The Politics Of Fallout: Capitalist Realism At The End Of The World

[@iheartjackieyes]

skittles is a great editor

[@jacemiller9017]

Fantastic video, but I feel like something is lost by not mentioning the two factions that largely reject the premise of neoliberal capitalism, "The Followers of the Apocalypse" and "The Railroad". The Followers are a pretty solid representation of practical anarchism (at least in my admittedly limited understanding), and are a unilateral force for good in the Mojave. I think this is pretty heavily informed by Josh Sawyer's involvement, as he seems to lean pretty heavily left, and likely actually understands the underpinnings of the ideology being portrayed. This is a pretty stark contrast to the Railroad, who are written pretty vapidly (like most things in 4), have very little actual designs or convictions beyond "help synths, synths good", and cause no real positive change, which I think speaks to both the skill and ideology of the writers at Bethesda. One problem I do see with the Followers is that the player is still forced to interact with them transactionally, but I think that dissonance can be chalked up to simply the way that games, in general, are structured and for purposes of balance. (It is a gameplay focused experience, rather than an ideology focused on, after all)

[@KayAndSkittles]

True of the Followers who have unsurprisingly been missing from Bethesda's games but I'd argue the Railroad aren't necessarily anti-capitalist, they're a single issue activist group as you say. If they achieved their goal of ending the enslavement and endangerment of synths there isn't much reason to believe they wouldn't then capitulate to the neoliberal status quo, see how liberation movements have historically been assimilated into capitalism with a couple of concessions.

[@DonLasagna]

I sort of agree except for The Railroad. Honestly feel like they are genuinely the dumbest thing in Fallout 4 (which is saying a lot). To put my disdain in perspective, I am making a very long series on the Fallout franchise, on Bethesda, and on how modern games tackle overtly political themes. The Railroad will constitute it's own episode by itself.

[@nikoincroatia]

tbh I felt that rebuilding the Minutemen were better. Creating a network of communities that for no cost protected each other from raiders and shared resources, seems like a good move

[@YEET-yh6qc]

@@KayAndSkittles i call the railroad liberals and the Institute fascist along with the military complex called the brother hood. They both want to rid the waste land of mutated individuals. The Institute is more like the ends justify the means and the brother hood is just fascism but instead of eugenics in the human race its about ghouls and mutants. Kinda like Star ship troopers.

[@YEET-yh6qc]

@@nikoincroatia one of my buddies installed a mod that implemented a rent on settlements and i was like thats evil and a boring way to make caps. I rather shoot up the Brotherhood and sell their gear lol.

[@Arkk0n]

Wow, a terrific takedown of Neoliberalism, the "inevitability" of capitalism, and how it even permeates into visions of the future without human society. Subbed!

[@HannesRadke]

Hyped for Microtransactions in Fallout 76 now!

[@Dorian_sapiens]

It's ludonarrative harmony! Genius, really.

[@satlypepsi]

We've come full circle

[@PancakemonsterFO4]

Bedheshda, Bedheshda never changes

[@CarmenBrunnaDuarte]

"I don't want to set the world on fire. I just want to start a flame in your heart." A gruesome and terrifying new meaning to a love song.

[@sergeantarchdornan3013]

“Capitalism ended the world but it survived” Posadists: *sweats nervously*

[@nein9420]

Yes, sir

[@sergeantarchdornan3013]

DoYouKnow DaWae WHAT WAS THAT ARE YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING

[@nein9420]

@@sergeantarchdornan3013 No, sir

[@sergeantarchdornan3013]

DoYouKnow DaWae I AM NOT A SIR I WORK FOR A LIVING MOR-ON YOU WILL CALL ME SEARGANT OR SEARGANT DORNAN DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME

[@nein9420]

@@sergeantarchdornan3013 Yes, sergeant

[@threadbearr8866]

Capitalism. Capitalism never changes.

[@MrGamer-xd1pf]

Communism........ communism never works

[@bryanc7094]

James oliver you’re a dumbass 😂

[@KingOpenReview]

@@MrGamer-xd1pf It does in theory, but in reality you get thwarted by a CIA coup.

[@TheySchlendrian]

But People do, through the Roads they walk...

