had no safety protocols.
00:06:53.000 They did not care
00:06:54.000 about the survival
00:06:55.000 of their people.
00:06:57.000 They were just units
00:06:59.000 to be used.
00:07:01.000 You know,
00:07:02.000 and with any of these
00:07:03.000 utopian ideologies,
00:07:05.000 like pure,
00:07:07.000 pure objectivism
00:07:08.000 or pure utilitarianism,
00:07:10.000 you know,
00:07:11.000 and I mean,
00:07:12.000 Soviet style governance
00:07:14.000 is just another form
00:07:15.000 of utilitarianism
00:07:16.000 where we create a paradise
00:07:18.000 by turning all the humans
00:07:19.000 into useful cogs,
00:07:21.000 the humans aren't important
00:07:23.000 all of a sudden.
00:07:24.000 The moral health
00:07:26.000 of humans
00:07:27.000 is not important.
00:07:29.000 And so,
00:07:30.000 in the present world
00:07:31.000 where we have these bans
00:07:33.000 on performance enhancing drugs
00:07:35.000 in the NFL,
00:07:37.000 et cetera,
00:07:39.000 this is because there's
00:07:40.000 a moral aspect
00:07:41.000 to sports as well.
00:07:43.000 We expect our athletes
00:07:45.000 to behave sportsmanlike
00:07:48.000 and it's unsporting
00:07:51.000 to be using
00:07:52.000 performance enhancing drugs.
00:07:54.000 We,
00:07:55.000 and we even apply this
00:07:56.000 to warfare.
00:07:58.000 We,
00:07:59.000 we have the just war theory
00:08:00.000 in the West,
00:08:01.000 in Christendom.
00:08:03.000 We try and limit,
00:08:05.000 like nuclear, biological
00:08:06.000 and chemical warfare
00:08:08.000 are considered
00:08:10.000 inhumane.
00:08:11.000 They are
00:08:12.000 too brutal.
00:08:13.000 And so,
00:08:14.000 at least when we're
00:08:15.000 warring against
00:08:16.000 one another
00:08:17.000 in the West,
00:08:18.000 we don't use
00:08:19.000 those tactics.
00:08:24.000 Now,
00:08:25.000 and,
00:08:26.000 we'll get back to,
00:08:27.000 like, what's the solution?
00:08:28.000 You know?
00:08:30.000 We'll get to that
00:08:31.000 in a minute.
00:08:32.000 Because there's,
00:08:33.000 there's another side effect
00:08:34.000 that you get from,
00:08:35.000 from this pure,
00:08:36.000 objectivist reality.
00:08:37.000 And,
00:08:38.000 and in Bioshock,
00:08:39.000 that is the
00:08:40.000 Little Sisters.
00:08:42.000 So,
00:08:43.000 to harvest the atom,
00:08:44.000 the,
00:08:45.000 the atom is basically
00:08:46.000 the,
00:08:47.000 the magical,
00:08:48.000 sea cucumber juice,
00:08:50.000 whatever it was.
00:08:51.000 It,
00:08:52.000 it's the magical BS
00:08:53.000 that's used to power
00:08:54.000 the plasmids.
00:08:56.000 And because everybody's
00:08:57.000 using plasmids,
00:08:58.000 for you to compete in society,
00:08:59.000 you need to use plasmids too.
00:09:01.000 And so,
00:09:02.000 what's the best way
00:09:03.000 to get plasmids?
00:09:04.000 To get the atom?
00:09:05.000 Well,
00:09:06.000 well,
00:09:07.000 it's to rip these little girls
00:09:08.000 away from their families
00:09:09.000 and,
00:09:10.000 do some genetic engineering nonsense
00:09:13.000 to them,
00:09:14.000 so that they're basically
00:09:15.000 worker bees.
00:09:16.000 They're,
00:09:17.000 they're,
00:09:18.000 they're kids working in mine shafts
00:09:19.000 at this point.
