Ironically one of the things that helped me turn “centralist” and more pragmatic is playing grand strategy games like Crusader Kings 2 and other Paradox gamers; the amount of insane convoluted political gymnastics that go behind power grabs makes it plain just how typical narratives (on left and right) are tools that different power players will use for de jure (or not) claims on territory and legitimacy.
And it’s not all that cynical; you use the tools you have to survive, it’s rough and awful and deeply human and it’s going to require a deep sense of nerve and steel to figure out where to stand
Or not stand; sometimes you just don’t have a huge stake in the game and that’s okay too.
Would be nice if by default we condemned deliberate baby killing.
I had a similar experience with Dave Sim's Cerebus, but more like that politics was lots of personality and intrigue, deception and backstabbing, the surface narratives were all either nonsense or strategic lies.
Incredible. You are an excellent writer.
Ironically one of the things that helped me turn “centralist” and more pragmatic is playing grand strategy games like Crusader Kings 2 and other Paradox gamers; the amount of insane convoluted political gymnastics that go behind power grabs makes it plain just how typical narratives (on left and right) are tools that different power players will use for de jure (or not) claims on territory and legitimacy.
And it’s not all that cynical; you use the tools you have to survive, it’s rough and awful and deeply human and it’s going to require a deep sense of nerve and steel to figure out where to stand
Or not stand; sometimes you just don’t have a huge stake in the game and that’s okay too.
Would be nice if by default we condemned deliberate baby killing.
I had a similar experience with Dave Sim's Cerebus, but more like that politics was lots of personality and intrigue, deception and backstabbing, the surface narratives were all either nonsense or strategic lies.
Johnny this was a fantastic read! What a great way to breakdown such a. complex topic.
Thanks! I rushed it out for obvious reasons, so it's nice to hear positive feedback.