[@rikospostmodernlife]

@@KingOpenReview hell, you even get your CIA coup for being too indecisive, Paraguay's democracy isn't even 10 years older than myself thanks to them.

[@nikoincroatia]

I remember the thing that struck me as the most wrong and out of character in Fallout 4 was that while there weren't enough capitalist scumbags There were raiders, but I didn't see enough businesses greedily exploiting people in a world without laws and workers rights. The Crimson Caravan in FNV or the situation in the Pitt in F3 were signs of people trying to survive and others taking advantage of them. Every larger community in F4 just felt like a set with everyone standing/walking around playing their parts.

[@alibouk227]

Yeah it's a shame that aspect felt so unexplored, or unexpanded.

[@McCbobbish]

When I'm playing Fallout 4, I like to pretend that the minutemen are basically a proto-anarchist mutual aid defence-pact that has appropriated US symbology because they only know what old propeganda says. They just think it means "freedom".

[@samuellubell4557]

Honestly that sounds most likely considering the Commonwealth Provisional Government, and how it was formed (sorta similar to Democratic Confederalism.

[@bp3012]

Im mean im pretty sure, they are written intentionally to be anarchists. Especially since Goodneighbor seems to be a take down of anarcho-capitalism.

[@ThrottleKitty]

Not only do I think this is true, this is how I build and run all the settlements. He says you can make no difference in the world, but through this path, with enough time and effort, you can dramatically change the wasteland. it just might take you like, 300 in game hours of plonking down houses to make those changes.

[@jandammrasmussen3699]

I like to pretend that they are a morally corrupt militia with a power hungry leader that just happens to help settlements because it increases their geopolitical position and gets rid of competition from raiders. My minuteman character has Finch Farm as a camp for political dissidents

[@ThrottleKitty]

@@jandammrasmussen3699 One of my characters is a raider boss, institute leader who also leads the minutemen. He uses the raiders like cannon fodder to keep other raiders out of the area, uses the minutemen like a police force, while secretly controlling the entire wasteland from a giant underground bunker.

[@ncrtrooper1782]

Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish capitalists would realise it's a satirical critique, and not actually promoting capitalism. They fell for the propaganda, ironically.

[@boianko]

That's the thing with anti-capitalist messages. They're a dime a dozen, yet you never see a game making a case for communism, it's either an unachievable utopia like in Startrek or a totalitarian nightmare. Where are the pro-communist media?

[@alibouk227]

@@boianko those are the pro communist media, usually unachievable Utopias.

[@alibouk227]

@@boianko oh and Starfleet is more like, socialist because it actually has people with more access to resources than others, making it so not everyone owns an equal amounts of resources/property, or owning everything, depending on how you see communism.

[@boianko]

@@alibouk227 Well it's a post-scarcety society so it doesn't really matter that much, right? Haven't watched Star Trek, but from what I know they can pretty much create matter and complex items from nothing with one of their machines, right?

[@alibouk227]

@@boianko correct, it's a post scarcity society, though for plot reasons I remember the process of creating food required some sort of cards or cells which were rationed in one episode, forgot in which series though.

[@Langelos]

you sir, found out who launched the nukes 5 years before the show. grats

[@siobhanhenry9094]

Omg thank god whenever I try to discuss capitalism referring to fallout everyone stares at me like I’m crazy......

[@freelanceart1019]

Because the fallout players are incompetent and gullible at deciphering the fallout world were caused by a monopolist capitalist who wanted Vault Tec to dominate the post nuclear world so his corporation creates it.

[@charlesramirez587]

@@freelanceart1019 well... that's not canon but we also see many economic/idealogical systems in fallout, with varying amounts of real world influences. Fallout is a criticism of cold war consumerism as well as a cutting critique on communism. Overall the Bethesda Fallouts are utterly deficient in actually presenting a realistic criticism of organized society. We see the classical plutacratic states in the Hub but also collectivist organizations in the boneyard as well as many forms of governance not really seen since the early modern period such as knightly masonic theocracies and non ideological absolute autocracies.

