Category: musings

May 9, 2015

From the Ashes of War… a Lasting Peace?

It’s May 9th 2015, around the world yesterday and today were commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II*, the most apocalyptic conflict the world has ever seen, and hopefully will ever see. It’s with an odd detachment that I reflect in this history while sipping a Starbucks frappuccino in Hawaii. For those of my generation, the world we live in is truly the product of our (great-)grandparents’ history, and seventy years seems such a short time ago for the transformation of everything.
(*In Europe, but for the sake of remembrance, let’s say WWII)

If anything gives us perspective into the relative insignificance our problems today, it should be the what the Greatest Generation endured through those few terrible years, which for the dwindling millions still alive today, remains a living memory, and for the rest of us, a foundation of our world we enjoy today. So powerful was the impact of that one terrible War that every single person that lived then and is alive today has been shaped by it and the world order that emerged from its ashes.

In middle school, our class had the privilege of being the audience to veterans of the War. This was in the spring of 2000, when an estimated 5 million US veterans remained alive, mostly in their 70s and 80s. I remember being told that we were very fortunate, as we may be the last generation of children privileged enough to meet and hear their stories first-hand. Recent statistics I’ve read suggest this is likely to be true, as 15 years later, fewer than 1 million vets remain, many in declining health. Still they gather, to remember what they can of a War that will soon become collective history.

Out of deference to the Greatest Generation, even with their first-hand accounts, I admit that I will never truly understand what it was like to live through this crazy period of our modern history, but it’s also with mixed feelings that I reflect on all that was destroyed and lost. How horrible is it that so-called civilized nations would take upon themselves as their national agenda to inflict such vast destruction on each other, drafting mere children, young men and women to slaughter each other and civilians by the millions across the lands of others. Why did this piece of history have to happen? And could it happen again?

Growing up in the United States, my perspective of the war was one where the Allies had no choice but to enter, with the US dragged in by the attack on Pearl Harbor, and fuelled by the just need to fight fascism of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Given the stakes, it can’t be disputed that it was a just, necessary war. But as I’ve grown up, I’ve taken a more balanced perspective from the eyes of a global citizen looking back at humanity’s collective history. The sheer scale of the conflict in aggregate eludes any sense of individual comprehension. That the powers of the so-called civilized world could allow, as national policy, the absolute carnage that was the slaughter of nearly 100 million men, women, and children–most of which had no care in the world of the ambitions of the war’s executioners–defies rational understanding.

As an adult, I’m left with the disturbing realization that even those executioners of the war were mere humans, like you or I–humans, acting out of some sense of purpose and necessity. The victims, were everyone else–all innocents–whether they were the kids drafted into the conflict of their national leaders, or even worse, the victims of ethnic hate and mechanized genocide, and the unthinkable suffering of peoples and families in lands that were laid in waste through the conflict.

We live in an age today where we can, and should, learn to take a global perspective of the War, where the pain and anguish caused to peoples across all nations should be remembered, as to prevent such horrors from ever again touching our common human history. This responsibility is on all of us, and in a world where more nations are democracies than ever before, we must hold our leaders accountable to ensure that the long peace since the War remains a lasting peace for us and our succeeding generations. With the weapons of war at our disposal today, this is an imperative for our survival as a civilization.

It is with this understanding that I have come to further appreciate the international order that came to rise from the ashes of the conflict, not least of which includes the United Nations. Founded in the tail end of the conflict, and remains to this day (albeit imperfect as it is) a body devoted to international peace, it is an incredible common achievement of nations, given the years of horrors that preceded it.

It is certainly an imperfect body, but given that no major power has gone to direct war with each other since it’s founding, I find its role highly successful given its initial goals. The founding document is the United Nations Charter, a sort of constitution if you will, encompassing a shared treaty of all member states, which today is basically all the countries of the world. If you’ve never read the preamble, I encourage you to do so, if anything, to understand the common will of peoples just emerging from the ashes of the greatest destruction that mankind has ever inflicted on itself. For the sake of the lazy, I’ve included the text below.

May we all become more enlightened of our common history, and our individual roles to protect the peace that cost so many millions of lives.

CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS

PREAMBLE

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

AND FOR THESE ENDS

to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.

Signed, June 26th, 1945
Ratified, October 24, 1945

March 11, 2015

Recreational Cannabis in Washington State

by skyrien

Active recreational marijuana business licenses across the state, as of March 10th, 2015. Shown are 402 Producers, 359 Processors, and 127 Retail stores. Created on Google MyMaps, based on publicly available information from WSLCB.

Marijuana in America is quite a hot topic these days. With the majority of Americans now in support of full legalization, we are poised to finally end seven decades of cannabis prohibition, and the enforcement of drug policies that have been accused of being racially discriminatory, violating individual freedoms to choose your lifestyle, as well as indirectly funding criminal cartels by forcing the entire economy into the black market. Over those many years, millions have been jailed, countless lives ruined, dis-proportionally large number of them minorities, many billions of dollars wasted on campaigns across the world.

