Papers, Please is a McCarthyist 'critique' on communism, made by an American who knows nothing about communism.
It is the usual propaganda about the Soviet Union: poverty, brutal regimentation, breadlines, and violent suppression. This is an incredibly reactionary view of the USSR that isn't historically accurate at all, but Lucas Pope, like many conditioned liberals, has bought into it wholesale.
Arstotzka is 1960s East Germany, after the Berlin wall was constructed. The political backdrop is the Cold War, but Pope has taken a side here in exaggerating the 'dystopian horrors' of Communism, while giving the West, especially America, pretty much a free pass. This is a game about immigration, but Pope, a citizen of a country with one of the most brutally hellish immigration processes in human history, thought the best vehicle for this would be a long-gone regime with no relevance on the global stage.
It is telling that Pope's inspiration for the game came from his direct experiences with travel from the US to Asia and back again. From Wikipedia:
"From his travels in Asia and some return trips to the United States, he became interested in the work of immigration and passport inspectors: "They have a specific thing they're doing and they're just doing it over and over again."[8] He recognized the passport checking experience, which he considered "tense", could be made into a fun game.[4][6]"
What led Pope, a white man, to immediately think of Communism when he experienced the hellish ordeal of American Capitalism?
Pope has said that he intentionally avoided references to real world Communist nations for "narrative freedom" in a game that proudly declares "Experience the Communist state of Arstotzka" on its product description page. Also from Wikipedia:
"Pope also based aspects of the border crossing for Arstotzka and its neighbors on the Berlin Wall and issues between East and West Germany, stating he was "naturally attracted to Orwellian communist bureaucracy".[11] He made sure to avoid including any specific references to these inspirations, such as avoiding the word "comrade" in both the English and translated versions, as it would directly allude to a Soviet Russia implication.[9] Using a fictional country gave Pope more freedom in the narrative, not having to base events in the game on any real-world politics and avoiding preconceived assumptions.[10]"
And yet, the end result is exactly that, and somehow even worse. By removing history and specificity, Pope has given himself license to strawman Communism however way he wants. And if someone smart enough calls him out, he can very slyly go "Actually, none of these countries exist, bro ;)."
Pope wants it both ways: he's using real world propaganda in a 'fictionalized' way. But the ghost of Mccarthyism has made Red Peril omnipresent. The player, through Capitalist media and education, is conditioned enough to put the pieces together. When they play Papers, Please, they're thinking of the Soviet Union, they're thinking of China, they're thinking of Venezuela or whatever other State Capitalist country that has been coded Blood Red Commie.
His latest game Unsolicited seems to be an 'anti-capitalist' mea culpa of sorts, focusing instead on...writing emails and junk mail? To Pope, the horrors of Communism/socialism are mass genocide, long lines of immigrants being denied their own freedom, and a ruthless black-hearted government hellbent on using the blood of its own citizens to fuel the war machine.
The horror of Capitalism is spam mail.
Much like Ken Levine and the Bioshock team, Pope's ideal future is neither late-stage capitalism nor communism, but a make-believe in-between. Papers, Please is a damning demonstration of the liberal-fascism compromise that isn't concerned with the history of Capitalist violence. Pope plays very irresponsibly hard and fast with real world anti-leftist politics, which has very real world implications.
It is the usual propaganda about the Soviet Union: poverty, brutal regimentation, breadlines, and violent suppression. This is an incredibly reactionary view of the USSR that isn't historically accurate at all, but Lucas Pope, like many conditioned liberals, has bought into it wholesale.
Arstotzka is 1960s East Germany, after the Berlin wall was constructed. The political backdrop is the Cold War, but Pope has taken a side here in exaggerating the 'dystopian horrors' of Communism, while giving the West, especially America, pretty much a free pass. This is a game about immigration, but Pope, a citizen of a country with one of the most brutally hellish immigration processes in human history, thought the best vehicle for this would be a long-gone regime with no relevance on the global stage.
It is telling that Pope's inspiration for the game came from his direct experiences with travel from the US to Asia and back again. From Wikipedia:
"From his travels in Asia and some return trips to the United States, he became interested in the work of immigration and passport inspectors: "They have a specific thing they're doing and they're just doing it over and over again."[8] He recognized the passport checking experience, which he considered "tense", could be made into a fun game.[4][6]"
What led Pope, a white man, to immediately think of Communism when he experienced the hellish ordeal of American Capitalism?
Pope has said that he intentionally avoided references to real world Communist nations for "narrative freedom" in a game that proudly declares "Experience the Communist state of Arstotzka" on its product description page. Also from Wikipedia:
"Pope also based aspects of the border crossing for Arstotzka and its neighbors on the Berlin Wall and issues between East and West Germany, stating he was "naturally attracted to Orwellian communist bureaucracy".[11] He made sure to avoid including any specific references to these inspirations, such as avoiding the word "comrade" in both the English and translated versions, as it would directly allude to a Soviet Russia implication.[9] Using a fictional country gave Pope more freedom in the narrative, not having to base events in the game on any real-world politics and avoiding preconceived assumptions.[10]"
And yet, the end result is exactly that, and somehow even worse. By removing history and specificity, Pope has given himself license to strawman Communism however way he wants. And if someone smart enough calls him out, he can very slyly go "Actually, none of these countries exist, bro ;)."
Pope wants it both ways: he's using real world propaganda in a 'fictionalized' way. But the ghost of Mccarthyism has made Red Peril omnipresent. The player, through Capitalist media and education, is conditioned enough to put the pieces together. When they play Papers, Please, they're thinking of the Soviet Union, they're thinking of China, they're thinking of Venezuela or whatever other State Capitalist country that has been coded Blood Red Commie.
His latest game Unsolicited seems to be an 'anti-capitalist' mea culpa of sorts, focusing instead on...writing emails and junk mail? To Pope, the horrors of Communism/socialism are mass genocide, long lines of immigrants being denied their own freedom, and a ruthless black-hearted government hellbent on using the blood of its own citizens to fuel the war machine.
The horror of Capitalism is spam mail.
Much like Ken Levine and the Bioshock team, Pope's ideal future is neither late-stage capitalism nor communism, but a make-believe in-between. Papers, Please is a damning demonstration of the liberal-fascism compromise that isn't concerned with the history of Capitalist violence. Pope plays very irresponsibly hard and fast with real world anti-leftist politics, which has very real world implications.