[@JM-ey8dk]

@@freelanceart1019 Man, I'm a Fallout player and I gotta say... you're right but you also forgot about how the average Fallout player can't really come up with anything new and just resort to whatever faction aligns with their political views they learnt from Reddit

[@t1nyb0dy]

@@JM-ey8dk aka joining the military because murica 💀

[@DarkAdonisVyers]

@@freelanceart1019 (proceeds to support House without remorse) You conflate knowing and caring.

[@Peter]

extremely good

[@TheSugarRay]

Peter is here!

[@leehabegger6420]

Peter Coffin I cannot thank you enough for introducing me to this channel

[@freelanceart1019]

Peter Coffin thanks you Adverb.

[@grimsbeast]

I came from the Deprogram and you calling out this video is why this my first. Also, I have ferrets and Skittles is the best. Great video, keep up the great work comrade.

[@siobhanhenry9094]

I can’t fucking believe that no one understood that it was mocking neoliberalism/capitalism, and everytime I tried to google this to see if I was alone in seeing this obviousness I found almost nothing. Every interaction online I have had discussing this resulted in them being really confused and angry. Lol.

[@orinking8064]

Holy fuck at the "the skeletons litering the wasteland arent the only ones trapped in time" line i got chills

[@anri2229]

This video is quite the hidden gem, especially as a huge fallout fan.

[@firetarrasque4667]

I think funniest part of the Kurt Corbain quote you brought up is the fact that it's a sentiment that exactly echoes the ideas of Simon and Garfunkel expressed some thirty-odd years before.

[@gustavoernestogudinopateyr7594]

Could you please elaborate more? I would really like to get into Simon and Garkunkel

[@DonLasagna]

I plan on making a very long series (already written, not recorded) that touches on some of these ideas and links them to game design philosophies, and I will be sure to reference this video!

[@KayAndSkittles]

Looking forward to it!

[@LunaKai01]

@DonLasagna disappointed to see you never released those videos 😢

[@Cromachy]

This is really great, if somewhat depressing, commentary on my favourite video game series. Great job! I also feel like capitalist realism of Fallout is much more pronounced in the Bethesda-era games, but that's probably because older ones painted their political pictures in much broader strokes.

[@2Fiddle4U]

Broader strokes with sharp edges that cut deep, to those willing to brace themselves. But Bethesda saw it profitable to sand down the edges and delegate pleasure to a wider audience with each release, disregarding the older fans in the vain belief of having outgrown them, all while staking their success on the shaky foundations of stop-n-pop consumers, who play for a while and discard for the next distraction

[@delroku]

Fallout taught me that raiders are based and if you don't have at least 6 impaled bodies on your porch then you have no wasteland bitches And you're gonna get your liver stolen

[@nathanmontgomery7865]

Called shot to 5 years in the future at 14:01

[@elkudos6262]

Brotherhood doesn't glorify the Old World, frankly, it thinks the whole world is mad and everybody is stupid.

[@elkudos6262]

Maybe it was supposed to be Enclave, that you were talking about? Your editor needs dirt naps then.

[@tenfivesmiths7802]

Very very very very cool

[@MrEdHinton]

This is not exactly 'lefty', it is quite 'scientific' imho. Great video

[@tenfivesmiths7802]

@@MrEdHinton science is lefty biased :*

[@MrEdHinton]

@@tenfivesmiths7802 eeeeeeeeehhhhmm Can't argue that ;)

[@TheSwazondStandard]

This sure be hitting different.

[@_thatkat]

This is nothing short of an amazing analysis.

[@TheSugarRay]

It bugs the hell out of me whenever someone pretends like neoliberalism is a meaningless term. Good video. End Capitalism.

[@KaraJam]

@Amanda Archer American Libertarian economics, since it's such a bastardized word. Elsewhere when you mention Libertarian, they are referencing Libertarian Socialists. When you are in the US, it usually refers to LibRight chuds.

[@metalbotanist6730]

@Amanda Archer More like fascist economics. Libertarians want as little government interfierence in the economy as possible.

[@KaraJam]

@Amanda Archer Just wanted to make sure, lol. Anyways, have a great day comrade.

[@oodfty3740]

genuinely would like to see you try

[@KaraJam]

@@oodfty3740 Genuinely would like to see what tried?

