So...I decided to start a new vegas playthrough after a friend of mine started playing the game. And this time, I wanna do things a bit differently. Last time we discussed this topic, we eliminated two of the factions as the best new vegas had to offer, but I was still rather mixed on the other two, and still am conflicted. We can agree, the Legion is too grotesque to be a good faction. And while I'm typically a left libertarian "Yes man" ending type...well...we kinda saw the consequences of that outcome in the TV show. And it didnt end well. The strip was unable to defend itself from a deathclaw attack as it seemed like House's securiton army seemed to disappear. And that's the problem with the Yes man ending. The courier had no interest in governing, he kinda just screwed off after the credits of New Vegas, leaving the region in a state of disarray. Yes man went offline, and the securitron army just...never did anything to do the bare minimum to keep order.
Mr House
With that said, in this play through, we're left with the other two factions to choose between. Mr House and NCR. Both factions represent competing ideologies. Mr House is basically the ideal right libertarian. Vegas is his little homestead, his "property." He maintains his own monopoly on force in defending it. He does F all for the people of vegas, but he does largely leave them alone. Some would argue he did go out and kill other factions that got in his way. But...they also got in his way. A lot of people hate him because he refused to sign a peace deal with the BoS, but the BoS is itself a techno-fascist organization that believes technology is dangerous and no one should have it but them. And given Mr House wields a huge robot army, well, you can see the conflict. And people also hate him for killing off the kings in some of the endings, but let's face it, the kings are basically a raider gang who themselves kinda strike me the wrong way. Like they're like "this water pump is property of the king." Like, who tf put you in charge? You could also ask, who put house in charge, but he was there since before the war, and he did save vegas from annhilation.
A lot of criticism of house also comes from the fact that he recruited the 3 families and those guys are themselves raider gangs. But...to be fair, after having conversations with him in game about it, it was a power play. He needed their muscle to offset NCR aggression, given the NCR is...well....not very nice either all things considered. I'll get to them. But yeah, there is a negative there. The white gloves are cannibals. The omertas are mobsters who do a lot of prostitution and sex trafficking. The chairmen of the tops are pretty decent though in my book. Probably the most family friendly casino on the strip. But yeah, they're not angels, and mr house knows that. He just made do with the people at his disposal, which were a bunch of raider gangs who he "civilized" somewhat. Sometimes a lot of our discussions of power are wrapped up in the language of "civilized vs uncivilized." It's easy to bash the "uncivilized", but to give a pass to the "civilized." While I would argue there can be a moral difference at times, as the "civilized" tend to have political theory to somewhat justify their claims, the uncivilized tend to be far more up front. It really does keep coming down to starfield's emissary or hunter. One tends to rely on pretexts and the other relies on just force. IN this case, both Mr House and NCR are emissaries of their own choosing, with their own vision. One with their ideas rooted in old world democracy, and the other in basically being a right libertarian 23rd century equivalent of seasteading.
In a way, Mr House is attractive to me given my libertarian leanings. Back when I played the game for the first time, i WAS a right libertarian. Now I'm a left libertarian, but yeah, that libertarian streak is kinda vibing with house again if the yes man ending is truly a bad option. Because he's the minarchist option. He's the dude who establishes his property, and otherwise leaves you alone. He's not interested in governing the affairs of peoples' lives, just in ruling the strip, making money off of the NCR, who he sees as his customers, and ultimately, bringing back technology and exploring the stars. But otherwise he leaves you alone. And it's kinda like the yes man ending, but this guy rules his little area and as long as you dont interfere, he's not likely to bug you. Sure, he represents capitalism's excesses at times. He's the "job creator" who "saves" people from poverty by offering them work and caps and luxuries, but without him, there are no luxuries. In a way, his vision for society is one where his anarcho capitalism basically works and stands out from the blight of the rest of the wasteland.
And unlike actual capitalism, it's not really forced on everyone. Like, I kinda have to consider like, Widerquist's big casino here. Ya know, we heard the story, what if nevada as a "big casino" full of small casinos and you HAVE to participate in the "big casino" in some form, because they occupy all land. That's the source of unfreedom in modern day society. Capitalism was a system imposed on us where everyone had to work, and cant even go anywhere where the system isnt implemented. With mr house, you dont have a "big casino" that spans the entire mojave. You have a "small casino" that you can ignore if you dont like it. Its existence is a net positive over its nonexistence. I mean, omertas suck, but would you rather deathclaws occupying gomorrah as shown in the TV show? Yeah...
