Re: KoW and imitation

From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idgecko.idsoftware.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 95 17:28:36 -0600


Jim Chapin
>I'm not sure I'm impressed by the argument that "the bad guys will
>win by making us just like them" that seems to be fast becoming
the >new conventional wisdom about the KOW. After all, in this century we >had plenty of experience with untold horrors in the years 1914-45. >But 50 years later, so far from the victorious powers having built >death camps of their own, they flee from Third World countries which >inflict 18 deaths on them

        I'll leave it mostly to others to point out the many ways in which the Total War fostered by the two World Wars has harmed the democratic world. Though to some extent we managed to rise above the threat, it was far from trivial.

        What I'll address here is why it's good for the KoW to make us Just Like Them.

  1. It means you can't beat the KoW by force of arms, at least not by that alone. This is good because it forces inventive and creative solutions to the problem set before you.
  2. It means that the KoW gets to be a real threat, not just a local Fronelan baddie. So when and if the heroes manage to demolish it, they can congratulate themselves for having saved the world.
  3. It causes the KoW's threat to be on the individual, as well as on the national, level. You, personally, are at risk of contamination by its abominable philosophy.

Sandy P.


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