[@MrJesusisreal]

this was really good, probably the deepest analysis of the fallout universe I've encountered, and I've encountered a fair few x

[@larry_doolan]

I've just heard the word neoliberalism. Have I found a new communist yt channel . And he talks about video games 10/10

[@Alt__Amy]

Ferrets, fallout, dunking on thatcher, I’m won over ten seconds in

[@onetomeplz5825]

If thatcher and Gorbachev never lived I think the world would be better

[@hawkins347]

As an Eastern European, I disagree. We'd need to go way back to make the world better. The cancer goes way deeper than those two.

[@wallachia4797]

As a Romanian, world peace would've been achieved in 1945 if the US nuked Moscow and spared us communism.

[@ΒασίληςΒλάχος-τ3κ]

eh, some other guys with the same rhetoric would have replaced them. It's a systematic issue

[@onetomeplz5825]

@@hawkins347 true however they did not help and if I had a Time Machine do go back and correct issue they are near the top of the list of mystery cases of people falling from really tall buildings

[@DinoCism]

The Soviet Union went on a downward trajectory from Khrushchev’s secret speech onward (not that there weren’t problems before and good things they did after). I feel like not going all in on cybernetically planning the economy was the last nail. They had the tech but the bureaucracy had become too ossified and eventually sold out the entire socialist project. Gorbachev pulled the trigger and certainly has a lot of blood on his hands.

[@RibbyCribby]

Great video! I'm looking forward to more content because this was really good

[@TheSugarRay]

Gamertm: Why has no one cleaned up all these skeletons? Symbolism.

[@guilhermejose3003]

Play the first two in the series, much deeper plot and factions.

[@Zen-rw2fz]

they completely ruined the brotherhood of steel

[@AmericanImperium2112]

1, 2, & NV are the best.

[@JM-ey8dk]

@@AmericanImperium2112 What about tactics?

[@AmericanImperium2112]

@@JM-ey8dk Never played nor watched a playthrough of tactics, seems alright though, but I wouldn't really know. Take Care and Peace. ✌🏻 Goodnight. 👋🏻

[@JM-ey8dk]

@@AmericanImperium2112 Peace

[@Desi-qw9fc]

This is super good and lights a fire under my bum to read Fisher’s work.

[@cassp13]

this is a really good (and horrifying) video congrats!

[@kippgoeden]

I love that the TV show solidifies this even more now

[@rusteeJackson]

Damn, I really liked this video, I also invite everyone to read the lyrics to "You know you'r right" by Nirvana, because I think it's one of there best songs and also it really captures the existential angst that any oppression brings both when you are oppressed or hepping the oppression, directly or indirectly. That includs of course neoliberalism, fascism etc. When ever I hear it it always brings me close to tears.

[@annamuller1666]

This made me realize that I not only need to talk, think and learn about Communism, but actually act more communist. Thank you.

[@charlesramirez587]

You know Fallout is also critical of communism and fundamentally opposes it right? It goes out of it's way to outright show the ineffectual nature of voluntary collectivism in the followers and the outright callousness and inefficiency of bureaucracy along with its corruption when enforced. Now it show inhumanity of exploitation of the pursuit material wealth as well but fallout is making fun of more than one ideology.

[@ohmygodtheykilledkennytheb7267]

@@charlesramirez587 True. I feel like the answer isn’t exactly one or the other, but is a mixture of both.

[@BlapwardKrunkle]

@@charlesramirez587you don’t know what communism is. Read Marx.

[@pivomanslovensko]

​@@charlesramirez587Youre subscribed to Micheal Knowles, you know nothing and your opinion is worthless.

[@WTFcobalt]

i saw a ferret and anticapitalism and was like epic

[@tobiashagstrom4168]

So what you're saying is that we need to make a giant leftist revolution mod for Fo4? Hell, I'm down for it, if only because it'd be fun role-play.

[@Jomoko89]

wouldn't that also just be the interpassivity that was discussed at 10:24 ?

[@stm7810]

that already exists called something like the ultimate anarchist mod or ultimate mod.

[@painfultruth1846]

No he's is saying that we should do a real revolution! Actually do something.

[@readifdumb]

I honestly can't get over how good the Fallout universe is. No game has really made me think quite like it. Sure you have other games that touch on post-apocalyptic scenarios, like the Metro series for example, but they often feel more like a love note towards the genre, rather than ecaptulating the complexities like Fallout does. I truely love it, and I don't think there will ever be another game in my time that can actually make a wasteland feel like it is full of life.

