The Alignments Revealed

[tcaudilllg]

From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politic...un_the_Country

Mitchell:Eight Ways to Run the Country
In his book Eight Ways to Run the Country: A New and Revealing Look at Left and Right (ISBN 0275993582) Brian Patrick Mitchell identifies four main political traditions (republican constitutionalism, libertarian individualism, progressive democracy, and plutocratic nationalism) that have given rise to eight distinct political perspectives: communitarian, progressive, radical, individualist, paleolibertarian, paleoconservative, theoconservative, and neoconservative. His axis are kratos/akrateia (the degree of coercion) and arche/anarchy (the degree of hierarchical authority), with some of the aformentioned perspectives being ambivalent on one axis but none on both (what might be called centrism).

And Pournell:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle

Pournelle has popularized a "law", which he calls Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy. This law "...states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself." The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions. His "blog", "The View from Chaos Manor", often references apparent examples of the law.

This is what I've been speaking of when I talk of traditionalism vs. reform, conservatism vs. liberalism. Notice these views are relatively new: they were not understood at all until recently, and even now they have scant media attention. Until I read about them on Wikipedia, I had never heard of several of these.

I believe labcoat had his own opinions regarding four/eight positions, and the union of any two dualistic positions congealing into one "line."

[UDP]

Tell us how this is of use. I for one see many possibilities but wish to hear your own.

[tcaudilllg]

The most meaningful answer is that this dynamic is the root of all strife.

It occured to me some days ago that one could classify videogames by not only by type (the main character representing the PoV around which the music, art, etc. are structured), but by political alignment. Consider:

Final Fantasy I: ??? (perhaps the four light warriors could be considered metaphors for each of the four linear domains. ...At the very least they never actually talk to each other. The dark crystal is in this sense the very substance of the division between them, and the strife it engenders. Perhaps Garland represents a sort of reverse-christ figure who stands to undo all of the progress man has made, if only he can sets the powers at war with each other. In this context the four fiends epitomize the pathological aspects of the four psychic subdomains: remember they arose because Garland turned the light of the crystals (survival strategy?) to darkness.)

Final Fantasy II: Communitarians and anarchists working to overcome a pathologized paleoconservative regime.

Final Fantasy IV: emmisaries of the world's nations unite to overturn a being who's mind is awake even as he sleeps. There seem to be heavy conservative vs. liberal undertones in this struggle.

Final Fantasy VII: Anarchists for AVALANCHE (terrorists?) team up against the paleoconservative titan Shinra, Inc.

Final Fantasy VIII: Lots of community. Squall is definitely in charge of things. He has his way of doing things and he won't listen to anybody else... sounds anarchist. Ultimecia charming Seifer was a classic rendition of the paleoconservative-paleolibertarian fantasy of the knight serving his queen. Seifer was paleolibertarian, Ultimecia paleoconservative. Also remember that Ultimecia wanted to compress time, therefore creating a perfect static of activity. (absolute nilhillism) She also complained of having to fight SeeD "through the generations": this is the witness of a static kinetic in history.

Final Fantasy IX: Again, paleoconservative meets paleolibertarian for a fantasy. The undeniably aristocratic Dagger is taken off on an adventure by the lower-class thief, Zidane. The game could not be any more traditionalist in its character.

Final Fantasy X: Total conservatism. I once dated a neoconservative girl who was indistinguishable from Yuna.... In Final Fantasy X-2 Yuna unites warring countries by reminding them of longstanding social values: this is conservatism at its best.

Final Fantasy Tactics: I believe liberalism. Bodies that turn to spirit... a naive protagonist who seems caught in the middle of everything. Delita is definitely a reformer... can't tell which kind but he actually reminds me a lot of UDP. I can definitely draw parallels between my friendship with UDP and Ramza's friendship with Delita. Ramza driven by purpose (liberal progressivism), Delita driven by determination to take control of dangerous environs. The game is definitely told from a liberal's point of view: the other sides are cast in either ambivalent or unsympathetic lights. The state is corrupt and controlled by an unsympathetic, domineering religion: representative of the ancient alliance of theoconservatism to paleoconservatism. Delita and Ramza take different paths: Delita is the manipulator who has control of the situation, Ramza is the respondant to the situation by evolving his viewpoint to reflect the realities he is confronted by. Ramza cannot change the course of events but he can influence the outcome: this is liberal progressivism at its most lucid. On the other hand, his sister, Alma, is driven by her feelings to come to Ramza's side: her experience of anxiety for Ramza's safety is her primary motivator. (although it should be noted Ramza is ENTj and Alma probably ISFj, so this may be dual-seeking behavior also.) She possesses strong individualist undertones. At the end of the game, she represents the spiritualism the (pathological) conservative "holy angel" Altima would attempt to dominate by force of her body. Altima herself seems very static-potentially minded, a point made all the clearer in the titles of her theme music. ("The nice body", "the perfect body") It is in those subtle cues that one sees the real character of this game.

Valkyrie Profile: Totally liberal. I find most all of those characters incredibly sympathetic. I'm playing through the game again now and it just seems... amazingly syncronous. (must be an ENFj exertion thing) The whole concept of a person who is bound by circumstances to a duty that they do not fully understand, yet through the steady accumulation of new information learns to challenge their religious superiors and find their own identity... this is definitely something liberals can sympathise with. Conservatives would find rebellion a crazy idea; kinetists of either persuasion would attempt to reshape the courses of event that flow about them. From the outset, you know that after a given interval of time, it's the end of the world. You can't stop it from happening, but you can influence how it happens. The gods of Asgard reflect well liberal ideas of conservatives: stock characters who are painfully predicatable and generally irritating. The world of VP is beyond bleak, but that's the world liberals tend to experience in their youth unless they come from a strongly liberal background. Through communication they learn to come together and to grow. More than anything else, they are bound by their purpose of service to Valkyrie, who herself does not know who she really is. What is most telling, however, is when Valkyrie's mind collapses and her essence fragmented. At that point, the other player characters could have been free of Valkyrie... but instead, they sought her revival for no other reason than for friendship. That's definitely liberalism at its finest: no boundaries anywhere, liberals never ever fight other liberals. Nothing comes between us, ever, because our bonds transcend the physical: they are truly spiritual. We never allow ourselves to knowingly compromise the subjective experience of another person, because we desire above all else positive subjective experiences for ourselves.

Xenosaga: Wilhelm is definitely paleoconservative... only a paleoconservative could be so determined to preserve the course of "destiny". (and let's not forget the seemingly infinite capacity of paleoconservatism for arrogance.) Shion and the others are definitely reform-minded communitarians and anarchists: they don't like what's happening and they are going to do something about it. Interesting note: chaos' opposition to Wilhelm mirrors Jesus' opposition to the Pharisees. And too, Kevin receiving funding and assistance from Wilhelm: the poor paleolibertarian receiving the "good graces" of the paleoconservative, again.