The Cyberpunk genre has anti-establishment politics literally baked its very farbic. The criticism of 1980s capitalism in Blade Runner, the destruction of the climate for profit shown in Blade Runner 2049 (with both films covering total corporate rule) and the punk rock anti-corporate sentiment of Cyberpunk 2077 . The thing that all Cyberpunk media has in common is that corporations are bad and are using technology to enrich themselves even further.
You’d think this premise wouldn’t garner many conservative fans, let alone YouTubers basing their whole channel around a Cyberpunk game.
Let me tell you the tragedy of LaTrickster.
LaTrickster is a far-right YouTuber who doesn’t only think Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t anti-capitalist, no, he thinks its actually not political at all. Which is in stark contrast with some of his videos that alleged that 2077 actually criticises BLM and even Hasan????
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.00:00:00 – Cyberpunk isn’t political
00:04:50 – Cyberpunk is always Political
00:09:40 – Conservative Cyberpunk YouTuber is so stupid
00:13:50 – He’s called out and has a meltdown
00:23:00 – Mike Pondsmith explains Cyberpunk’s Politics
00:26:30 – Johnny Silverhand
Johnny Silverhand Speech:
Johnny reacts to V refusing oath:
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Here's the issue… Better media literacy risks that he'll actually start to understand politics in stories and he might just slide into better political opinions. Must be avoided at ALL COSTS for people like this
omfgg i saw one of his vids literally pointing out what you said, how he basically claimed that cyberpunk was poking fun at BLM and i was like??? wtf so i went to the comments hoping i wasnt the crazy one but everyone was agreeing with bro in his comments, i was so shocked
Did he delete his original video as well? I can't find it anywhere. Which is inherently hilarious.
An anti-utopian genre about corporate dictatorship is not political, got it. That makes (zero) sense.
Cyberpunk is definitely an anti capitalist genre. It just doesnt do it from an American democrat/republican perspective so it could seem to some as not being political (if thats the only lense they view as political). But it is without a doubt a critique of what the world would be if we let corporations run amok. The world itself is literally governments are now weak and corporations strong. And that has destroyed the world just as much as strong governments and weak corporations would. Perhaps even worse as corporations are less reliant on the opinions of the populace.
stop trying to involve politics in things that are actually interesting
this game has no political agenda just play it and enjoy the story you fucking heathens
in current year, a character will turn towards the camera, look the player in the eyes, and proclaim "I hate capitalism because it is at the root of all of the problems in my life and within the world we live in, i think we should burn it all down and start anew" and conservatives will try to explain how this was not abouy capitalism but about technology actually.
Does anybody understand that this is a video game made by computer nerds and not reality? It's supposed to be fun to play and cool, enjoy it for what it is. It's undeniably woke, but at least it's actually fun, unlike most woke products. Take what you can get at this point because entertainment is almost completely devoid of fun these days.
30:32 when johnny says "Its not because capitalism is a thorn in my side."
He is not saying this isnt about capitalism, in any way shape or form.
He is saying that capitalism does not hurt him on a personal level; he is admitting and acknowledging his privilege as famous rock star. He could have prospered under capitalism. He had opportunities to make it big, to be a big shot, all he had to do was sign and be a good boy.
But he didnt. Because he is morally opposed to capitalism as a whole, regardless of how it affects him. Capitalism
isnta thorn in his side.Personally, I disagree with his perspective on the matter. Cyberpunk is inherently political and because of the framing of many stories, very anti capitalist. These worlds set in late stage capitalism, always show these corporations, even the "good ones", committing unforgivable acts against nature and humanity.
Bladerunners Androids and Cyberpunk 2077s Soulkiller are two such examples. I tend to avoid political discussion, I believe it only hurts the community to partake in these sorts of discussions or content creation. These are VERY sensitive topics for many.
I earnestly wish content creators like LaTrickster wouldn't say things like this. I've appreciated quite a few of his videos and feel like he has something to add to the community. So much so, i thought comments like this were originally rage bait. I'm not sure if he understands the harm he is doing or just doesn't care. Either way, this community should be about spreading positivity even if you disagree with someone.
I also find it extremely disrespectful to claim Mike Pondsmith doesn't understand his own lore when everything he says lines up with his texts. He's a brilliant and genuinely kind guy.