00:09:21.000 Now,
00:09:22.000 in actual Western history,
00:09:26.000 we had child labor,
00:09:27.000 because,
00:09:28.000 and poor countries
00:09:29.000 still have child labor.
00:09:31.000 the reason that there's child labor,
00:09:34.000 is because the countries are poor.
00:09:38.000 Now, you see all of these government bans
00:09:40.000 for child workers,
00:09:41.000 and et cetera,
00:09:42.000 back, you know,
00:09:43.000 over the past century.
00:09:46.000 This,
00:09:48.000 all these laws were put into place
00:09:49.000 after child labor was pretty much gone
00:09:52.000 already,
00:09:53.000 once the market no longer needed it.
00:09:55.000 When you have a poor society,
00:09:58.000 and most societies have been poor,
00:10:01.000 children need to work.
00:10:03.000 Whether it's working on the farm,
00:10:05.000 or even terribly working in the coal mine.
00:10:07.000 It's,
00:10:08.000 something that we don't like to think about nowadays,
00:10:10.000 is that you need to eat.
00:10:12.000 You know,
00:10:13.000 we're a bunch of privileged,
00:10:15.000 entitled,
00:10:16.000 little brats these days.
00:10:18.000 Um,
00:10:19.000 most societies kids have to work,
00:10:20.000 and that's just,
00:10:21.000 that's just a fact of the universe.
00:10:23.000 It's very unfortunate.
00:10:27.000 And the government bans,
00:10:28.000 are not what stopped it.
00:10:30.000 Increasing wealth,
00:10:31.000 industrialization,
00:10:32.000 the free market,
00:10:34.000 is what eliminated child labor.
00:10:37.000 But in Rapture,
00:10:38.000 we see a return of child labor,
00:10:40.000 a return of very exploitative practices.
00:10:45.000 Because,
00:10:47.000 this is what the market demands.
00:10:52.000 And you know,
00:10:53.000 this, uh,
00:10:54.000 this argument about,
00:10:55.000 exploitative labor practices,
00:10:57.000 you know,
00:10:58.000 this is,
00:10:59.000 an argument that,
00:11:00.000 the left makes this argument,
00:11:02.000 but,
00:11:03.000 it doesn't mean the argument's completely wrong.
00:11:05.000 About how,
00:11:06.000 you know,
00:11:07.000 in the West,
00:11:08.000 you know,
00:11:09.000 in Europe,
00:11:10.000 North America,
00:11:11.000 we have very high standards of living.
00:11:13.000 Um,
00:11:14.000 which is a good thing.
00:11:15.000 You know, again,
00:11:16.000 free market,
00:11:17.000 increases quality of life.
00:11:18.000 But when you get transnationals,
00:11:20.000 what transnationals can do,
00:11:22.000 is they can export all the labor,
00:11:25.000 overseas.
00:11:26.000 overseas.
00:11:27.000 So not only is that destroying the manufacturing base within North America,
00:11:31.000 um,
00:11:32.000 but it,
00:11:33.000 it does,
00:11:34.000 it does get a little bit of an exploitative,
00:11:36.000 uh,
00:11:37.000 thing going on.
00:11:39.000 Where you're now,
00:11:40.000 you're exploit,
00:11:41.000 and this is also connected to the Federal Reserve and printing money.
00:11:45.000 Um,
00:11:46.000 um,
00:11:47.000 if they weren't printing money in North America,
00:11:49.000 then,
00:11:50.000 if the US were not the world reserve currency,
00:11:52.000 then it would actually make a lot more sense to manufacture things to higher standards,
00:11:56.000 here.
00:11:57.000 But that's a whole other part of the argument.
00:12:00.000 This is a very complex issue,
00:12:01.000 and I'm,
00:12:02.000 I am really oversimplifying it.
00:12:04.000 But there is an element,
00:12:06.000 uh,
00:12:07.000 we want cheap textiles.
