Welcome to Gaia! ::

Thanks! I mean to check in, but then I forget, as evidenced by the fact that it's been about a month again. How have you been?

Hope you have some savings to fall back on. When I'd lost my job, it was all I had to keep me afloat: no friends, no family, not even a place to call home. A lifetime's worth of perseverance and hard work let me claw my way back out of that hole with no one's help but my own. Know that no matter what bullshit life throws your way, the secret to success, as with everything else, is perseverance.

I suppose I can't speak from experience since I wasn't born into a life of privilege, but if they intend to keep that wealth, then yes I do believe they need to put in the effort to stay afloat. If celebrities have taught us anything, it's how quickly capitalists can burn through cash and go completely broke.

In regards to the modern age though, we chose to make it that way in 1945. There was a massive movement sweeping through Europe in the early to mid 20th century that sought a unification of all people who would associate themselves as a member of a nation and do everything in their power to benefit the whole of the nation before the benefit of the individual. It was a movement who sought not to force people to assimilate, but one who sought to acknowledge that all peoples are different and that the differences between different nations, their histories, and their cultures must be respected and not erased.

This movement declared war on the idea of our bureaucratic political appointment today where government posts are awarded by personal favor as opposed to merit or integrity. It demanded that the government is solely responsible for the insurance of employment and food for its people. It was expected that all citizens, whether they be rich or poor, intelligent or dumb, give back to the nation and share equal rights and duties regardless of which social class they hailed from.

It was expected that each citizen work towards the betterment of the nation in both mind and body: all "unearned income" (as in money attained through means other than work for the betterment of the state) be abolished and all "war profits" be confiscated and distributed to the people. They sought to increase pension payouts for the elderly who had worked their whole lives and could no longer work. They demanded that the state be held responsible for the education and upbringing of all the nation's children and that talented individuals who are born from parents who could not afford the costs of higher education be put through tertiary education at the expense of the state.

It was a movement that spawned from dissent towards capitalism and its profiteering businessmen and opposed Marxist socialism for not rewarding exceptionally talented individuals for their services to the state. It championed the idea that the ultimate privilege that we are given is our ability to sacrifice for our fellow man. That giving for the good of the people is the ultimate honor one can achieve and that the state do everything in their power to make sure that each citizen be able to earn the income to make that honor a reality. This is reflected in two of their central slogans: Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz (The common good before the individual) and Arbeit und Brot/Freiheit und Brot (work and bread and freedom and bread respectively; the movement believed that it is through work that we become free as is shown in another famous phrase "Arbeit macht Frei" which roughly translates to "work begets freedom")

If you've done a good deal of studying into contemporary history, you'd know that the movement I speak of is, of course, the National Socialist German Worker's Party or NSDAP. Today we know them as Nazis. If we strip away the racial undertones (which was prevalent across the entire world, especially in the USA and UK, due to Charles Darwin's theory of genetic superiority and "survival of the fittest") and intolerance towards Semites (who they scapegoated as a personification of capitalism), their philosophy is dead on with the way the world should be. This is why whenever someone calls me a "Nazi" online, I respond "At least I'm not a democrat". If they had done their homework, they'd know that in the early days of the National Socialist movement, the US Democratic party was far more racist than any other party in the world. Accounts from Jesse Owens reveals how he was not only opposed to the US Democratic party (being an African American olympic gold medalist who is still forced to sit at the back of the bus thanks to Jim Crow laws implemented by Democrats and never had the privilege of a personal congratulations from the president at the time) but also supportive of Hitler and his Nazi regime in the 1930s. How ironic that this latest film Race tries to portray his competition as a battle against Hitler when it would be more accurately described as a battle against FDR, America, and all the oppression that took place back in his home country. I suppose that's the power of mass media: it can turn even the noblest of causes and flip it over on its head to antagonize someone else.

That was the point I was making. To compare Hitler's Nazism to the other socially-accepted political philosophies reveals that his policies were not too different from those of other nations. Calling people Nazis on the basis of their belief system towards the end of WW2 is like me calling someone a Democrat on the basis of their belief system towards the end of WW2.

There were various schools of thought even among the leadership of the Nazi party in regards to biological racism and anti-semitism. Goebbels himself (arguably the most anti-semitic Nazi of all time) expressed disdain for the idea of biological racism and considered it a non-essential to National Socialist thought. Herman Goering's brother was a devout anti-Nazi and would run a sort of underground railroad to smuggle Jews out of the concentration camps run by Himmler and his SS. Goering bailed him out every time he was caught and let him waltz around freely doing whatever he wanted. It's clear Goering was not an anti-semite, or if he was, not nearly as much as Goebbels and Himmler. Hitler himself rarely attacked the Jews specifically and instead, mostly used their image as the personification of capitalism just as he used the bolsheviks as a personification of communism.