[@Kanelel]

Damn, I really am eating from the trashcan all the time aren't I? Excellent video my dude, keep it up.

[@zorzod497]

It's that question at the end of the FNV Expansion... "Old World Blues, or New World Hope". The games force us to consider that, just maybe, we can move past our obsession with the past and perpetuating it, and maybe take advantage of what has been lying in front of us this whole time. The games may not let us truly revolutionize the wasteland, but they (some more than others) let us imagine a world in which it could be, which is what I love about it.

[@rulfus7]

New Vegas handles this so much better. There's a theme that lies not so deep below the surface of the game's world which is about letting go of outdated beliefs and moving on, and how the three major factions are only trying to relive and rebuild some ficticious glorious past without realizing that the nuclear apocalypse happened because those systems existed. The Followers are also portrayed extremely sympathetically, and are basically AnComs. The independent New Vegas ending is portrayed as the best possible outcome you can choose, because it allows the space for a truly new beginning and the creation of something actually new. The end of the Old World is also the start of the New World - by wiping the slate clean the bombs allowed for something different, something better to arise eventually, a system that acknowledges the mistakes of the past and moves on. Shit I guess I'm a posadist now lol

[@noahburton7656]

The followers of the apocalypse are religious pacifists. There’s a socialized component to their beliefs, but they’re far from Ancoms.

[@noahburton7656]

Also iirc, the end video for Yes Man says the Mojave eventually breaks down into “anarchy” because there’s no real organization present.

[@DarkAdonisVyers]

(continues to shamelessly and remorselessly support House)

[@LifeofMaximizing]

Protect this man and skittles at all costs!

[@communist_capybara]

They're Non-binary but yes

[@Noah-ii7qj]

​@communist_capybara lol non-binary isn't real

[@Berzerk-cr2cy]

Genuinely the best video I’ve ever watched on KZbin. Thank you, you really manage to succinctly represent the criticisms of neo liberalism through analysis of different mediums and it’s just perfect.

[@houseboundhuman]

This is the first video I've watched of yours and I'm really impressed, great video!!! Looking forward to watching more of your work!!

[@Firebringer121]

So I remember going to a fallout KZbinrs edgy post that went something like "When a 14 year old qoutes marx and you hit then with liberty prime stare." and I responded saying the kid seemed pretty based, like all in good fun. Whoo boy did I kick a hornets nest.

[@elroma7712]

The faction that I connect the most are The Followers Of The Apocalypse, those guys try to better everything no matter the cost.

[@juanitostop99]

Great video! Keep up with these videos, we need more!

[@alicenolfi2095]

A very powerful video. I just discovered it, and showed it to my fiance (who is a huge Fallout fan). We both enjoyed it very much. But more importantly, it made us both think.

[@RayOfTruth]

"The problem with pissing on my grave is sooner or later you run out of piss." -Margaret Thatcher

[@navilluscire2567]

**drinks half a gallon of water** You were saying?

[@lopar8]

People say communism only looks good on paper, capitalism doesn’t even look good on paper lmao

[@sbraypaynt]

Socialists want socialism to become communism Capitalists want capitalism to become corporatism Capitalism defenders say capitalism will work as long as no one bad gets in charge and makes it corporatism.

[@DarkAdonisVyers]

Yes, it does. Imagine doing stuff without being motivated by material gain. Couldn't be me.

[@sbraypaynt]

@@DarkAdonisVyers THAT’S COMMERCE NOT CAPITALISM, YOU MENTAL DEFECTIVE! You don’t even understand what you’re arguing for or against.

[@Byrdstar6423-un3me]

Look at this wage slave

[@amiablereaper]

​@@DarkAdonisVyersmotherfucker I am running a Pathfinder campaign. For my friends. Because it is fun. I am operating at a material loss in excess of a hundred dollars. I am more motivated about this than anything that has ever paid me money.

[@castillogrande8926]

Dude... you just earned yourself a subscriber! Amazing video!