Now, there's one final issue here we should discuss before moving onto the NCR and that's the fact that...this guy is somewhat amenable to NCR existing. He has no huge quarrel with the NCR, he just wants to be the top dog in the region as far as force goes. He sees NCR as his customers. And sure, he is kinda predatory in that regard, securing hoover dam and charging high rates for water and power, but he also needs the power for his strip as well. And we saw how well house fared when he had no power. Remember how in the show he needed cold fusion to power himself again? Yeah...
And that's also another thing. In the show he was kinda scummy as well with the nueralink type stuff (hello elon musk comparison), but he also was very interested in saving humanity from the bombs, and he IS really intelligent. Even if taken out of the picture, he's not really dead because he digitized himself as a contingency. Dude really is a genius who thinks of everything. So idk. I mean, Mr House aint perfect, none of the factions are. People accuse him of being a despot, but he's also kinda just homesteading the vegas strip and controlling hoover dam, doing stuff with it, and mostly leaving everyone else alone. He doesnt help them, sure, but unless youre a threat to him, he's not inclined to hurt you either. He's as close to a yes man ending that you're gonna get, without the actual downsides of the yes man ending. He kinda represents the status quo as shown in the game. NCR to the west, legion to the east, he serves as a buffer zone while being somewhat amenable to the NCR and liking them as customers. But yeah. Just a business guy who wants to do his own thing. He does the bare minimum to keep order around the strip. But otherwise leaves people alone. Again, he's not Widerquist's "big casino", he's a "little casino", and if you dont like his rules, go LITERALLY ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WASTELAND. I mean, in his ending, it's open. You can go to goodsprings, primm, novac, etc and he's likely to leave you alone. Quite frankly, if I weren't mr house's super special employee, I'd probably just live in novac if I were in the new vegas universe.
NCR
So...this brings us to the NCR. And...idk, the NCR is a faction I WANNA like, but I DONT like. Basically, they're trying to bring back old world law and order to the wasteland. They're democratic, they have human rights. What bring law and order, I mean, what's not to like? A lot...actually...
The NCR is basically the strongest endorsement of Ronald Reagan's words about big government. Government doesn't work, the worst words in the english language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." The NCR is deeply flawed. it's very bureaucratic. it's very inept, and the fact that they need a courier's help at all is, IMO, a great stain on their reputation. When you deal with the NCR, you kinda have to do EVERYTHING for them. Powder gangers on the loose? Well we cant stop them, we're spread too thin. But gee, you can do it if you want, we'll pay you. Btw, can we just talk about the powder gangers for a sec? These guys are NCR convicts bought into Eastern California/Western Nevada to be like a chain gang working in the quarry junction area to mine stuff for the NCR. So basically, it is slave labor, but to be fair, it's after conviction for a crime. And let's face it, we have that in our real world too (see the 13th amendment...). But yeah, they get free, start running rampant, and they can't do F all to stop the powder gangers. So they bring these prisoners in, but can't do anything to stop them when they break out. So they terrorize the wasteland, causing problems for goodsprings and primm. So much for making the roads safe....
Like, seriously. You had ONE JOB. And that's why I kinda hate the NCR even if I vibe with their ideals in the real world. They are SO hopelessly incompetent. They cant do anything, they need to hire the courier as an outsider "independent contractor" so to speak just to make the system work, because they're drowning in their own bureaucracies and ineptitude. I havent done EVERYTHING with the NCR this play through. but here's a list of things that I have.
I had to investigate Nipton because the soldiers had orders to stay at their little I15 gateway in the south west of the map.
I had to fix their helios one power plant issue because they hired a guy with "a theoretical degree in physics" who has no idea what he's doing.
I had to basically attack nelson by myself, which was easy enough. Sure they give you 3 guys, but because I just went in there and massacred all the legion people because the legion declared war on me, it was easy enough.
I had to deal with the boomers, the kings, the great khans. Btw, more in the khans later when I wax about libertarian political philosophy later and the whole big vs small casino distinction.
I mean, I gotta do EVERYTHING for these people. Because all their people are subject to crappy rules that dont work, and I'm not. Im an outsider who does whatever I want. And I get results. Unlike them...and their rules...and bureaucracies. I mean, Mr House needs you too, but hes 200 years old and obviously cant do everything with robots, so what's their excuse? They got people, but they can't do like ANYTHING for themselves.
And idk. I guess that's the BIG reason I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth whenever i play new vegas. They are so inept they can't even deliver on the basic premises that justify their existence, namely, security. Even if i wanna sympathize with them, it's like, they're just so F-ed up I can't. And given the history of the mojave diverges from the IRL world in a lot of ways...idk. Im not as sympathetic to them.