I was in a discussion yesterday with a friend of mine about Fallout 4 and I realized just how similar the Brotherhood of Steel's storyline is to the history of Nazi Germany. Allow me to elaborate.

The Brotherhood is a technologically advanced faction that arose from the aftermath of a devastating nuclear war that ravaged the entire world. This sect in particular is led by a revolutionary leader, Elder Maxson, who has launched a war on an invisible enemy known as the Institute which may or may not even exist. The fear of these scientists who are taking technology too far at the expense of the common people for their new world order convinces Maxson that the institute, as well as all their creations must be eradicated.

Maxson perfectly parallels Joseph Goebbels in this regard. He is in constant fear of an unseen enemy due to his own conspiracy theories (which turn out to be right in this case) and is the propaganda administrator who rallies the entire faction behind their war against an enemy they know nothing about.

Paladin Danse is a high ranking member of the Brotherhood who is so devoted to its ideals and cause that he will do anything, even that which goes against his own personal ideals and puts his own life in danger, to ensure that the Brotherhood thrives. His duty first and foremost is to the Brotherhood and the people it swears to protect. When it is discovered that he is a synth, he is more than happy to be executed in the name of the ideals the Brotherhood upholds. If you pass a bunch of charisma checks, you can achieve (what I consider) the canon ending in which Danse is stripped of his rank and expelled from the Brotherhood.

Danse parallels Hermann Goering in this regard. Both were incredibly loyal high ranking members within their factions who followed orders mostly because it was expected of them. When s**t hit the fan, both were stripped of their ranks and expelled from the party and labeled as traitors.

Proctor Quinlan is someone whose primary interest lies in his research. He doesn't care too much for the policies of the Brotherhood but follows them nonetheless so long as he can get what he wants out of it. He is willing to sell his own comrade down the river (Danse) simply because he felt like it. He didn't really care that Danse was a synth nor did he care that Danse was a loyal member to the Brotherhood for years. He just happened to come across the knowledge from the data you stole from the institute and decided to ******** Danse over.

Quinlan parallels Himmler. A psychopath which even Goebbels in real life acknowledged as a "madman" whose only real concern is his own personal agenda. He carries his own experiments out on his own and answers only to the top of the food chain. He doesn't mind this since no one is around to criticize his work.

And finally there's Scribe Haylen. Haylen is the other face of the Brotherhood that represents a silent minority. She is the only one who pulls you to the side to try to convince you to spare Danse because it shouldn't matter whether he is a synth or not: he is a loyal Brotherhood Knight and that is all that should matter.

Haylen's philosophy mirrors that of the Strasser brothers. Both grew disdainful towards the way that Goebbels and Himmler were directing the party and eventually left it altogether. They still upheld the fundamental beliefs of National Socialism, but disagreed with the sentiment that all synths, regardless of creed, service, etc. needed to be destroyed.

This leaves the question of "Who is Hitler in this game?" The answer is you the player. You are ultimately the one who pulls the strings and directs the faction towards its endgame. You decide whether Danse should or should not be executed. While there are many things that can't be helped due to the conflicting ideology of the majority, that just further adds to the parallel. You can choose to bring synths (Valentine) onto the prydwen and despite the obvious distrust of Brotherhood members of the 2nd generation synth, none will raise a gun to you because of your status.

To me, the whole main questline is a giant "what if" scenario. It's probably the biggest reason I enjoy the game so much. What if the Nazis were right about the Jews trying to take over the world? What if the Nazis won the war? What if this Jewish new world order annihilated both the Nazis and the liberal revolutionaries seeking to free the people from their bonds of slavery? What if a decidedly-left wing faction wiped out fascism and corporate control altogether? And then of course you have the Minutemen route which is pretty much "What if the events of real life played out in a post-apocalyptic world". I find that to be boring personally, but whatevers.

As per Trump, I can't say I'm familiar with Franco's history, but there is no denying that Hitler got s**t done. This is why I always find it baffling why people keep thinking that Hitler was just this awful leader who failed at everything. It was the Weimar Republic that had failed at everything and drove the nation into the ground in the short span of 14 years just as the Russian Tsarist regime had failed at everything and allowed Stalin to step in and take over. Both Hitler and Stalin, despite being regarded as villains in Western history, turned their respective nations completely around from a destitute land of squabbling factions into a united, modern, and industrious powerhouse that propelled them to the status of major world powers. Had they never been around, by the time WW2 would have started, Germany and Russia would likely have been just like China at the time: engaged in constant civil war with various factions vying for power. Hell, even today China is still splintered and squabbling amongst themselves. You have the PRC, the ROC, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. all of which who consider themselves "Chinese" but hate each other's guts.