00:12:10.000 We want cheap plastic toys.
00:12:13.000 We want cheap stuff.
00:12:15.000 And so we're going to turn a blind eye to the exploitative practices that are happening overseas,
00:12:22.000 so that we can all get that.
00:12:26.000 And,
00:12:27.000 you see that in a society without any moral guidance,
00:12:31.000 without anything,
00:12:33.000 even,
00:12:34.000 you know what,
00:12:35.000 like the minimum wage laws that they're trying to pass,
00:12:38.000 uh,
00:12:39.000 which are completely economically illiterate,
00:12:41.000 but they come from,
00:12:42.000 um,
00:12:43.000 a good place.
00:12:44.000 There,
00:12:45.000 there's a,
00:12:46.000 a motivation,
00:12:47.000 that,
00:12:48.000 you know,
00:12:49.000 people deserve a living wage.
00:12:50.000 Now,
00:12:51.000 the reality is,
00:12:52.000 the best way to achieve that is to leave the market alone.
00:12:55.000 But there's this moral sense,
00:12:57.000 that paying somebody two bucks an hour,
00:13:00.000 or,
00:13:01.000 or ten cents an hour,
00:13:02.000 or what have you,
00:13:03.000 that,
00:13:04.000 that there is exploitation going on there.
00:13:06.000 And that we should be willing to pay for what something's worth.
00:13:11.000 Now, of course,
00:13:12.000 this gets all tied up into,
00:13:14.000 into politics,
00:13:16.000 into Keynesian economics,
00:13:18.000 and all,
00:13:19.000 into Leviathan.
00:13:21.000 But there is a moral core there.
00:13:25.000 So, this brings us back.
00:13:26.000 What is the solution?
00:13:28.000 You know,
00:13:29.000 if you have this pure capitalist society,
00:13:32.000 pure economics,
00:13:33.000 where,
00:13:34.000 where you take,
00:13:35.000 you take the ideas of free market economics,
00:13:37.000 which are good sound ideas.
00:13:39.000 They are a good way to run your country,
00:13:42.000 to run your community.
00:13:43.000 It's the,
00:13:44.000 the fair and just way to run things.
00:13:47.000 If you take those,
00:13:49.000 and raise them up to the top,
00:13:52.000 above justice,
00:13:53.000 above decency,
00:13:55.000 above moral development of people,
00:13:57.000 above sportsmanship.
00:13:59.000 If the highest absolute principle,
00:14:02.000 is the free market,
00:14:03.000 is self-interest,
00:14:04.000 is the individual.
00:14:06.000 Not the family,
00:14:07.000 not the community,
00:14:08.000 but the individual.
00:14:10.000 If you completely discount,
00:14:12.000 everything else,
00:14:13.000 you wind up,
00:14:15.000 with these exploitative practices.
00:14:20.000 If a corporation,
00:14:22.000 can get away,
00:14:23.000 with dumping waste,
00:14:25.000 into the environment,
00:14:26.000 well,
00:14:27.000 why shouldn't they?
00:14:29.000 Under that,
00:14:30.000 under that system.
00:14:31.000 Now,
00:14:32.000 it's quite possible,
00:14:33.000 the best way to prevent that,
00:14:34.000 is through private lawsuits.
00:14:36.000 Okay,
00:14:37.000 the free market anarchists,
00:14:38.000 they,
00:14:39.000 generally,
00:14:40.000 they don't place,
00:14:41.000 the free market,
00:14:42.000 as the highest value.
00:14:43.000 What they say,
00:14:44.000 is the free market,
00:14:45.000 is the best way,
00:14:46.000 to achieve,
00:14:47.000 the highest value.
00:14:48.000 So,
00:14:49.000 understand,
00:14:50.000 that I am not,
00:14:51.000 advocating,
00:14:52.000 for,
00:14:53.000 Leviathan.