Like...to go into more theory now...if we trace the history of states, we basically have a long history of tribes turning into civilizations, the civilizations being evil and imperialistic, and then, over time, reforming themselves through democracies and rights and the rule of law stuff to be better. It's an iterative process, and in my real world politics, I'm working from the current point in time with the current issues. As I always say, I feel like we're stuck in an era where we have an "old book" problem, and my 21st century vision is intended to be an iterative shift toward something better.
But...let's face it, nuclear apocalypse throws everything out the window and you kinda need a new book just for that. The NCR is an attempt to resurrect the old world, but is the old world was is really needed? In the TV show, lucy put it like this, one side (the legion) is raping and murdering people, and the other is "vaguely problematic." And I get that if you're choosing between a duopoly, the NCR is better, but there are FOUR options in new vegas, not 2. And keep in mind, I hate just voting for lesser evils I dont vibe with. I might do it in the real world because the republican party is literally turning into some weird mix of mr house's worst elements and the legion, and the democrats are well...they're NCR....but as you know, I HATE the democrats. And likewise, I'd only support a faction as bad as the NCR if I had no other choice. Like if it was them, or the legion, I'd go for them. But because third options are possible, I'm weighing them instead.
At this point, after seeing how a truly independent new vegas went, I'd be inclined to support NCR over that. So they're in the top 2. But are they really better than Mr House?
I mean, in theory, they provide more stability. They're democratic. But they're also imperialistic. They are clearly overextended, leading to the problems they regularly have. Im not sure they can properly hold the new vegas area based on their state in the game. I mean, again, they're failing to provide security. But they still want their taxes I take it.
And that's the thing. A lot of the vaguely problematic stuff comes from taxes and just...their expansionist nature. While in the game, people often vote to be protected by the NCR (see primm), it's far from the only choice. You can find different forms of law from others if you want too. Again, it seems like most people in new vegas are just useless without the courier. Like you gotta do everything for everyone. I guess that's the point of an RPG, but yeah, we see how far this can go with like the minutemen in 4 too. "Another settlement needs your help." Yeah. I refuse to even do anything with the minutemen after my first play through because of that stuff.
Idk. Anyway...back to the expansionism. There's an argument that the NCR is just as bad as the other factions but they justify it with their grand old world moral theories. When you play as them, youre acting like a CIA hitman just taking out anyone who threatens their power, just like mr house. They care little about the feelings of some who oppose them in their territory. I aint even talking full blown raider gangs, but also the more grey area ones like the great khans. Remember bitter springs? yeah. Of course, bitter springs was somewhat justified because, again, raider gang, but yeah. Idk. It kind of serves as a talking point. As moral as the NCR portrays themselves, they're just as thuggish as anyone else push comes to shove and really lack the moral high ground.
And a big issue I have is they ARE the big casino. If they take over the mojave, it's gonna be annexed. Everyone is gonna have to pay taxes, get jobs, they're gonna adjudicate who gets what, and they'll use legal violence to do so. Ultimately, the wasteland will become civilized, with no part of it left untouched. And then everyone will be subjected to their bureaucracy.
And honestly, that's a question I have to ask, do I want to bring the old world back, given how flawed this iteration of it is? Idk. I mean, again, in the real world, a lot of my views on democracy and rule of law are from my socialization. I legitimately believe that stuff regardless, but I am aware of the flaws. And I also am aware of our history as a species. Im aware that to get to this point, we had to genocide the native americans, enslave black people. Conquest. Enslavement. That's ultimately our legacy. We call ourselves civilized now, and we tend to retroactively apply these ideals that work within our current context to the past. But honestly, if I lived in the distant past, I could see myself opposing "civilization." I wouldnt want the rules, the bureaucracy, the coercion to work, especially if I lived in an alternative tribal society that was just socialized differently. So idk. Again, NCR is the BIG casino from widerquist's analogy, not the SMALL casino. The difference being the ability to escape and live a different way, as opposed to a system in which we all live the same way.
So idk. Maybe I just find the idea of bringing back the old world in the fallout world to be unattractive? And then as a courier who does have all this agency, and watches all the NPCs have none, I start developing more conservative attitudes of "I can make something of myself, why can't you?" And that's part of it too. My life experiences in my current life make me liberal, living in a more "late stage" civilized world where government is a certainty, it's just a matter of what we get and what it looks like. Given that certainty, I'm fine with advocating for a system where we all have a say in how we're ruled and we're all given both economic and physical security that allows us to pursue our own happiness. Im fine with pushing my ideals from within civilization and government.