I’m honestly tempted to dislike this video for giving this guy attention
DEAD SUITS IN MY WAY, BULLETS PIERCING ME, MAMA HERE COME LIBERTY
Did he take the original video down? I cant seem to find it
Did you have to bring up isreal in this video? Obsessed much?
Wow, thats deeply embarrassing, though it clearly illustrated that the Right dont read.
I guess he waa so busy slaughtering gangsters with katanas that he neve got around to reading the shards.
I suspect this may just be one of those cases if a fundamental inability to ever admit he was wrong.Many such cases.
I like the point of this video. If you care about art you gotta get over it when the messages don't align with your views. I don't think my politics completely align with this channels politics but it's still a fun channel to watch.
Did the video get taken down?
The point of Cyberpunk is that California is irredeemable shithole.
do more video games leftist analists, love these video
Another point you're missing is that capitalism in Cyberpunk is literally the cause of moral erosion. It's the commodification of everything from sex to even memory and according to Johnny, souls, that's destroying humanity.
The advertisements littered throughout the game paints a very detailed picture of how desensitized everyone is by the above-mentioned. Sex is used to sell snack foods, memories and even dreams are reenacted in brothels. The list goes on.
Conservatives can only call out and recognize croney capitalists whenever corporations seek profit from the woke crowd. They only want to see and hear one thing.
I remember libertarians completely missing the point of BioShock also. One of my buddies actually thought Andrew Ryan was the good guy.
Surface level idiocy: "Lol there's no way it's anticapitalist there's capitalism in it!"
Semi-knowledgeable: "The story is anti-capitalist."
Knowledgeable: "The story is anti-capitalist and it's made by a capitalist corporation."
Enlightened Knowledge: "The story is anti-capitalist, made by a capitalist corporation that knows it's anti-capitalist."
Grandmaster Knowledge: "The story is anti-capitalist, made by a capitalist corporation, that knows it's anti-capitalist, and uses anti-capitalist messages to manipulate the masses."
I don't agree with what the guy in the video is saying since I have not watched the video to even know what he says, but Cyberpunk 2077 actually isn't about "capitalism". Instead, it is a criticism about hyper-capitalism, or capitalism left unchecked. There is a big difference there
Red Dawn was made by John Milius same guy who made like Conan and kinda came up with the idea for Apocalypse Now with George Lucas..etc. He was a pretty conservative guy but also was a good writer and director so his movies looked nice.
So you're a computer shut in but also known nothing about the media you consume? So you're just a loser in other words
Not everyone will agree with you. Just accept it. Anyway, thanks for introducing me to him. Im gonna check him out.
Well, I think the video doesn´t exist anymore. Just a YT search didn´t turn anything up, and scrolling though this guys channel didn´t result in anything either. Maybe I´m just blind…
Disambiguation:
Not that many people would have thought the Pondsmith's Cyberpunk was the origin of cyberpunk, but i think it may be worth clarifying.
Mike Pondsmith's pen and paper role playing game, despite its iconic title, was not the origin of cyberpunk.
Pondsmith's rpg/s published under the titles Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk 2020, and Cyberpunk Red, where based upon the preexisting, largely literary, genre of cyberpunk.
just because the rpg was literally called "Cyberpunk" does not grant it any greater (or lesser) authority over the genre than the numerous authors and others who have developed and contributed to the genre prior to or since Pondsmith's contributions.
Shadowrun was originally another cyberpunk genre pen and paper rpg published around the same time as Pondsmith's rpg, and Shadowrun was arguably the more popular cyberpunk rpg.
Dark Conspiracy was another pen and paper rpg that was published around the same time. unlike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk and the competing Shadowrun, I don't think Dark Conspiracy ever explicitly stated its basis in the cyberpunk genre nor ever even used the term, but it was certainly filled with cyberpunk elements and did a fantastic job with some excellent cyberpunk world building.
