Former MTG player here (Legacy, Modern and Draft mostly). I dabbled in D&D back in the day, but definitely am nowhere near being a pioneer of the Space such as yourself!
I forget the gentleman who said it; but he made the prescient point that Culturally, there are 3 main "past-times" that the American has contributed to the wider world:
1) Baseball.
2) Professional Wrestling.
3) The Comic Book.
... Of course, notice that this list does not have "RPGs" in it; but I would personally add it in, if it were up to me. Broadly then, these 4 "nodes" keep the American ethos (and we are not talking "ideology" here, but rather the underlying non-linguistic cultural, social, etc mores) intact.
As such, if we "work backwards" (i.e. from the 'intact' to the "BROKEN") and ask the question: "What will GUARANTEE the Destruction and total Conquest of America-proper?" The Answer is very straightforward: It would be the undermining of one or more of these "nodes".
We can spend hours on each individual "node" and go over WHY they are now a basket case (and I think for a pioneer in the RPG-space yourself, you would know best your own node and how utterly Fallen it has become); however a bird's eye view will suffice for now:
None of these "Nodes" make profit at the institutional level anymore. Rather, what they have is "Forward Momentum" generated from massive debt/leverage which in turn generates more cash inflow which in turn requires greater amount of debt/leverage... you see the pattern.
If anything, this is the "worst way to go". At least the Romans (for all their indolence, gluttony, etc) died off "as Roman" with their cultural "nodes" still to some imperfect degree intact. America/Yankeeland meanwhile will be Slaughtered when all of its nodes have been flayed off.
You have it backwards. The past times which make America America are those which don't catch on in most of rest of the world. For that list I would use:
1. Hunting (by rednecks)
2. American style football.
3. Stock car racing, especially amateur.
These pastimes celebrate the general wealth, recklessness, and amateurism which are the core of the American Way.
Hunting is a common pastime, but in long civilized countries, hunting is generally the province of the wealthy. In this country you don't have to be a gentleman to take up hunting.
American Football is both expensive and dangerous. And it was originally associated with colleges. It took some time before the NFL caught up with college football in popularity. Football epitomizes the idea that young men should toughen up and take real risks -- even those destined for white collar jobs.
Stock car races -- especially the amateur variants -- epitomize Yankee Ingenuity, the ethos of backyard tinkering vs. leaving all the creating to certified experts. Back in the day, this country broke away from the guild system.
---
Now for the woe: all these are fading. Hunting is losing popularity as people get scared of guns. Helicopter parents are loath to send their sons into the gridiron. Cars, and even tractors, are becoming so computerized that backyard tinkerers can do less than in the old days. More and more trades require a license. We are lapsing into the guild system and we are relying overmuch on professional guardians.
These nodes, and related nodes such as boys playing with dangerous chemistry sets, are being flayed off. Real America is falling.
As for the Role Playing Game, was it really created in the US?
Or did gentlemen play role playing games in English prisons in the 1400s?
Read Le Morte D'Arthur. It reads like the transcript of a role playing game. There is no other logical explanation for some of the ridiculous plot twists or repetitive language.
I had never considered this way of looking at it. If this is the line of reasoning used; then perhaps the original "role players" were the Shamans of old who invoked *imaginal"-ly all the various Djinn and whatnot that resided in animals, plants, etc.
I read that piece the other day, but didn't realize it was by you. What Wizards of the Woke did was unconscionable. It's also self-marginalizing. They've essentially told everyone in their ecosystem that there's no point being in their ecosystem anymore. In the medium to long term, they'll be irrelevant.
I for one look forward to when you buy the rights to D&D during Wizards of the Woke's bankruptcy fire sale.
I was wondering if you'd paid any attention to some of Peter Zeihan's work? He did an interview with Joe Rogan recently and broadly agrees that a global economic recession and/or state of war is likely within the next decade or so, but he has a quite different perspective on US oil dependency and the petrodollar due to shale fracking.
I'm sorry to hear about the OGL being revoked- I have to agree it's kind of a dick move, but so long as alternative RPG systems are around I think most publishers will survive.
Former MTG player here (Legacy, Modern and Draft mostly). I dabbled in D&D back in the day, but definitely am nowhere near being a pioneer of the Space such as yourself!