[@concentratedcringe]

My only nitpick is at 3:10, where your wording kind of makes it sound like the bombs dropped at or around the 50s. They actually dropped in 2077, meaning society was stuck in 50s mode for _120 years._ Which kind of sounds... insane? When you think about it? Also I've always wondered how they didn't run out of fossil fuels earlier, with their excessive usage. Anyway, that's *literally* the only flaw I found with this video. Great work!

[@kacperpiatkowski7208]

More accurate title would be "Politics of Fallout 4 with small refrences to New Vegas"

[@kacperpiatkowski7208]

@JohnnyTheWolf Well to begin with, brotherhood of stell wasn't an expantionist fraction, but an isolationist one with sole goal of hoarding technology because they made a conclusion that lastest tech is too dangerous for people to use (idea not this much far off considering game takes place in post-nuclear future). Comparing them to pro-trump nationalists makes sence almost exclusively for fallouts made by bethesda. And there are mutch more small details like this (for example originaly caps weren't only symbolic currency, becuase bethesda tought of them as cool, but had real value since certain merchant faction would exchange them for water they had extracted, hell they even got rid of caps in second instalment because other faction got more powerfull and they enforced their own currency), that efectively make this essay aplicable mostly to fallouts made by bethesda. Whether you consider writing choices made by Howard and friends as stylistic choices that fit into anrachist narrative, or just poor and worldbuilding is your own choice. (Also I'm not native in english, so that's why so many grammar errors)

[@kacperpiatkowski7208]

​@JohnnyTheWolf I mean yeah they do show off different ideologies whith their upsides nad downsides (fallout 1 did very little of this, but I guess it also somewhat had it). But I don't get how it invalidates thesis of this vide-essay mostly applying to single entity in the franchise, which trough agruably poor worldbuilding created caricature of modern society.

[@kacperpiatkowski7208]

@JohnnyTheWolf Unless of course any game that doesn't show implementation of anarchist society without any downsides whatsowever is a part of neoliberal propaganda. Then I guess this video would apply to entire series.

[@kacperpiatkowski7208]

@JohnnyTheWolf The reason why is that Master (guy responsible for it all) mannaged to change humans into spiecies with supperior abilities, more suitable to surviving in the wastelands, and he intends to change everyone into supermutants to push human race forward. But of course most people volountarly wouldn't follow him so he uses force which corresponds with how extremist branches of certain ideologies act. I would say more people we deem evil belive in their cause rather then are born psycho/sociopaths, I personaly would call it more beliviable worldbuling. I mean for christ sake even many nazis wouldn't say "lol we are murdering those guys because we are evil". Also still doesn't go aginst my argument, unless justificatin is that "well since they try to explain motivations of other factions, they are litteraly showing neoliberal world" (which also makes me think that considering all other ideologies and their followers inherently evil is how extremism and worst acts of atrocity are most ussualy getting born).

[@MatthewOstergren]

Listening to this again now because it got mentioned in the podcast and holy shit you sound so young in this.

[@felixhenson9926]

Well that was cheerful!

[@DinoCism]

Honestly, I feel like while capitalist realism is an important realization people miss out on the other half of it. Anti capitalism might not threaten capitalism but socialism certainly does. Good things are happening in the world, just not in the West. Hundreds of millions are being lifted out of poverty in China. Living standards are going up in most socialist countries and the ability of the US to destroy these countries with sanctions and coups is declining. History is far from over and we should remember that the capitalist west is only 13% of the worlds population.

[@javier5606]

It's so clear that most of this video only Bethesda's part of the series and it's shitty worldbuilding like the parts about society not progressing and not creating infrastructure/cleaning the skeletons and the parts about your actions not having consequences in the wasteland. Like I get some of the criticism that's in the seies as a whole but dont put the spolight on the misrepresentation of the setting by Bethesda, Fallout used to be much more than the oblivion with guns.

[@jyripieniniemi6771]

Came here via Smudboy, he used to make good plot analysis videos years ago but had more recently made nearly 3h video trying to "debunk" this one. Naturally I unsubscribed him and came here where the sense´and rationality is :D

[@am-180]

discovered ur (and skittles's) channel recently and it's really good keep on comrade 🤙

[@willstones693]

@@doncorleone1553 lmao ive read 3 of ur replys to comments, u need to go outside for once and eat something other than boot

[@stm7810]

This is a great analysis, it feels great seeing this whilst helping the Followers of the apocalypse.

