The Politics of Mass Effect

The Politics of Star Wars with Stephen Kent

A big thanks to Stephen Kent for joining me this week. We talk about growing up with Star Wars and growing into Star Wars fans. Stephen shares some ideas from his upcoming book. We close with a discussion of the Jedi and what Star Wars has to say about democracy and authoritarianism.

Check out:

Beltway Banthas (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beltway-banthas-star-wars-politics-more/id1110510480)
Right Now with Stephen Kent (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCll6bwOabDOqN0_alxCr9Sg)
And keep an eye out for How the Force Can Fix the World. Coming out this December, available for preorder this summer. 

Intro and outro music: "Swim below as Leviathans" by Fireproof_Babies (featuring Ben Shewmaker) is licensed under CC BY.

Analyzing the Empire: Authoritarianism in Star Wars

Welcome to 2021! We start off the new year with Star Wars. Discussing authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and the politics and government of the Empire. 

Notes:

3:01 - Hence the term "totalitarianism." An attempt at total control of all aspects of state and society. 

3:12 - This is not to say that authoritarian governments don't have secret police or spy on their people. There is, of course, lots of overlap                   between these regimes. The point is that totalitarian regimes use these tools to control society and mobilize the people in a way that                 authoritarian regimes don't. 

6:50 - Admiral Motti would be the unlucky individual who mocks the force and gets choked for it in Episode IV. 

8:45 - You could justify this by pointing out that Luke lives on the fringes of the Empire on a backwater planet. The thing is, we are never                      shown anything else. If the Empire actually does have extensive propaganda glorifying Palpatine, we really should see it somewhere in              the trilogy. 

10:45 - Discussing the "Tarkin Doctrine." 

13:06 - Discussing Syria and "Hama Rules." 

15:38 - Ba'athism is an interesting political ideology that developed in the Arab world in the mid-20th Century. It never really found any success as a movement but it was co-opted by both the Assads and Saddam Hussein as a means to legitimize their rule. 

17:31 - Along with thugs outside the government like the SA (Brownshirts) who did the dirty work. 

20:09 - Looked him up. His name is Mas Amedda. He's got a backstory but it doesn't seem to answer the question I have about Palpatine's                 base of support. 

Intro and outro music: "Swim below as Leviathans" by Fireproof_Babies (featuring Ben Shewmaker) is licensed under CC BY.

More Thoughts on Cyberpunk

I've still barely scratched the surface of the game but I have a few more thoughts. I've also read up on the criticism of CDPR by fans and observers and I have more to say about the mess that is the game's release. The short version: a lot of the criticism is fair, some isn't, most probably could have been avoided if CDPR had handled its messaging better. Happy Holidays! 

Intro and outro music: "Swim below as Leviathans" by Fireproof_Babies (featuring Ben Shewmaker) is licensed under CC BY.

Cyberpunk 2077: Is This Our Political Future?

Are we heading towards a Cyberpunk future? A discussion of how Cyberpunk (the game and the genre) depict the state and other political entities. Other topics include balancing against threats in international relations and the concept of extended deterrence. I close with my thoughts on the game so far. 

Notes: 

0:42 - Like many gamers, I was a big fan the Witcher 3. I was lukewarm on the preceding titles. 

0:59 - Reviews seem very mixed at the moment and vary dramatically across platforms due, in large part, to the bugs and graphics issues                   that are more common on consoles. 

2:51 - I use the term "heroes" loosely here. I think the anti-hero or non-hero are more common in the genre. 

6:41 - Balancing is a big topic in International Relations with the political scientist Stephen M. Walt being one of the bigger names in the field. 

9:19 - We call troops like these a "tripwire force." They are not present to repel an attack but to act as a tripwire that will trigger a larger                       response. 

16:07 - Writer, journalist, and political commentator Thomas Friedman has written extensively about globalization and its effects on the world. 

21:40 - Side Rant. 

24:11 - The Delemain car that takes you to the fancy hotel where you're supposed to steal the chip. 

25:54 - That would be the club "Afterlife." Not the actual afterlife that he unfortunately shuffles off to. 

Intro and outro music: "Swim below as Leviathans" by Fireproof_Babies (featuring Ben Shewmaker) is licensed under CC BY.

Avatar: The Last Airbender, V for Vendetta, The Dark Knight and More: The Fiction of the Bush-era

So much fiction of the 2000s seemed eager to comment on the politics of the time. From the War on Terror, to the Patriot Act, we discuss how the politics of the Bush-era were examined through sci-fi and fantasy. 

Notes: 

13:12 - Moore apparently disliked this adaptation, being annoyed that his anarchist messages were dropped and the villain took on a more                    neoconservative flavor. 

13:28 - Margaret Thatcher was the British Prime Minister whose leadership seemed to influence Moore's writing of V for Vendetta. Tony Blair                was the Prime Minister for much of the Bush years and supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq. 

21:40 - Terrorism is generally defined as politically motivated violence which specifically targets non-combatants. Under this definition, the                   Joker would not qualify as he does not seem to be motivated by a political agenda. 

24:04 - "Enhanced interrogation" was a popular euphemism for torture. 

29:40 - There is ongoing debate among historians about slavery in Ancient Greece. It is possible other Greek city-states enslaved Greeks but                there is at least some evidence that it was frowned upon and that the Spartans were more comfortable with the idea. 

31:31 - Side Rant 

Intro and outro music: "Swim below as Leviathans" by Fireproof_Babies (featuring Ben Shewmaker) is licensed under CC BY.