Video Games and Politics









Introduction

Video games sometimes contain surprising references to political subjects. Take for example the video game No One Lives Forever from the year 2000, created by an American developer. In this game - in the style of the espionage movies and series of the 1960's - one plays the role of Cate Archer, a British secret agent.

In this game the player works for an organization which goal is to protect the world from evil. The name of this organization is Unity .

A possible interpretation

Where could this word - unity - refer to? It could refer to the UN, an international political organization. But it could also refer to something else - the unity of the West or the Western world.

The idea that there is some kind of unity in the West is not something random. It goes back to the Western Roman Empire, an important political unity that once existed in Europe and encompassed, among other countries, France and a part of England.

The Western Roman imperium initially lied in the hands of the Roman emperors. But it was being handed over to the king of France when Rome began to become worse because of the attacks of Germanic tribes.

The idea of ​​the West

Nowadays, the idea of ​​the West as a political unity is not very lively in Europe. It could be argued though that it is an attractive idea. In the first place the idea of ​​the West offers a framework that is not limited to Europe, but also stretches out to the overseas regions, like the US and Canada.

A second attractive aspect of the idea of ​​the West is that it is not just something political or geographical. It is, from the beginning, connected with the ideal of Civilization.

A dynamic process

The Roman Empire is often being viewed as the result of a one way process, a process whereby the Romans imposes a certain culture on the conquered peoples. But we could also see it as the result of a process that involved both parties - a process of interaction between the Romans on the one hand and, for example, the occupants of England and France, on the other hand.

Actual meaning

Formally, the Western Roman Empire does not exist anymore. But it could be argued that the undering process - which is, in essence, a process of Civilization - is still actual. We could say that, in the course of time, the focus of this process has shifted. While initially this focus lied on the interaction between Rome and Western Europe it could be said that nowdays it lies in the interaction between Western Europe and North America.









0 comments

  • 4G Mobile Broadband - LTE Network Architecture and Protocol Stack ABSTRCT The goal of the LTE standard is to create specifications for a new radio-access technology geared to higher data rates, low latency and greater spectrum efficiency. The spectrum efficiency target for the LTE system is three to four…
  • Computer Data Recovery Having trouble with your computer data recovery efforts? Many issues can come from computers and their data. Old hardware is one such problem. As your computer gets older the chances are exponentially greater that you will have a computer…
  • It's Finally Your Turn to Complete Surveys For Much More Money I remember when I would complete surveys and be perfectly content with making a few pennies. That was until I realized that there are a whole lot of these penny pinching websites out there. What I found out was that there was also a small…
  • Key Benefits Of Affiliate Marketing Since I decided to take the plunge 5 years ago and start working for myself as an online marketer, affiliate marketing has been the best thing I ever got involved in and is now part of my daily schedule. It is without doubt something that all…
  • Six Challenges Facing Business Owners Having spent the last few weeks meeting with and chatting to small business owners around Essex, it became clear that they all seem to face similar challenges on a day-to-day basis. As I expected, they are all time poor and there was an ongoing…