Dark Conspiracy was by far the least well known of these three cyberpunk rpgs but it was not only a great cyberpunk rpg, but in my opinion the best pen and paper rpg ever, followed a close second by the Palladium Multiverse as sublimely woven together via the absolute powerhouse that is Rifts. Noting here that Rifts is also very much based in a cyberpunk world but again without ever exactly spelling that it out…
It's not a simple matter to pin the origin of the inspirational literary genre, into which these various rpgs fit, to any single author, however, i believe Philip K Dick wrote the definitively cyberpunk story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, well before the term "cyberpunk" had been coined (the story that the film Blade Runner was based on). Even Dick's contributions though, where mere highlights amongst a literary landscape with blurry boundaries and many contributors. The cyberpunk genre gained much mainstream popularity with William Gibson's Neuromancer and Burning Chrome which where also mere highlights of the cyberpunk sub genre of scifi which had been steadily building momentum for many years prior.
Not defending anyone here, but just to play devils advocate, i'm gonna claim that cyberpunk while often incorporating political themes, is not inherently political. There is no hard and fast rule book for what cyberpunk is and isn't. Just a lose collection of vaguely defined themes, which are selectively combined more or less.
Dystopian stories tell of dystopian worlds which are often born of lamentable politics without necessarily concerning themselves with those politics. Furthermore even terribly grim politics can be fun, and fanciful, as can be the grimmest dystopias. Both of which can be formulated for sheer entertainment, but the more gripping and meaningful, the more entertaining, and the more widely acclaimed.
The Road Warrior movies are gritty action adventure stories, that are fun and exciting, in a world formed by political catastrophe. They aren't really political commentaries though, and the degree to which they are, is about flavor, rather than making a point.
Sure, some cyberpunk authors are actually offering somber political commentary, however, quite often, it's a commentary presented in the format of open ended questions meant to engage and make one ponder interesting topics rather than provide a clear determination.
Indeed much of the cyberpunk landscape is defined by ambiguity, and a blurring of the boundaries between good and evil, beauty and nightmare… I mean, in Blade Runner, was Tyrell a monster, driven by pure greed? Or was he a brilliant artist, a visionary, bound by state sanctions, who inadvertently created a monster, leading to his own tragic end. In a way Tyrell's story is more reminiscent of Icarus than 1984.
How about those replicants? Roy and Priss, both so exquisite, hardly your typical monsters, tragic perhaps, but also, so beautiful, burning so brightly if only for half as long… was it a crime to create them, even though, in their own words, they wanted to live?
Decker, may not be as bad as the Chief, but that's not saying much, in fact, Decker's really not a good guy, he's a murder with more innocent blood on his hands than anyone else clearly defined in the story, except perhaps Tyrell, though Tyrell's villainy is not exactly clearly defined aside from pure exposition, and that exposition seems more about flavor than transparent political commentary.
I mean, is it really about the condemnation of capitalism as much as it is about creating a world where Roy can say to the genetic engineer who reasoned his eyes "if only you could see what i have seen with your eyes," for the shear poetry and impact of that?
Often, cyberpunk is not providing political commentary at all, and rather just building interesting worlds, with an edginess, with a borderline dystopian cynicism, for the sake of flavor, for entertainment, because it's awesome, and if you left politics out completely, it would be a woefully incomplete scene, a story without much depth, without teeth, that wouldn't be as engaging. Not to say the genre can't include sociopolitical and/or socioeconomic commentary and it often does, just that it's not a defining trait, required, or inherent.
That's what we call a sell out folks.😂
Or perhaps he bought in, which would be worse in my opinion 😅😅😅
Biggest like possible and a sub. And this guy (La Trickster, not Kav, obviously) misrepresenting punk REALLY irritates me. A few of the lyrics from one of my favorite punk songs, written over 20 years ago….
"Publicly subsidized! Privately profitable!"
The anthem of the upper-tier, puppeteer untouchable
Focus a moment, nod in approval, bury our heads
In the bar-codes of these neo-Colonials
Our former nemesis, the romance of a nation-state
Now plays fundraiser for a new brand of power-concentrate
Try again but now we're confused, "What is class war?
Is this class war?" Yes, this is class war
And I'm just a kid
I can't believe I have to worry about this type of shit
What a stupid world!
And it's beautiful, no regard for principle
What a stupid world!
Nation States by Propagandhi
This video is definitely me when I can only see things on a surface level
How do you not know the lore of cyberpunk yet make videos about it? Ty for introducing me to him because he is correct.