00:14:54.000 When you get,
00:14:55.000 simplistic thinkers,
00:14:56.000 when you get people,
00:14:57.000 that don't understand,
00:14:59.000 the complexities,
00:15:00.000 of the market,
00:15:01.000 they see a moral problem,
00:15:02.000 with the market,
00:15:03.000 they want to,
00:15:04.000 institute,
00:15:05.000 a morally simple,
00:15:07.000 solution.
00:15:08.000 They try and institute,
00:15:10.000 Leviathan.
00:15:11.000 They try and institute,
00:15:12.000 the,
00:15:13.000 the mechanical god.
00:15:14.000 And they say,
00:15:15.000 well,
00:15:16.000 we'll,
00:15:17.000 we'll raise up the state,
00:15:18.000 to have this much power,
00:15:19.000 over us,
00:15:20.000 to have unlimited power,
00:15:21.000 over everybody,
00:15:22.000 and the state,
00:15:23.000 will now be responsible,
00:15:25.000 for regulating,
00:15:26.000 all of this stuff.
00:15:27.000 Which,
00:15:28.000 and there's two obvious problems,
00:15:30.000 with that.
00:15:31.000 The very first one,
00:15:32.000 is that the state,
00:15:33.000 is not that smart.
00:15:34.000 You know,
00:15:35.000 the old saying,
00:15:36.000 who's smarter,
00:15:37.000 the,
00:15:38.000 the platoon,
00:15:39.000 or the sergeant?
00:15:40.000 Well,
00:15:41.000 the platoon's smarter,
00:15:42.000 because there are 30 of them.
00:15:43.000 The free,
00:15:44.000 free market,
00:15:45.000 relies upon the wisdom of crowds.
00:15:46.000 And the wisdom of crowds,
00:15:47.000 nine times out of ten,
00:15:48.000 is going to,
00:15:49.000 supersede,
00:15:50.000 that of the state,
00:15:51.000 that of Leviathan.
00:15:52.000 Um,
00:15:53.000 the,
00:15:54.000 the second obvious objection,
00:15:55.000 is that if the state,
00:15:56.000 has this much power,
00:15:57.000 then the people that,
00:15:58.000 have,
00:15:59.000 finances,
00:16:00.000 the people that are,
00:16:01.000 in the one percent,
00:16:02.000 they now,
00:16:03.000 will capture,
00:16:04.000 the state,
00:16:05.000 to ensure,
00:16:06.000 their monopolies.
00:16:07.000 So,
00:16:08.000 given the choice,
00:16:09.000 between rapture,
00:16:10.000 or Leviathan,
00:16:11.000 believe me,
00:16:12.000 I'm on the side of rapture.
00:16:13.000 I'd rather,
00:16:14.000 live with the crazy,
00:16:16.000 tweakers,
00:16:17.000 and plasmid users,
00:16:18.000 than,
00:16:19.000 live under the,
00:16:20.000 uh,
00:16:21.000 uh,
00:16:22.000 Obama's police state.
00:16:23.000 Absolutely.
00:16:24.000 Give me rapture,
00:16:25.000 under the sea,
00:16:26.000 any frickin' day.
00:16:27.000 At least,
00:16:28.000 it's interesting.
00:16:30.000 But the solution,
00:16:31.000 that I'm,
00:16:32.000 getting at here,
00:16:34.000 is that you need something,
00:16:35.000 of a,
00:16:36.000 a higher value.
00:16:37.000 You need a,
00:16:38.000 higher principle,
00:16:40.000 for society.
00:16:41.000 Not something,
00:16:42.000 orchestrated,
00:16:43.000 and governed,
00:16:44.000 by the state.
00:16:46.000 The seat of morality,
00:16:47.000 of a society,
00:16:48.000 needs to be separated,
00:16:49.000 from the state.
00:16:50.000 It needs to be,
00:16:51.000 the church.
