billy the squid wrote...
Yet, without that foreknowledge of the Illuminati, and based on the knowledge of history and the events within Deus Ex, I wasn't sure if the Illuminati could indeed be trusted.
I did not have that foreknowledge when I made the choice. I read the wiki and what happened in Deus Ex 1 after finishing the game.
I don't put that much trust into anything, but I shared their sentiment and there was an opportunity to become part of the organization and make sure, to the best of Adam's ability, to make sure it stays on course.
I have no illusions about Sarif, his desire is to spread augmentation technology and without risk of rejection via experimentation without Jensens knowledge into his DNA, breaches so many ethical and moral boundaries, yet these are a remnant of older times.
I personally do not really care about moral and ethical boundaries, that's not what drove me away from that choice.
Scientific and technological research is funded via the sale of military equipment and technological dominance to ensure continued advancement due to those profits. Hopefully in this future, Government has some influence, to create some legislative framework, but not stifle ingenuity. Or that Corporations take the place of nation states, citizens of a country become citizens of a company. Deus Ex itself already notes that the lines are becoming blurred, between the two. Whilst, corporations have not replaced nations they form a binding force, where people are defined by who they work for rather than were they live.
Governments are declining and corporations are supplanting them. I believe supporting David Sarif could lead to Corporations completely overwhelming governments and states, and replace identity with total consumerism. That's not a future I look kindly to.
I believe, like Alexis de Tocqueville that capitalism is the death of art, and total capitalism is the death of civilization.
The issue is that Governents pander to the lowest common denominator in many cases, what is popular is not always right, nor is it beneficial to others, enforced by social mores which echo throughout legislative bodies, which reflect those poular opinions no matter how ignorant they may be. I can see how laissiez faire style economic regulation can be dangerous, yet those industries who have suffered such collapses seem to be found more in the intangible sectors, not sciences and technology, which seem to be hindered as much as helped by governmental controls.
But if they are profit driven entities, they are going to pander to consumers. They are likely going to produce things that are profitable, even if they are crap, instead of things that are genuinely progressive. The Illuminati have no such problem of appealing to popular opinion, because they are behind the scenes.
I am not sure laissez faire would work indefinitely, even with service and 3rd sector industries. You still need 1rst and 2nd sector economies, and social and economic pressures would force people to get augments to remain competitive. And if the riots of Detroits are any indication, the Corporations are not safe. Which risks making PMC to rise, with no laws to check them. We already see Belltower being used by corporates with no checks.
Interesting food for thought: the UAE is creating a PMC, thanks to the help of Prince the founder of Blackwater, to keep its migrant workers in check.
The Illuminati option certainly remained tempting for me, certainly as they are not a govermental organisation with all the inherent problems, but even Sarif himself has no complete dominance, there other organisations and legislative bodies to contend with, The Illuminati don't seem to have such checks, in some cases they control them. But I see the choice more as the ends justifying the means, by removing ethical restictions towards augmentation technology and science, rather than ensuring a single corporation becomes dominant..
As Thomas Hobbes argued, a Leviathan is needed. Sometimes a Leviathan needs to be as unrestrcited as possible, though of course that is problematic.
I do not think picking Sarif would lead to a monopoly, that's not what I am worried about personally. But increasing the power of corporations and resuting in global oligopolies, is something I worry about.
Modifié par KnightofPhoenix, 12 septembre 2011 - 05:04 .
Retour en haut
I'm not flaming this game. I'm not stupid enough to do that. I love Deus Ex. Just wish there was a little more closure at the end.