Being conservative in 2024 is less of an articulate political stance and more of a pattern of self soothing cope where people preach fantasies they wish were real to people who also wish those things were real. The purpose of conservatives is to hold the line while the point of liberals is to explore the boundary so our culture can evolve but it leaves an uncanny number of our countrymen defending literal nonsense.
From what I saw of Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay, even when you make all the pro corpo choices, it goes in a way which any thinking person would see as dystopian and no glorification of capitalism or corporate culture. 😂😂😂
thats the lore lmao what
The lack of media literacy in this comment section and video is hilarious. The irony.
Apolitical dystopia is the best dystopia
I member there was a term that a YouTuber used. It was called corporatism which is I remember correctly fits the definition of cyber punk in any form of punk media to a T if I remember correctly, the difference between capitalism and corporatism is pretty much capitalism is just an economic thing that is horrible and bad corporatism is just one step worse where literally corporations just affectively all the government but I’m pretty sure corporatism is not a natural term I just like the concept of explaining there’s a difference between the three market and corporations having so much control. They control the market and the government.
Awful video. The conservative guy is right.
i modded cyberpunk 2077 and i cant say a single good thing about it,the game has the most anti capitalist stance one can have these are the same people that watch fight club and take tyler durden as profile pic and dont realize the movie is clowning on them
Time to get a real job buddy
Amazing how all the comments here are basically "I think you're wrong because if how I FEEL"
14:22 I have no idea how you can type this and not make the connection. Computer technology created by who? Who made those technologies that shouldn't exist? And exactly what entities are people becoming obedient towards? It's literally so simple.
He didn't destroy the tower cause of politics! He destroyed the tower because this other reason (that just happens to be political)
some writers of the original cyberpunk boardgame (which is what the game is based off) say the convervative guy is correct
Actually, quite glad to see someone talk about this guy. I used to watch and enjoy his content. Then when I saw some of his newer videos I left a few comments explaining the issues with his videos and comments. He was a comeplete asshole in the replies and then hid and delteted my comments. Then blocked me on Twitter and Reddit because i mentioned one of his videos where he was really nasty about BLM, Free Palestine and the LGBT+ community, shock horror, he delted the video, pretty glad i downloaded it to post about it. Becuase, holy shit, was it awful and he was being aweful about it in the replies…
Cyberpunk isn't anti-capitalist, but to say it's apolitical is nonsense.
Cyberpunk, as a genre, is an examination of the sexual revolution, drug culture, and technology.
It's only anti-capitalist if you look no deeper than the surface. The corporations are explicitly blamed in-universe, sure, but corporations don't just get to take over the world. They only get to that point if they make a product people consume. The real cause of the problems in a cyberpunk world is that the people so easily give themselves up to body modification, promiscuity, and drugs, that the corporations supplying those vices get to run roughshod over them.
In other words: the corporations are a scapegoat, but they only enable the problem, they aren't the cause
Pretty sure in cannon it wasn't Jonny who detonated the bomb, it isn't clear who detonated the bomb since Jonny was already dead and Morgan black hand was fighting Adam smasher, pretty sure it was Morgan who set it though
The instrumental you hear in the intro is a song by Samurai – Johnny's band in the game. Here are some of the lyrics from the full version – I wonder what they are trying to say?
'Lost another day to pointless drudgery
The slow chipping away of my autonomy
A rodent in a race unsung and underpaid
My colleagues seem to me like slaves in sheep-array
Then a shock goes through the herd at the nauseating purr
Of the corpos of the world when the content is secured
'Cause they're naked emperors hear the rattling of the purse
I hunger for the hearse 'cause nothing could be worse
Than a life lived as a limb in a debt anatomy
Rather be dead than a link in a chain of tyranny…
Suit up, punch in, punch out non-stop
Suit up, punch in, punch out, get f…..
Pressured to mount the backs of my brothers
Clamber for clout year after year
The load multiplies up high on the ladder
The bottom falls out, then so does the fear…
Don't know how I began, but I was once a decent man
The promises I was made were made to keep me a slave
Cornered and kept on a wage to come the worst of my rage
One day the curtain falls
Time comes for all
Time comes for all'