Over at his blog, a guy named Eric Raymond has posted an article about why Hard Science Fiction is inherently Libertarian and why Left-Wing political agendas in science fiction are irrelevant. From what I’ve seen, he’s really wrong.
First off, he discounts Bruce Sterling and, by implication, Kim Stanley Robinson, two tremendously influential SF writers. Both of them have decidedly complex but Left-sympathetic political leanings (at least insofar as I’ve derived from their writing — I don’t know either, though I’ve met and corresponded a bit with Chairman Bruce).
Secondly, he discounts the relevance of dystopian and apocalyptic science fiction which was the core subgenre in 70s SF cinema. Those movies had a decidedly Hippie perspective, from Planet of the Apes’ warnings about theocracy and unquestioned authority to Silent Running’s indictment of the failure of government to properly protect the environment. To be sure, there are Libertarian themes as well; they tend toward the anti-authoritarian from every direction, but Eric’s kind of ignoring that.
But the biggest evidence that I’ve seen is the extraordinary Lefty leanings of the Shock: games I’ve played. Social class is extremely common as an Issue and economic inequality almost always factors into the various other issues in some way; sometimes it’s proles selling advertising space in their own brains to feed their kids, or sometimes it’s the wealthy buying their way out of responsibility. It’s not that Shock: can’t be used to tell stories about Libertarianism and the Rugged Individual; it’s that the players I’ve played with — often strangers at conventions — tend to frown on its myths more than they frown on the myths of Socialism.
I wish Chairman Bruce would comment on it more than he has, though. Particularly by writing some SF that contradicts what he’s said. I have no doubt he can do it and do it well. I could do with some good Pinko, Cooperation-Makes-Us-Great SF.
Eric S. Raymond is pretty much a certifiable crank. He used to be an important figure in nerd-dom (at least, he tried to be) but his cred has been diminishing on an asymptote to zero for years.
I definitely have noticed the liberal bent of shock: games I’ve seen. I wonder if it’s the audience, a coincidence that the people we’ve conned with are pinkos themselves.
Anyway, having not read the original essay, I still think it’s pretty silly. “Evil megacorps are bad,” is a huge trope in all kinds of sci-fi.
Man, I hate the phrase “Liberal bias”. I mean, “pointing out the facts” seems to have a Liberal Bias these days.
In any event, I think that the game encourages that sort of play with both its name (as Luke pointed out) and the “question your society” angle.
Next time we play, though, I want to have “Individualism” as an Issue and see where I can go with it. Cuz I bet it works just fine. I bet it doesn’t get brought up much because the lie is so transparent right now; the “rugged individualists” in our country consistently vote for corporate hegemony where government is no recourse for people and the wealthy get theirs. It’s pretty much a feudal system those “rugged individualists” want.
I suspect a game with individualism as an issue would still have a liberal orientation. You’d probably need another issue that would push the Libertarian thing.
Maybe. If I worked the Issue right, it probably wouldn’t be that big a deal. Maybe “Tyrrany of the Majority” or something.
May I suggest “tyranny of the oppressed?” Or is that hitting it too hard? Maybe “Suffocating paternalism by the government toward the poor?”
Maybe how hard this is is the game trying to tell you something.
We definitely need to try out that game with “Individualism” as an issue. I’m pretty sympathetic to that sort of thing as an issue, but I’m not a whackytarian either. It would be fun!
There is a (non-mainstream) branch of libertarianism that can acknowledge class and deal with the issues that go along with it. It’s analysis of the source cause is different (i.e. blame state intervention / state-sponsored monopolies / gremlins for allowing class to calcify) that liberalism, but it’s at least acknowledging the actual phemonenon in the world that is class.
And yeah, ESR is just teh crazy.
Dev, I’m curious about that form of Libertarianism. The deliberate failure to acknowledge class is the biggest flaw in the system of thought, as far as I can tell; we’re not all born naked; some are born with lead paint in their houses, which makes them stupid, which decreases their earning power, which makes them poor, which makes them live in houses with lead paint, which means their kids have lead poisoning, which makes them stupid…
The biggest flaw in Libertarianism seems to be the surprisingly blind faith that so many put in the idea that, if they have something, it proves that they deserve it.
Can you link a source?
Rob, I’m not sure it’s that hard by design. I think that play with Dev might be really instructive.
Maybe the game is trying to tell us something, but I’d like to experiment with it.
Wikipedia is generous:
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-libertarianism#Anti-corporate_left-libertarianism
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutualism_%28economic_theory%29
Certainly, in American libertarianism these beliefs are in the minority. (The common kind of libertarianism is called “vulgar” or “royal libertarianism” by some mutualists – ESR is a perfect example.)
Here’s a possible Shock: setup.
– Issue: People wants drugs (but drugs are bad).
– Issue: You can buy and sell anything on the black market.
– Shock: Home nanopharmalabs can be gotten for the size and cost of a coffee maker.
– Shock: Patents last forever.
Jeannie Preutagoniste: (Black Market / Home Pharma) She just got laid off from her low-level corporate job, but figured out how to cook up Viagra 2.0 at home. Is this the ticket to supporter her family?
Lourdes Samuel: (Black Market / Patents) An OmniCorp security analyst, hired to track down anyone who might be violating OmniCorp patents on the black market. Then, Ms. Protagoniste’s activies come up in his sights…
Sasha Mercat: (Drugs / Home Pharma) Sasha just inherited her mother’s business – a genteel front for dispensing NeuLaudunum to the rich and elite of Orleans IV. Will she keep up the family business? Will she get away with it?