I've been trying to change the world for about ten years. Actively. In everything I have done, this game included. I celebrate that you want to open up "our" eyes to things. As far as I can understand, most people beyond a certain age (about 27) have to just hunker down and get on with the various demands of life, while most kids are just enjoying themsleves, like playing arma, and inbetween life turns from a full spread to a limited, but dependable diet of experiences that somehow nourish the human spirit. And for nearly everyone, there is what amounts to an inkling to a full-blown recognition of what is going on in the planet. The kids, the elders, we all know the world is going to shit, that we will leave the natural world in a worse condition than when we were born to it -- which is unforgiveable if you ever borrowed a friend's house to live at, let alone something at global scale. What can you do? Well, do you your best locally, with friends, family, colleagues, be nice, even be challenging, but you can't take it too seriously otherwise your life will fall apart -- or at least, this is what is thought, in some form or another.
And then there are bunch of people who are trying quite actively to do something about it. So, they fill their heads with global this, world orders, economic systems, tipping points, and all kinds of material that fills their heads, the weight of which, for some, cause them to descend into the various forms of conspiratorial madness. Others attempt to work in and through the system to bring about a change, but over the years, realise the more power they accrue within the system, the less they can actually do to change it. Ho-hum, life becomes a little too serious for such people, and I am not sure when they look back over it all in their old age, whether it was at all worth it. Certainly, the world seems to be buggered, and this is with all kinds and manner of active involvement by smart, energetic, intelligent and insightful people. It is enough to make one think significant change just isn't possible -- and this becomes true as soon as someone thinks it.
And then there are the rather odd individuals, who don't play for the system nor against it, and somehow exist inbetween. A school teacher, does a bit of tango, tai chi, tends towards buddhism but can't actually join because that would be going against his principles! Okay, that's me, but it could be any number of jobs, and interests, but essentially just getting on with things and having fun and yet at the same time, completely committed to seeing major change in the world. A strange place to occupy, for sure, this inbetween space. No attempt to persuade others directly, since argument in the form of the law of the excluded middle just plays into polar dynamics, and at the end of it, consilience is never achieved; good for law-courts, and the political play in government, but not if you face the quality of problem we are facing as a conscious species. Nor does s/he go about quoting past masters, because let's face it, if the quoted master didn't manage to effect the change they wanted to see in the world while they were alive, what chance now that they are dead? Nope, we need new solutions emerging from our immersed experience, here and now.
So, I tried for a decade, during my thirties, a good amount of time, fully mature, at the peak of one's abilities overal, to engage not governments nor swap stories about government, but to engage friends and family deeply. I guessed that the problem is not the government, or economics, or any nominalisation or institution, but the people who invest in said "organisations". And of course, the people in these institutions are as innocent as the ones you are accusing/trying to open their eyes with your call to arms. Yup, the problem is us, just normal people. And since I grew up with a few, and I have gotten to know some strangers pretty well, and I would include some friends in this gaming community, it seemed like the right place to start.
So, with this community, as I tried with the tango community, or the tai chi, or the GO group, and of course my colleagues at schools I taught at, and most importantly my friends and family I grew up with, to... implement the kind of changes I saw could benefit the world. One of these major changes is the internet, and specifically open source practice. This community gave me an insight into how open source works, the power plays between developers and users (which informed me when I engaged entrepreneurs regarding agile programming and lean business), and how scalable self-organisation systems compare to their rather heavy real world entities eg world cup football every four years. I learned a lot with this community, with the players, and quite frankly this game, specifically fortress, was perfect because the alignment on the grid, from initial launch to general teamplay, manifest the same skills we exhibit as players to organise the ladle tournament, and thus, in a way holographically, the skills needed to bring about any significant, scalable social change.
But it has all come to nothing. Or at least, we have ladles, but nothing more. And apart from the system of self-discipline I developed in schools, this was one of the few social experiments that met with any success in the last decade. Nope, it was not enough, so I gave up. And right now, I am trying to reconfigure my life, which has only a few elements believe me, so that I can live a relatively normal life, given that I am aware, like everyone else, that the world is not doing so well, and the chances are, we are getting sucked down some kind toilet. It is a tough gig, and five months in, and I am still... treading water (i could be considered a "floater" at the moment ; ).
So, what does all this amount to? And why on earth am I writing this, at some butt-end thread that nobody, nobody will read? Except, perhaps you. And that is to acknowledge, and thank you, for your efforts. You are not alone. Not at all. The trick, as I have failed to do, is pull together enough of a team to... to win. We are winning wrt ladles, but we lost wrt missing the opportunity to influence the hollywood making of TRON 2, say. And so, I extend my hand of friendship, FFIIXXIITT. If you got something to do, I'm game. As far as I can tell, that means playing arma, and awaiting the time when players realise their power, and that this community, since it is the only exclusively virtual community of which I am a part, come to appreciate the skills they possess on the grid, and in organising themselves for the tronic ladle, have corollaries or parallels in serious real-world political and economic arenas. It can not be forced, nor persuaded. It relies on people piecing things together, and, just like a good team, getting the timing right.
I just wish I was better on the grid, then people might have taken me a little more seriously. Given my lack of skills, I guess this can be put down to a rant, like yours
