Status Quo - Tumblr Posts

Of all the political satire in Disco Elysium, I find the Moralists to be the most poignant. Because you trend towards Moralism--towards Centrism--just by staying on track and focusing on the task at hand. You're trying to deal with the world as it is, and so it feels logical and right. My first playthrough, I felt guilty for all the trouble I had caused people, and so I ended up leaning hard into Moralism and becoming a Sorry Boring Cop.

Except "focusing on the task at hand" isn't logical at all, because it actually means ignoring information. Do not question why things are the way they are. Continue to obey the very people who have stolen from and victimized you and everyone you are likely to meet and care about.

While the "traditionalists" are repugnant, hateful, and deluded, they aren't the game's true threat, because they are not in power. The Moralists have already won, and they've convinced everyone that obeying them, enriching them, and living under the watchful eye of their distant warships is normal and uncontroversial.

They promise incremental change, but we know for certain that the future of Elysium is a sudden, apocalyptic flash of light. Moralism is associated with faith and religious imagery, but it is a faith that will never be rewarded. If you build the radio tower, you reach someone who cannot help. If you get to talk to someone in power at all, they will at best be a Sunday friend offering meaningless platitudes.

And the most tragic part is that Kim--the person you most trust and rely on--is the embodiment of this mindset. No matter how much it hurts him, he's still going to try to be a good cop.

The lie of life was based on maintaining the status quo.

mod