Final Fantasy VII: A Marxist Reading Part II - How Capitalism Works

[@Ghost_Electricity]

This sounds so much like the world we are living in. FF7 is a mirror for the late stage capitialist hell hole we live in.

[@Illstatefishing]

For moments there I thought you were talking about this neoliberal capitalistic hell hole we’re living in now, excellent work comrade!!

[@fluffy_tail4365]

Exponential growth will always destroy itself in any closed finite system. We have to choose if we dismantle it socially, or if the system will be dismantled alongside our civilization by the limits imposed over nature by physics.

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

if we dont destroy ourselves before we find another planet to exploit we will destroy both for the capital gains.

[@sheriffofrockridge9095]

I always thought the world was run like Shinra more or less

[@Miraihi]

Okay, you know, I'm listening to that essay a second time. Yep, it's that awesome.

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

shinra became capitalism, its destruction merely destroyed the monopoly power it once held.

[@StudyofSwords]

Capitalism naturally, necessarily, leads to the establishment of monopolies. It's the inevitable result of concentrating wealth. It's not a bug, but a feature which only becomes more apparent in late capitalism.

[@Mike-xh2vm]

@@StudyofSwords Like communism? look at Cuba and Venezuela.

[@Kuudere-Kun]

I'm working on a thesis that the ideology of FFVII is fundamentally Eco-Fascism, this series is likely to be one of the sources I will cite.

[@StudyofSwords]

Interesting, and although I think there may be grounds for an ecofascist reading of the game, I also think both the OG and of course, especially, the subsequent Compilations series ultimately rejects that idea. I talk about that in the Fourth video (insomuch as the OG goes, I don't touch on Compilations at all, but I have one milling about that I may get to at some point)

[@Kuudere-Kun]

@@StudyofSwords Interesting, I'll get to the remaining videos soon.

[@StudyofSwords]

@@Kuudere-Kun cool cool. Let me know what you think. And thanks for taking a stroll through my older videos.

[@Kuudere-Kun]

@@StudyofSwords You're welcome

[@suikaibuki7620]

I can't help but find parallels between mako and nuclear energy, it could be an additional way to read ffvii in addition to the Marxist reading

[@StudyofSwords]

I'm a big fan of polysemy, so there is a lot to be read into a text like FFVII. Certainly the specter of the nuclear is always worth considering when examining Japanese visual media.

[@redfogwhitefrost2583]

You should absolutely do a analysis of persona 5. Im convinced its just straight up pro-communist propaganda.

[@StudyofSwords]

TBH, I haven't played any of the Persona games, let alone the Shin Megami Tensei series. And at this point my content is going to pivot away from games since it was really FFVII and Tactics I wanted to explore more in-depth. But going on what little I know about the Persona games, and 5 in particular, it does seem like fertile ground for a reading. Cheers.

[@redfogwhitefrost2583]

@@StudyofSwords I've only played 3-5, but there's no continuity between them. So you can start on any one. If you have the time and extra money to play it i really recommend it. Even aside from the story its a very solid jrpg.