The Eternal Struggle?

Gregg Easterbrook (aka Tuesday Morning Quarterback on ESPN) had an interesting take on the Pats-Colts rivalry in his most recent column. In essence, he argues that the Colts and Patriots rivalry has become a classic battle of Good (the Colts) vs. Evil (the Patriots). I won't go into the merits of his particular arguments here, but I more or less agree with his point (though perhaps not to the extent that he takes it). I should add, though, that I have a longstanding anti-Pats bias, one that has not been helped by the Red Sox narrowly defeating my Indians in the ALCS.

Anyways, I found the article interesting for two main reasons. One, I was pleased to see that I wasn't the only one who was more than sick of hearing about New England, and hadn't so quickly forgotten about their cheating and how arrogant Belicheck can be. And two (this being the main one), I found it interesting how drastically the Patriots' image has changed. Back when they won their first ring, they were the 'ultimate team'--humble and selfless, composed of no-name players who thrived on coaching and hard work. They were the "complete team", that year in and year out were able to one-up Manning and the Colts. The Colts were, of course, the exact opposite--a flashy, finesse offense studded with stars like Manning and Harrison, trying to outscore opponents who generally could put up serious points against their inadequate defense. Boy, how time have changed! As Harrison has aged, the offense has really become more complete; it has blossomed into something that isn't dependent on drop-back passes, or on the speed of Harrison and Wayne, etc. Likewise, as their Super Bowl run showed, their defense can handle hard-nosed running teams and high-scoring offenses alike. And what about the Patriots? Well, the cheating scandal has certainly changed how many view them, but that aside, their offense has become more and more finesse while their D doesn't seem as dominant as in years past (not to say that it isn't good; it is).

Anyways, I found it interesting how the roles have been reversed in this case, and I think changes both in the teams' style of play, as well as coaches' deamanor (and, of course, whether or not they've been caught cheating) have brought about this change in view.

Final Fantasy Tactics: Take 2

In addition to finally getting on Xbox Live and playing some Halo 3, I've been playing a fair amount of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. The original FFT has long been one of my favorite games, and--thus far at least--the remake (or 'enhanced port' as they call it) has some nice improvements. For those who have played the original, the main differences are the added cutscenes, some new classes and weapons, and much improved dialogue.
Anyways, assuming the remake continues to capture the awesomeness of the original, I highly recommend playing it. Final Fantasy Tactics, in addition to being an enjoyable strategy-RPG, has one of the best storylines in any video game I've played. With political intrigue and betrayal, numerous plot twists, and in-batttle philosophical discussions about social inequality, it is one of the few games I've genuinely wished would just keep going.

Salutations!

Just thought I'd begin my new blog by greeting any readers out there. I also reposted the sole post from my old blog. I am hoping, this time around, to actually post on a consistent basis.

Fear Will Keep the Local Systems in Line

"People shouldn't be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."I just watched V for Vendetta again last night (for like the sixth time, and it's not even out on dvd yet :-) ) It's one of my favorite movies, and every time I watch it I can't help but see the similarities between it and my other favorite movie(s), Star Wars. On the one hand, this is to be expected, since both movies have libertarian themes. But what I find interesting is that they both focus on the same libertarian theme--the idea that government
capitalizes and survives by producing fear in its citizens. In V for Vendetta, we see the way that the government manipulates the people by actually using biological weapons against them, and then "saves the day"--the government just "happens" to have the only available cure.
In Star Wars (speaking of the entire saga, and not just the original), Palpatine, as powerful as he is, cannot just declare himself Emperor and receive immediate obedience. Rather, he must first make people afraid--and it is to this end that he designs the entire Clone Wars. Star Wars shows how government uses War as an excuse to consolidate and increase its power. And, perhaps more cynically, it shows how government itself is often behind the war in the first place. Of course, after Palpatine's rise to complete power (only made posible by War and the production of fear), he keeps his power by keeping the citizens afraid. Afraid, of course, of the power of the Death Star (much like in V for Vendetta, in which the people are afraid of the government's sheer brutality--curfews, executions, black-bagging, and so forth).

And, of course, I do not think that the examples of the use of fear in either movie should be seen as examples of how a particularly evil government might operate. Rather, we ought to view them as particularly nasty instances of how centralized government must operate. Not every government uses biological attacks on its own citizens--but virtually all deceive their citizens into thinking that, without government's help and good grace, chaos would ensue, free markets would become plague-ridden with huge monopolies, medical care would only be available to the wealthiest of the wealthy, and that the nation would be forever at the mercy of any other nation who wished to invade. By keeping people afraid of being free, government entrenches itself as "the answer" to which people look when confronted with War, Famine, Disease, Poverty, and so forth. But so long as we continue to look to government to solve such problems, we will be at the mercy of the gang of thieves that creates these problems in the first place.