The face of the American Empire
by David Atkins
I’m a big fan of comedy website Cracked. It’s mostly intelligent humor: brainy, left-leaning and irreverent. The fact-checking sometimes leaves a little to be desired, but most of the information is accurate and interesting.
One of the site’s regular features is Photoplasty: Cracked invites readers to create photoshops based on a given theme. The Cracked staff then pick what they consider to be the best ones for display.
One of this week’s photoplasties was Details that would make video games too realistic. Among the predictable entries (Mario actually being a plumber or paying taxes on his gold coins) was this piece of brilliance by cordsie:
For those who don’t get it, there is a fantastic and addictive series of games called Civilization. Your aim is to take a city-state from pre-history and guide its advancement through to modern day and beyond. Games often take weeks to finish, as players must manage everything from which scientific discoveries to pursue, to what forms of government to choose, to how to deal with resource management and expansion–and, of course, how to pursue war and peace with the other civilizations on the planet. It’s the ultimate nerd’s civilization management simulator The game’s “victory” conditions can be achieved multiple ways: military dominance, diplomatic persuasion, scientific advancements, etc.
One of the game’s hallmarks is meeting with the leaders of other civilizations: as events unfold and alliances are forged and broken, other leaders (if controlled by the computer rather than another human) will react in different ways. Some leaders are more warlike than others. Genghis Khan, for instance, is a dangerous warmonger. Mahatma Gandhi, not so much. The player has a range of options for dealing with various crises, some of which may lead to war, others to peace. It can be extremely frustrating for a player to deal with a more powerful civilization that will only take war for an answer. But, of course, those civilizations usually pay a price in earning the enmity and distrust of every other civilization, as well as shortchanging their other domestic priorities.
For gamers, the photo is a perfect encapsulation of the insanity that led to the war. It’s also a depressing view of what America now looks like to the rest of the world.
We’re the new Genghis Khan. The empire that goes to war for our own reasons, wherever we want and whenever we want, regardless of the justice of our cause. To much of the world, we are now that intransigent, barbaric empire.
It’s damage that will take a long time to undo.
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