MGS2 and the topic of online censorship

/MG/ Metal Gear Discussion /MGS2/
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Metal Gear Solid 2 (MGS2) is one of my favourite video-games and it touches upon some rather deep philosophical themes regarding censorship in society. I originally played it 2001, and back then I didn’t fully appreciate its philosophizing regarding online censorship. Playing it again recently made me realize just how far the game was ahead of his time regarding the issue of online censorship. The story of MGS2 revolves around a government agent, Raiden, sent to rescue the President of the United States. During the mission, Raiden discovers the existence of shadowy group called The Patriots who control society from behind closed doors and who aim to control humanity through digital manipulation. Similar to the claims by conspiracy theorists regarding real-world groups such as the Bilderbergs, in MGS2, The Patriots objective is the installation of a world empire populated by a subservient human race. The Patriots view the Internet as a threat to their ambitions of world dominance because they cannot effectively control the flow of digital information and so they attempt to censor online information in the hope of maintaining their control over humanity.

We can see obvious parallels with The Patriots and their desire to control digital information and what’s happening today, where digital information is regulated and manipulated to suit the agenda of the global elite. One obvious example of this information control is with one of the world’s largest websites, Wikipedia, which has obviously been created by the global elite with the purpose of shaping the public’s thinking in line with their thinking on every issue. It has been set up as a mass communication device that will communicate in one direction — from the ruling elite to the people they rule. If Wikipedia’s purpose and function is to promote the ideas that it is instructed to promote by its elite masters, it is simply an illusion to think of it, as many people around the world do, as being concerned with conveying the truth about anything. If it does do that, it is purely incidental and it occurs because the elite have an interest in conveying the truth on that occasion. But Wikipedia is only one small aspect of this information control. The tentacles of control extend to places such as YouTube, Google, Reddit, Facebook, Quora, and almost all mainstream platforms.

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Kojima, our uncanny prophet.

I couldn’t have imagined the horror ahead the first time I closed the tray on MGS2 back in 2001. That piercing neon-blue light, the cozy ambiance set by the PS2’s operating system booting up. I didn’t know it at the time but each subsequent play-though of MGS2 was equipping me with the concepts and tools necessary to navigate the dangerous days on the horizon. What was once stricken to the sticky pages of conspiracy pulp, fringe science fiction, and espionage fetish has slowly crept it’s way into reality, almost as if it were a digital tulpa conjured by the nefarious rituals of the collective Unseen Hand — our very real world parallel to the Patriots.

I wanna specify I don’t view the Unseen Hand being one entity pulling all the strings and smoking all the cigars in the shadows, but rather the collective of limited hangouts that span a variety of sectors. Big tech, big pharma, big oil, banking cartels, Russian and Chinese state actors, drug cartels, warmongering politicians, military industrial compelx, human traffickers, partisan think tanks, super PACs, etc, etc and of course those of relation to those few old money families that seem to have their blood stained fingers in everything. These various entities often have overlapping interests and as such there is certainly crossover, it’s just not as concrete and clear cut an enemy as we are presented with in MGS2 in my mind.

Paul Eiding (The Colonel), reading a real excerpt of the Mueller Indictment of 12 GRU members who interfered with the 2016 Presidential Election.

One of the prime themes in MGS2 is large scale digital manipulation. Much like La-li-lu-le-lo, those among this Unseen Hand employ “perception management” techniques such as social profiling, psychologically-targeted memes, obfuscation, redirection, information suppression tactics, and in extreme cases assassination be it for political subversion, societal destabilization, or censorship there doesn’t seem to be a bar low enough for them to not fit under in their pursuit maintain dominance. If you’re paying attention you’re seeing an attempt at censorship happening right now with the Joe Rogan controversy.

I have a lot more to add to this subject and would love to discuss it further with you. Great post!

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How?

With all due respect, this is an interesting topic and one I think which deserves attention and discussion, but who is to say, claim and determine that Wikipedia is a tool of the global elite just from hearsay? Is there any legitimate, genuine reason to conclude that it works, as an entity, towards the goals of a hidden aristocracy determining our thought? Or rather, any comparable evidence to that of which points to political allegiances and data information control, just how Facebook does so?

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Ah yes, I wanted to address this last night as well. As Jass pointed out, there is a clear body of evidence in regards to Facebook, Reddit, etc, I’ve never heard Wikipedia referenced in this regard but I’d love to read about it.

I will say that I would not be surprised to find out there is some connection to programs like Operation Mockingbird — CIA perception management operations to subvert freedom of speech and control the media, started by none other than Allen Dulles in the 50’s.