00:16:53.000 For society to function,
00:16:55.000 you want,
00:16:56.000 a limited government,
00:16:58.000 that,
00:16:59.000 you know,
00:17:00.000 does the basic things,
00:17:01.000 that government,
00:17:02.000 is supposed to do.
00:17:03.000 Roads,
00:17:04.000 courts,
00:17:05.000 national defense.
00:17:06.000 But you also need,
00:17:08.000 a church.
00:17:09.000 You need,
00:17:10.000 a core of morality,
00:17:11.000 for the society.
00:17:12.000 You need,
00:17:13.000 an organization,
00:17:14.000 that understands,
00:17:15.000 what the principles,
00:17:16.000 of,
00:17:17.000 of moral development,
00:17:18.000 morality,
00:17:19.000 what all of,
00:17:20.000 these things are.
00:17:21.000 And when you have that,
00:17:22.000 then,
00:17:23.000 the business owners,
00:17:25.000 the ones that own,
00:17:26.000 the NFL,
00:17:27.000 they,
00:17:28.000 either they understand,
00:17:30.000 because they are,
00:17:31.000 part of the church,
00:17:32.000 and they seek out,
00:17:33.000 to do moral things,
00:17:34.000 with their lives.
00:17:35.000 They,
00:17:36.000 they want to make sure,
00:17:37.000 they're not exploiting,
00:17:38.000 their players,
00:17:39.000 and destroying them,
00:17:40.000 by the age of 40.
00:17:41.000 Or,
00:17:42.000 at the very minimum,
00:17:43.000 the populace,
00:17:44.000 is going to look,
00:17:45.000 at this business.
00:17:46.000 And,
00:17:47.000 the owner will say,
00:17:48.000 well,
00:17:49.000 we need to keep,
00:17:50.000 these guys happy.
00:17:51.000 I might be a complete,
00:17:52.000 psychopath,
00:17:53.000 that's willing to use people,
00:17:54.000 but I need to,
00:17:55.000 at least pretend,
00:17:56.000 to be a good person,
00:17:57.000 to,
00:17:58.000 please my customers.
00:17:59.000 And the similar,
00:18:00.000 it's also there,
00:18:01.000 with the government.
00:18:02.000 Was it Madison,
00:18:03.000 that said,
00:18:04.000 this constitution,
00:18:05.000 was built for a,
00:18:06.000 moral and religious people?
00:18:07.000 Because when you have,
00:18:08.000 a moral,
00:18:09.000 religious,
00:18:10.000 disciplined people,
00:18:11.000 that watch the government,
00:18:13.000 they're,
00:18:14.000 they're not going to export,
00:18:15.000 their morality,
00:18:16.000 onto the state.
00:18:17.000 That's what Leviathan does,
00:18:18.000 that's the mechanical god,
00:18:19.000 that's leftism,
00:18:20.000 that's what we have presently.
00:18:22.000 Instead of being,
00:18:23.000 moral and responsible people,
00:18:25.000 the vast majority,
00:18:27.000 of the population,
00:18:28.000 doesn't want to be held,
00:18:29.000 accountable for anything,
00:18:30.000 so they'll let the government,
00:18:32.000 make their morals for them.
00:18:38.000 Objectivism,
00:18:39.000 is an excellent reaction,
00:18:41.000 against,
00:18:42.000 the sort of monstrosity,
00:18:44.000 that we have right now.
00:18:45.000 It's an excellent reaction,
00:18:46.000 against,
00:18:47.000 Leviathan.
00:18:48.000 But by focusing,
00:18:50.000 only on the individual,
00:18:51.000 because,
00:18:52.000 Leviathan,
00:18:53.000 takes a bunch of individuals,
00:18:55.000 and turns them into cogs.
00:18:57.000 And so,
00:18:58.000 the objectivist,
00:18:59.000 looks at this,
00:19:00.000 and it sees the cogs,
00:19:01.000 it sees the,
00:19:02.000 the communism,
00:19:03.000 of the entire thing.