But that's not the fallout world. And given choosing the NCR is totally voluntary, and given how the legion is NOT the only alternative, idk. Again, maybe if the NCR wasn't so F-ed up, I would be more sympathetic to them. But all I'm seeing is all of the burdens that come with civilization, and none of the benefits. if we could argue that the NCR made people safer that would be one thing. but they very much don't. And given the burdens of civilization, well, sometimes that can put people in dangerous situations too. We love to ignore state violence via compulsion in these instances. Someone has to be patrolling the mojave. Someone has to fight the legion. Someone has to clear out quarry junction. And if it isnt you, it's gonna be a bunch of people who are just ordered to their deaths. I mean, if you listen to the people in the NCR the whole game, there's a lot of complaints. A lot of low morale. A lot of talk about how they fear dying. A lot of suicidal ideation. These guys are NOT okay. And maybe defeating the legion will restore morale and things will get better. Idk. To me it seems like their internal contradictions are so great that idk, whatever benefits they purport to have just ain't it.
Decision time
This brings me to the final point: NCR or House? Last time I leaned NCR based on democracy and rule of law vs libertarian autocracy, but after replaying the game, and really thinking about it, I REALLY dont like the NCR. I mean, again, I'm a yes man guy at heart, I support an independent vegas, but I also want a tad more security than the independent vegas would offer. Basically, I would rather have a status quo than a revolutionary change to the wasteland. On paper, the NCR should be the best faction, but idk, they're just so unlikeable, and in this environment, I kinda operate closer to my previous right wing conservative ideals of small government and minarchy rather than supporting the big bloated and ineffective government of the NCR. While real world circumstances shifted me left in the real world, in the video game universe, you can see me reverting to more conservative thinking here. Like, ya know, thinking a real world elon musk is preferable to a corrupt and inept government. But again, it's just how exaggeratedly bad the NCR really is here that puts me off I think. Like it's all the faults of a bloated and inept government, and not even the most basic of benefits. Again, they cant even keep the roads safe from raiders in their own territory. They just let the legion and powder gangers run amok. Idk. Honestly, if I dont feel like I'm getting anything out of government, what's the point of it existing? And the courier definitely needs no government. The whole point of the courier is he's the main character who isnt subject to the NCR's rules and has the flexibility to do everything for them.
Heck, that's the whole point of you being the pivotal variable in deciding who controls vegas. All of the factions have their faults, and all are bogged down in their own respective ways. It literally just takes a guy who puts his mind to something and isnt subject to those same limitations to make it happen. And that's you, the main character.
I guess, in a way, it's the way new vegas is written that makes me feel so negatively about NCR then. I mean, yeah, they're better than the legion, but that's like saying the democrats are better than republicans, and i HATE the democrats. And just because one option is bad, doesnt mean the other is good. The NCR is, very much, a lesser evil in a dualistic kinda way. And that's my response to lucy and her "vaguely problematic" line. Yeah, in a vacuum, the NCR is superior to the people who wanna rape, enslave, and murder everyone horribly. That's not saying much though. That's the bare minimum. If legion control was a certainty and supporting a "third party" was "throwing away our vote", and it really did come down to me, yeah, NCR I guess. Kinda like trump's fascism is making me HAVE to support the dems, whether I like them or not (I really, REALLY don't).
But....with house being a viable third option? And my previous third option (none of the above, anarchy) not being viable because of the problematic implications in the TV show....yeah, I'd give Mr House a chance I think. He's mostly interested in just turning vegas into his little ancap corporate micro state and has few ambitions beyond it. And he actually does promise to use his rule to do good like bring back civilization in his own ways, while mostly leaving people alone. I aint saying he's perfect. He's not. As others have pointed out, the game is written where there isnt an easy good ending. And outside of legion, which is the definite bad option, the others are relative. And until recently, yes man seemed decent too.
So idk. I think I'll go with Mr House as the best of the three options. I feel like if he remained in control of the strip, the worst aspects of the TV show's yes man ending would've been avoided, without changing much else. And who knows, given the other pre war elements at work like the enclave, he could be a useful ally, since house IS thinking much bigger than most people would. Even the courier. And he IS aware of the pre war world and the likes of the enclave and could serve as a useful future buffer not just against legion and NCR expansionism, but also the enclave doing crap too. House is smart in that regard. I mean, he would fight anyone who threatened him or vegas. And is he enclave decided to mess with him, he would go to war against the enclave, and while i doubt he could win on his own, by being able to rout both the NCR and legion, he shows that he's willing to put up a fight.
Maybe a House victory here isn't eternal. Maybe it would give the NCR the punch in the nose they need to improve over 20 years where by the time the TV show happens, he can work with the NCR against the enclave. After all, he's not inherently hostile to NCR existing. he just wants to remain in control of the mojave and not have to be subjected to their bureaucratic nonsense. As he would say, "why would i hate the NCR, they're my best customers!" So yeah. Idk. I think I'll go house this time. Back to my 2010 thinking again...