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Even if the plot of MGS2 is goofy at times and the writing is lacking, it’s themes like this that really make the game worth remembering. I think that the elements conspiracy and mystery make MGS2 much more interesting than the other titles. Topics like totalitarianism and goverment control never get old and remain current thoughout the times.

I wish MGS4 would have remained ‘‘true’’ to the conspiracy and featured an actual patriot wisemen’s committee, not the support team from MGS3. I can’t remember there being many who were happy about the reveal and identity of the patriots in MGS4.

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Of course, there’s no way for me to prove it, but to my mind, Wikipedia is part of the paraphernalia that the global elitists are using for the production of stage-managed ‘science’. Wikipedia reports on things such as AGW and 9/11 and other politically-controversial topics in an intentionally misleading way as to confuse the minds of the public in my opinion. In the video below, the creator of Wikipedia explains how he no longer trusts the website, which makes for interesting viewing.

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Then the comparison to real data harvesting companies, such as our Social Media websites hoarding our superficial data to create a marketing profile for individuals (which are then continued to be manipulated by A.I to sell us useless products), is a redundant point, surely? Wikipedia has and will always present itself as an information sharer which can be openly edited and manipulated by any one individual to suit the factual basis that they’re versed in with any one topic - this premise alone is enough for the majority of people to cast skepticism over the legitimacy of particular parts of articles. Of course there’s possibility for people to manipulate it en masse as they would, but that’s just as much of a reason to suspect that people of an opposing ideal and view will continue to edit and correct these articles in response to that.

TLDR; I don’t think the information manipulation and the propagating of particular ideologies or ideas is neither as much of a problem as the equivalent on social media sites nor a comparable problem considering the difference in how these sites function on a base level.

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I thought this was kind of a given. I remember when I was in college and Wikipedia first started to gain traction, you weren’t allowed to cite it as a reliable source because of the nature of how the platform works. I don’t doubt articles have been manipulated for shadowy objectives, obfuscation, redirection, what have you but I think Jass has hit the nail on the head.

The difference, to me, is you have to seek out the information on wikipedia, and it’s probably a mixed bag as far as accuracy goes where as on the social media sites everyone is already on they don’t even have wait for you to come to the bait, dig?

A much more apt example of censorship, I think, would be found in what many would consider “Town Hall” platforms like Reddit, Twitter, Discord, or Facebook, where we have definitive proof various corporations, governments, think tanks, and super PAC’s have in the past and are currently waging large scale psychological warfare on the population and this isn’t even looking at platforms like Tiktok or Instagram which have a whole other set of human rights violations going on (biometrics collection).

This isn’t to say that ISN’T happening of Wikipedia, it surely is from the video you posted, Nathan. I just don’t know if Wikipedia is the best example we can manifest in terms of our subject here MGS2, online censorship, and the agenda of the global elite.

This video was quite enlightening, feeling partially vindicated I never gave Wikipedia much credence. Thanks for the link!

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In terms of the La Le lu Le Lo, there’s a saying
“If you would know who controls you see who you may not criticise.” Tacitus

I mean it’s pretty on the nose but you literally cant talk smack on “The Patriots” This is a subject that i’ve thought alot on and i’ve gone over it again and again in my head. I can see the argument of some of the MGS fans who say it’s sloppy and so on but to my little teen mind, where else were we introduced to such topics within gaming? You have to give credit where it’s due and the whole back end of this game tried instilling a message into our young minds. For some it meant more than others but none of us can deny that Kojima had some strong feelings of how the future, our own present, would be experienced and he isn’t totally wrong.

The Digital Colonel and digi Rose both said it wasn’t to Control content but to create Context. We can see for ourselves how far this has spread in our own lifetimes, The AI talks about small groups creating their own truths, leaking it out from the smaller ponds to the bigger ponds engulfing the world in “truths”. Basically sowing “disinformation” and “dissent” in every aspect of life, It’s the AI’s duty, their purpose to stop that from happening. We’re too immature as a species to be trusted with this sort of power, honestly maybe they aren’t wrong? Sit there for a solid Minute and really think about it in regards to our timeline. Is it “just” to have other so called truths dismantled, smeared, and warped for our own protection by some Cabal? Are we not allowed to critical think ourselves when a topic is introduced? All these “truths” accomplish do nothing but make us lose focus of what we’re suppose to be doing, Moving “society” forward. In this regard you have to make a decision for yourself of who do you want to control the information you have access to?

It’s getting late here so maybe tomorrow I’ll ramble some more but I’ll end it with the often forgotten message From Snake himself at the end, it’s delivered as if he was talking directly to you

We need to pass the torch and let our children read our messy and sad history by it’s light. We have all the Magic of the digital age to do that with… building the future and keeping the past alive is one in the same thing.

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