00:19:04.000 And they reject that,
00:19:07.000 to celebrate the individual.
00:19:08.000 But see,
00:19:09.000 the,
00:19:10.000 the way you form communism,
00:19:11.000 is that you turn everybody,
00:19:13.000 into an atomized individual,
00:19:15.000 in the first place.
00:19:16.000 You turn them into the cogs.
00:19:17.000 Whereas the actual,
00:19:18.000 human strength,
00:19:19.000 comes from community.
00:19:21.000 It comes from the,
00:19:23.000 the networks,
00:19:24.000 of friends,
00:19:25.000 and family,
00:19:26.000 and neighborhoods,
00:19:27.000 that we're allowed to build,
00:19:29.000 you know,
00:19:30.000 under actual freedom.
00:19:31.000 You know,
00:19:32.000 actual freedom,
00:19:33.000 is the freedom to do,
00:19:34.000 the right thing.
00:19:35.000 is to form,
00:19:36.000 healthy bonds,
00:19:37.000 with other people.
00:19:38.000 And so,
00:19:39.000 it's the freedom,
00:19:40.000 to exclude other people,
00:19:41.000 from those bonds.
00:19:42.000 It's not individualism.
00:19:44.000 It's not this,
00:19:45.000 this pure,
00:19:46.000 rarefied individualism.
00:19:48.000 Because then you get the case,
00:19:49.000 of,
00:19:50.000 you know,
00:19:51.000 divided we stand,
00:19:52.000 divided we fall.
00:19:53.000 Together we stand,
00:19:54.000 divided we fall.
00:19:57.000 Individ,
00:19:58.000 the defense of the individual,
00:20:00.000 needs to be,
00:20:01.000 for the,
00:20:02.000 growth,
00:20:03.000 of communities.
00:20:04.000 And,
00:20:05.000 ultimately,
00:20:06.000 for a,
00:20:07.000 a state,
00:20:08.000 a,
00:20:09.000 a governance,
00:20:10.000 that is responsible,
00:20:11.000 to the community.
00:20:16.000 So,
00:20:17.000 while objectivism,
00:20:18.000 is certainly,
00:20:19.000 it's a noble,
00:20:20.000 philosophy,
00:20:21.000 it's a,
00:20:22.000 very positive,
00:20:23.000 response,
00:20:24.000 against what we have,
00:20:25.000 presently.
00:20:26.000 It celebrates the greatness,
00:20:27.000 in the human spirit.
00:20:29.000 It's missing,
00:20:30.000 a couple of things.
00:20:31.000 It,
00:20:32.000 it's putting the,
00:20:33.000 the individual,
00:20:34.000 it's putting self interest,
00:20:35.000 a little bit too high.
00:20:37.000 And it,
00:20:38.000 it's not,
00:20:39.000 acknowledging,
00:20:40.000 the transcendence,
00:20:42.000 within us.
00:20:43.000 The,
00:20:44.000 the universalism,
00:20:45.000 of morality,
00:20:47.000 of,
00:20:48.000 of spirituality.
00:20:50.000 So,
00:20:51.000 again,
00:20:52.000 I love it.
00:20:53.000 It's,
00:20:54.000 it's great.
00:20:55.000 one of the best books,
00:20:56.000 in the world.
00:20:57.000 But,
00:20:58.000 Bioshock,
00:20:59.000 is,
00:21:00.000 an,
00:21:01.000 excellent exploration,
00:21:02.000 of what happens,
00:21:03.000 when you base,
00:21:04.000 everything,
00:21:05.000 upon,
00:21:06.000 a,
00:21:07.000 very mechanical,
00:21:08.000 philosophy.
00:21:09.000 And,
00:21:10.000 upon something,
00:21:11.000 that doesn't have,
00:21:12.000 the transcendent,
00:21:13.000 within it.
00:21:14.000 Anyway,
00:21:15.000 thanks for watching folks.
00:21:16.000 out.