[@oliverbohn8861]

Thank you so much for making this amazing video!

[@laurenbastin8849]

it’s a shame that the followers of the apocalypse, one of the few overtly anticapitalist groups, are only seen playing minor roles in Fallout 1 and Fallout New Vegas

[@chimedemon]

this shit is terrifying... and really depressing.

[@captainstrangiato961]

While I am interested in Fisher's book and agree many people view capitalism as "fact" or more accurately "natural" (which I find nonsense), I feel like Fallout's politics are far more than just "capitalism bad." I would go so far as to say that Fallout, just the first two games really, are a complex mesh of ideas without a strong moral narrative. It's more about telling a post-apocalyptic story with political/cultural themes that let's the audience determine what is right, wrong, or otherwise.

[@gustavoernestogudinopateyr7594]

Fear of a post-capitalist planet

[@lopar8]

What a well crafted video

[@OccuredJakub12]

8:05 I've never thought about Fallout's ludonarrative in this way, and yet it makes such perfect sense!

[@icecoldnukacolaquantum1438]

𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝘼𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙨 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣...

[@supermanlover8782]

Yeah but did you see that t-60E Power armor with a Jetpack? AD VICTORIAM

[@tcironbear21]

Feels like you might have missed Fallout 1 & 2.

[@jackgude3969]

Goddamn your videos are so good.

[@cmanrocket6]

When the fallout series came out this was the first thing i thought of. They even had vault ted start the war

[@mastercaster6013]

really good video how do you not have a million subs

[@GoodStarfish]

Favorited. For the moment, I'm liberated. I look at my time peice, and we're back to domination. When will we realize that our bodies would not function if our organs competed for blood and oxygen. Capitalism is an autoimmune disorder.

[@DarkAdonisVyers]

Guess what? Humans aren't single celled organisms. This is the same Antman 3 bullshit saying how good ant society is. Guess what? Humans aren't part of a hive mind. Heck, FO3 straight up as an ant woman as a villain.

[@kieran8921]

I feel like fallout critiques everything pre-war times where seen as nice on the surface but corrupt but fallout 1 dealt with the communism of the master and fallout 2 and the enclave dealt with the issues that you ascribed to the brotherhood.

[@jasonjason9949]

Hell yeah, dude. Subscribed. Look forward to the next one.

[@guyguy7634]

I would feel like the the minutemen are probably the best political faction in the game. They have a decentralized system of mutual aid in which they help other communities through assistance of resources and for defense. And their name harkens (of course) to the minutemen of the revolution, but back then, many New England colonies had town meeting style Democracy where people in a community have more of a say in the matter and where the first colonies to abolish slavery. In the game, it is mention that the minute men wanted to help build a more cohesive system in the commonwealth and having a representative government. They would take care of each other and provide basic needs. If there is a new post-war America in the fallout world I would like to see, it would be the minute men’s vision

[@grimtheghastly8878]

Can you please discuss Fallout: New Vegas specifically? I think you were right on the money with this video and I would love to see your critique of New Vegas. Fallout as a series is really dear to my heart and I'm glad there are people who are critiquing it.

[@mizjulio]

coming back to watch this classic again 😌

[@faltanato6375]

Becouse Capitalism can't die,capitalism can't be defeated in front, capitalism don't want to change....no one can fight it. The only way to fighy it, is using capitalism to destroy capitalism, i don't mean war, i mean using em as tools till we are the capitalist

[@DarkAdonisVyers]

Socialism needs capitalism to survive. Capitalism doesn't need socialism. With this, the superior one is obvious.

[@ryanlillie8469]

Imagining a different system isn't hard. Making it reality is, I feel implausible, while capitalism exists. If I'm wrong, I'll be happy. if I'm right, I just have to keep trekking along in this shitheap.

[@IndusRiverFlow]

Good video, but regarding 4:58 it was confirmed by Tim Cain that China launched first. The Fallout Bible also mentioned they were the first to use biological weapons, prompting the US to develop FEV.

[@TheSugarRay]

Rewatching because the very excellent virus video is demonetized.

