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This is a neat game! I feel like there's a lot that could be said about it, although I'm not sure if I have all the words to! To start with the easy parts; the whole thing is just very charming. It's got a very cute and sleek looking aesthetic, and it's hard not to be won over by the charm of the caricatures and writing. Initially though, I was skeptical of it. Doesn't this game feel kind of like wish fulfilment? Isn't it kind of exaggerating the effectiveness of reform and change from the inside? And while I think those remain valid critiques, (and worth considering as you play the game) I think it is a game with particular intentions, and justifies its decisions in other ways.

In the game, you make decisions. Nobody tells you what decisions to make. Your only obstacles are the outcomes of the decision, which are measured mainly in their effect on your budget, progress towards peoples empowerment and enviromental crisis prevention, and your popularity with electorate (which in turn affects your seats in congress, which locks off some key decisions). In allowing free uncontested reign to make decisions for your party, you are really only required to consider your potentional to stay in power and are otherwise free to pursue your lofty leftist goals. You are not beholden to corporate America, elite interests, industry lobbyists, or the institution of American imperialism.

This oversimplification actually allows room for an exploration of an interesting question; given the chance, could the notoriously contrarian voter base of the US be united under the socialist policies that meaningfully and aggressively tackle climate change and social equality? The game seems to suggest that, yes, maybe you can.

While my playthrough had it's ups and downs with voter popularity, I was finding that by the end, I had actually alienated only a small portion of the voters, pretty much all hard militarists (because fuck the US military). I was surprised to find that there were actually plenty of ways to appeal to traditionally non-left voters with decisions that benefited their interests without compromising my moral goals. While this is only the version of reality that the game presents, I think it makes a good point. What's preventing social change is not necessarily the ignorance or mulishness of the American people; despite their faults, many of their wants and concerns are genuine, and given the chance they could find themselves supporting a movement for radical equitable social change.

Another thing I found interesting about the game is how it explores what radical reform looks like. It demonstrates various actual reforms that could be inacted and their consequences, such as job loss resulting from the downsizing of the fossil fuel industry, the upkeep and continued investment required of green energy, and retaliation from billionaires after you start taxing. While these concequences are not the most fleshed out part of the game, just presenting these reforms can help introduce newcomers to the issues we're talking about, and in general help us look at reforms in a concrete way; to hone in on specificity that can not be compromised as easily.

While there is plenty of rhetoric about reforms as essentially platitudes that only end up stifling social anger, I think this only applies to reforms when the are uncritically accepted and contrived by the state. Reform is our only means of change short of revolution, and while that can be our true goal, it's still necessary to push for smaller change, and to conceptualize the changes that need to be made. We won't get there without moving the stones that make up the mountain, so to speak.

I think the thing that is perhaps the most surface level but still hit me the hardest, is that this game is just nice to play. It's nice to get to legalize weed and free everyone imprisoned under those bullshit charges. It's cool that I get to build a green energy industry and hopefully prevent climate collpase. It just feels good to tax the fucking one percent and use the money to pay for single payer healthcare. Democratic Socialism Simulator is profoundly relieving to play because for a litle while it lets you exist in a world where radical change isn't just possible, it's as easy saying yes to a cute polarbear. And while that world may not be the one we live in, isn't imagining alternative realities the whole point?