akuma587 said:
I think since the game is very Western-centric it is important to draw in contemporary politics, especially in a post-911 context. While it is understandable that the U.S. reacted as extremely as it did to the tragedy, many of the authoritarian and borderline fascist decisions the Bush administration made were not justified.
Great examples are the wiretapping scandal which outraged Americans, the unnecessarily secretive handling of even basic level information by the Bush White House (they installed their own email server to be separate from the rest of the White House system to avoid having to share their information), as well as the torturing of detainees by PMC personnel in some of the prisons. Some of these detainees are now suing these people because they cannot sue the military. The inability of these detainees to have legal representation up until this point ties into another important theme in all of the MGS games.
The general public's role in pretty much every MGS game is nonexistent, they are completely passive and oblivious to such profound events occurring on their own soil sometimes which could shatter their lives instantaneously, such as Shadow Moses (which became and internet hero story between MGS and MGS2), the interpretation of the Cold War politics in MGS3 in which the public is dangerously close to nuclear holocaust, and the apparent uninvolvement of the public in making the decision to wage so many battles and rely on the PMC's so heavily in MGS4.
People like Zero think it is their duty to bear everyone else's burden by not sharing information with them as to protect them from it, but that extreme level of power corrupts their initially noble intentions because it eventually spirals out of control. Then it becomes a self-sustaining system which no one can turn off (this becomes a literal metaphor with the SOP system in MGS4) largely because they are not even aware how deeply it runs.
The American public's sharp rebukes of the Bush Administration in its 2nd term (which has reached approval levels as low as Nixon did in the height of his scandals) is a perfect example of how frustrated the public becomes when it feels the government has become unresponsive and completely aloof to their own problems as well as making extremely important decisions without even consulting their interests. The Bush Administration has focused on sustaining its image and appealing to its political base rather than enacting policy decisions that will leave a positive legacy.
Even when a chance comes along to show their worth, such as the Hurricane Katrina incident, they delayed sending help to New Orleans for over a week. They even claimed that it was the government in New Orleans fault for not declaring a state of emergency (which either the mayor or governor did 3 days before the hurricane hit land) and then tried to make the mayor sign over her state to the federal government (she was a White Democrat female) in order to receive federal help, which she refused to do. Such crass handling of the situation could not be hid from the public or the media.
In every MGS game there seems to be a tangible distance between the people who these decisions will affect and those who are making these decisions.
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That's an interesting take on it and definitely one I haven't considered before. It can certainly be supported by some in game references such as the apparently oblivious public following the immediate aftermath of the Manhattan incident and certain quotations made by President Ames and Vamp concerning public ignorance.
Another idea that perhaps ties in with that in some ways (unless of course is merely coincidential) is the lack of any Presidential character known in MGS4. All previous MGS games had defined Presidential characters that would to a lesser or greater extent be referenced in the narrative. It raises the question of what happened to the governing body of the United States following the Manhattan incident? Did the Patriots A.I system seize ultimate control under a decre of Martial Law? If so how would that be possible without causing massive public chaos and triggering revolt? Perhaps it simply ties in with the theme of public ignorance or the Patriots had achieved such a level of Information Control that they were able to benefit off the uninformed public -similarly to how the various behind the curtain groups in Deus Ex achieved ultimate governmental authority under the pretense of National Security.
The more important question though and one I'm sure isn't coincidential is what happens after MGS4? While the ending may have been relatively optimistic, perhaps almost satirical to an extent, such a radical, almost day to day shift in how a society operates and governs itself (which essentially is null as we entered a stage of Anarchy at the end of MGS4) would be a major cause for concern. Perhaps Ames foretold it best when he predicted a massive political vaccum, public chaos and pandemonium. -Which is why I believe the ending of MGS4 is perhaps is meant to be misleadingly positive at face value but far more dark if you consider the aftermath of what's left after the credits roll; A world erupt in anarchy and chaos with nobody left to save it as the "last action hero", Solid Snake is dead.
