The disaster menu is another sign in this direction of capitalism’s permeance and perfectly reflects Fred Jameson’s idea that “it is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism.” Asteroids, UFOs, volcanoes, and car transformers can destroy your city, but there can be no proletarian revolution that would disturb the basic capitalist edifice and impose an alternative order. Indeed, as mayor-ruler you are like an authoritarian god, able to zone and tax at will in order to create a “successful” city, which means a strong state with a social safety net. Moreover, there are no elections in this capitalism. The capitalism exists alongside socialized education, healthcare, fire and police as well as nationalized electricity, water and garbage. The game’s economic model seems to mix the free-market with socialist features like a safety net. For a good city, one needs to provide the conditions for all classes, with the middle class always being the biggest. The player assumes there is upward mobility and there indeed is some, but it is not part of the game for everyone be in the exclusive $$$-class. the final triumph of global capitalism without class conflict. Class struggle is largely obfuscated as these classes seem to coexist in relative harmony, reflecting the capitalist realist perspective of the “end of history” i.e. The three classes are reflected clearly through building architecture. I think one can deduce its capitalist worldview from general but also tiny details, like the three economic classes, the disaster menu, pollution, city ordinances, and what I call “going rogue.” I want to discuss the inherent ideology in this game, a game I’ve loved since I was first exposed to it at an elementary school book fair. Tl dr While the aesthetic fits California-style development a la car culture, and even most of the monuments are based on buildings from the US, from an American perspective the socialized healthcare seems revolutionary for its time.
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