[@NATESOR]

Sounds good. How do you suppose to institute solutions beyond the individual without state violence exactly? How do you suggest we prevent that state violence from being abused by those who control it. I grant that in that we have those problems now, but I fail to see how breaking away from neoliberalism will solve them/not make them even worse.

[@KayAndSkittles]

Actually having democracy would be a good start.

[@over-oj4ou]

I'm so happy I found this video. Was thinking I wouldn't have found a video analysing the economic system that destroyed the world of fallout

[@mortaljason]

now hold on, the brotherhood of steel builds things. theyre very focused on science, and do lots of research and development. they build things

[@vienlacrose]

they also fuck around with AI science without the guiding moral philosophy needed to keep them from building a permanent deep state in a box or a grey matter assimilation machine solely dedicated to producing paperclips. The existential threat posed by that sin alone justifies their annihilation.

[@whyamihere5732]

@@vienlacrose that's fallout 1 and 2. Now they're a bunch of xenophobic isolationists that hoard old tech

[@Cheyne_TetraMFG]

Great video! I'm working myself on an in-depth analysis of ALL the Fallout games, creating a dialectic between the Bethesda-authored games and the original/Obsidian games (which will, uhhh, take a while). OK if I use your video as one of my references?

[@KayAndSkittles]

Go right ahead! Hit me with a link on Twitter or something when it's done it sounds really cool.

[@Cheyne_TetraMFG]

@@KayAndSkittles Thanks so much, I sure will! :)

[@allypoum]

I've added communist mods to my build of Fallout 4 which help - all my settlements display portraits of Marx prominently. However the revolution is still very much in progress... Another excellent video. Been waiting so long for exactly this critique of one of my favourite game series.

[@patrickholt2270]

Suggested mods?

[@allypoum]

@@patrickholt2270 The one I was referring to is called Commie Starter Pack. Not sure if it's still on the Nexus, but it's pretty dope & includes Soviet-style armor (included Pioneers outfits for kids) a 'legendary' AK with red stars on mag & butt, 'Historical Dialectics' bobblehead & 'Marx's Capital' book perks, & a load of other commie-friendly stuff including vodka of course (& a vodka bottle melee weapon) red flags & the aforementioned Marx portraits. Oh and a Communist Manifesto magazine perk which increases intimidation & persuasion stats. Pretty funny & well designed but unfortunately not changing the underlying neoliberal capitalist mechanics of the game...

[@BrenturoX]

It's really ironic too that we now get a fallout tv show on Amazon Prime

[@SgtCandy]

On an somewhat unrelated note, I used to scoff at the Halo series and how little it changed from the present day in terms of culture and attitudes. This has helped to instead wonder at how much was allowed to change in that world from the 21st to the 26th Century.

[@poppag8281]

0:24 lol when you say get fucked ronnie i'm asuming you mean ronald ragen?

[@KayAndSkittles]

That's the one.

[@poppag8281]

@@KayAndSkittles what did he do again? I'm not exactly up on my history as I should be

[@Dorian_sapiens]

Kay and Skittles, you two make such good videos! Unh!

[@TheMemosh10]

Extremely good take on the series! Very well presented.

[@painfultruth1846]

That was amazing video! Nailed it. I need to share this. I always wondered why neither the fans nor the in-game characters question it or do anything different. I used to go with the brotherhood just for playability but when mods came i always kinda played my own factions like my communist Minuteman in fallout 4

[@TheForhekset]

I always interpreted the main message as the senselessness of war. With the world destroyed and the continuing violence in the wasteland. I didn't know that vault tech started the war, but it is very similar how oil and arms companies have motivated US imperialism and war, so its very similar to our world.

[@piggyfan5486]

it's not confirmed that vault tec started the war it's likely I personally believe they did, but it is not nearly as definitive as he made it out to seem

[@warmachine5835]

Having to see that much Margaret Thatcher almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter.

[@KhemerianTomblord]

Well... there was one place outside of the Mojave that became something new, something good, something free from the ruins of the old world. Buuuuut unfortunately it was at a crucial tactical intersection for the NCR and the Legion, so it got nuked by a hapless mailman 😐 Damn. I really understand why Ulysses was so angry.

[@akiravelicka8363]

Absolutely fantastic video