I forget the gentleman who said it; but he made the prescient point that Culturally, there are 3 main "past-times" that the American has contributed to the wider world:
1) Baseball.
2) Professional Wrestling.
3) The Comic Book.
... Of course, notice that this list does not have "RPGs" in it; but I would personally add it in, if it were up to me. Broadly then, these 4 "nodes" keep the American ethos (and we are not talking "ideology" here, but rather the underlying non-linguistic cultural, social, etc mores) intact.
As such, if we "work backwards" (i.e. from the 'intact' to the "BROKEN") and ask the question: "What will GUARANTEE the Destruction and total Conquest of America-proper?" The Answer is very straightforward: It would be the undermining of one or more of these "nodes".
We can spend hours on each individual "node" and go over WHY they are now a basket case (and I think for a pioneer in the RPG-space yourself, you would know best your own node and how utterly Fallen it has become); however a bird's eye view will suffice for now:
None of these "Nodes" make profit at the institutional level anymore. Rather, what they have is "Forward Momentum" generated from massive debt/leverage which in turn generates more cash inflow which in turn requires greater amount of debt/leverage... you see the pattern.
If anything, this is the "worst way to go". At least the Romans (for all their indolence, gluttony, etc) died off "as Roman" with their cultural "nodes" still to some imperfect degree intact. America/Yankeeland meanwhile will be Slaughtered when all of its nodes have been flayed off.
You have it backwards. The past times which make America America are those which don't catch on in most of rest of the world. For that list I would use:
1. Hunting (by rednecks)
2. American style football.
3. Stock car racing, especially amateur.
These pastimes celebrate the general wealth, recklessness, and amateurism which are the core of the American Way.
Hunting is a common pastime, but in long civilized countries, hunting is generally the province of the wealthy. In this country you don't have to be a gentleman to take up hunting.
American Football is both expensive and dangerous. And it was originally associated with colleges. It took some time before the NFL caught up with college football in popularity. Football epitomizes the idea that young men should toughen up and take real risks -- even those destined for white collar jobs.
Stock car races -- especially the amateur variants -- epitomize Yankee Ingenuity, the ethos of backyard tinkering vs. leaving all the creating to certified experts. Back in the day, this country broke away from the guild system.
---
Now for the woe: all these are fading. Hunting is losing popularity as people get scared of guns. Helicopter parents are loath to send their sons into the gridiron. Cars, and even tractors, are becoming so computerized that backyard tinkerers can do less than in the old days. More and more trades require a license. We are lapsing into the guild system and we are relying overmuch on professional guardians.
These nodes, and related nodes such as boys playing with dangerous chemistry sets, are being flayed off. Real America is falling.
The question is: will it bounce back?
As for the Role Playing Game, was it really created in the US?
Or did gentlemen play role playing games in English prisons in the 1400s?
Read Le Morte D'Arthur. It reads like the transcript of a role playing game. There is no other logical explanation for some of the ridiculous plot twists or repetitive language.
I had never considered this way of looking at it. If this is the line of reasoning used; then perhaps the original "role players" were the Shamans of old who invoked *imaginal"-ly all the various Djinn and whatnot that resided in animals, plants, etc.
What's the difference between rolling d12s and reading goat entrails?
I was more thinking about "dressing up in falcon feathers to BECOME the falcon" rather than divining the future using livestocks' entrails
I read that piece the other day, but didn't realize it was by you. What Wizards of the Woke did was unconscionable. It's also self-marginalizing. They've essentially told everyone in their ecosystem that there's no point being in their ecosystem anymore. In the medium to long term, they'll be irrelevant.
I for one look forward to when you buy the rights to D&D during Wizards of the Woke's bankruptcy fire sale.
I was wondering if you'd paid any attention to some of Peter Zeihan's work? He did an interview with Joe Rogan recently and broadly agrees that a global economic recession and/or state of war is likely within the next decade or so, but he has a quite different perspective on US oil dependency and the petrodollar due to shale fracking.
I'm sorry to hear about the OGL being revoked- I have to agree it's kind of a dick move, but so long as alternative RPG systems are around I think most publishers will survive.