It’s about time that things changed. I won’t go into the whole history here, but let’s note that while things are changing quickly now, it’s been quite a long road to get here.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/11/05/6-facts-about-marijuana/

Few predicted the rapid speed at which legal regulatory frameworks have spread since Washington and Colorado first passed citizen-driven initiatives. Let me take a moment to say, I love democracy as conducted out here. Whereas Illinois has no method of passing citizen-driven legal initiatives, Washington is one of 24 states that have methods for citizens to get issues directly on the ballot, bypassing the legislature and all of its political nonsense, and in 2012, used this method to drive home initiatives to legalize both gay marriage, and recreational marijuana. The story of the campaign pushed by Allison Holcomb is told in Evergreen, an awesome crowd-funded documentary covering the issues of 2012, and the days leading up to election day. (View it on Netflix here!).

While federal policy lags behind, states, as the laboratories of democracy that they are, are moving forward and trying out a variety of legal frameworks. These are far more than decriminalization measures that were discussed in previous decades, where possession wouldn’t lead to charges, but production and distribution still carried hefty sentences–rather, I-502 in Washington, and Proposition 64 in Colorado, created entire legal frameworks for licensing, taxing, and sale of cannabis allowing the legal recreational industry to be born. In 2014, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington DC also passed similar measures, and more are predicted for 2016. Far from being a state experiment, legalization of cannabis in the 2010s is shaping up to be a full movement. The general consensus among government watchers is that this genie is not going back into the bottle.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/10/the-senate-marijuana-reform-bill-would-bring-federal-policy-in-line-with-medical-research/

In Washington, the state Liquor Control Board has been tasked with developing and managing the legal framework, and has been moving at a cautious pace, having only opened up sales in July of 2014. Unlike Colorado, which essentially extended it’s medical market to allow for recreational sales, Washington created an entirely new economic model for I-502, separating out businesses into Producers, Processors, and Retailers, which basically work like this:

Producers (Growers): These are the growers of material; they have physical property where they grow seeds or clones and manage the raw material through harvest. They can sell unfinished product in the form of flower directly to retailers, but they cannot reproduce other products without a processing license.
Processors (Product makers): These are the product developers and makers that provide added value to raw materials. They can only buy raw material from producers, and sell only to retailers (no sales to consumers)
Retailers (Store owners): These are the only business that can sell to the end customer. They are forbidden from having an “economic interest” in either producers and processors.

As of March 2015, nearly a thousand businesses have been issued licenses, all trying to make it big in this new legal world. While there is much fanfare and enthusiasm, as well as mutual support in the industry while everyone tries to figure out the landscape, I expect to see quite a bit of churn, given the variability in price, supply, and the eventual commoditization of the majority of the products. While the market isn’t exactly cutthroat, the price pressure from the unstable supply, along with rather burdensome tax requirements have brought about unique challenges to many businesses operating in the space. Interesting figures include seasonal variability in price, as well as the significantly higher numbers of tourists than expected making up the customer base, upward of 50% of total sales, and closer to 80% of the retailers close to border states.

Legalization has also brought out innovative thinkers and venture capitalists looking to invest in the next big thing, producing products that otherwise might never have seen the light of day. Non-commodity products, like this marijuana-infused sex lubricant, to mainstream brands contemplating entry into the market may offer unique brands a chance to thrive, however, I do expect the majority of producers to find themselves in a price war to the bottom.

How will things change once the legal recreational market fully takes hold? I can only imagine that the impact of the industry will accelerate, I suspect in years hence, we’ll see new business models, new social activities (MJ games > drinking games), and other creative developments in what was previously a closet industry. In Seattle, a city councilman proposed a new legal concept–a licensed marijuana bar/vapor lounge.

Quite interesting times here!

More resources:

http://cannabisandsocialpolicy.org/
http://norml.org/
http://www.cannalawblog.com/

March 9, 2015

R.I.P. Maxis (1987-2015): In Defense of Simcity

by skyrien

I was originally writing this post to be a defense of Simcity, but in light of the recent shutdown of EA Maxis’s Emeryville studio, the headquarters of what was once Maxis, after years of poor management by EA, I felt the need to speak out on this travesty. There are more complete obituaries of Maxis online–notably this one, which I enjoyed reading; this one is my personal story with Maxis and their games.

I’ve been a long time fan of Simcity, having played every version since Will Wright’s original in elementary school. Each iteration attempted a daunting task and presented the challenge to the player: the simulation of an entire city and its various layers of operation. Nothing gives you more appreciation of urban planners around the world like a game that gives you exposure to various simulated aspects of city building. Maxis took this idea and wrapped it up with addictively fun game mechanic has no formal “end”.

The studio long had a reputation for fun and intellectually fascinating edu-tationment oriented simulation games, which I had become familiar through Scholastic Apple catalogs we’d get from school. I found nearly every offering compelling because, aside from the hugely interesting subject matter, nothing like it was out there (this was the early 1990s). The real lasting appeal to those who love to explore was that many of their games never needed to end and they encouraged you to explore the limits of the simulation. SimLife and SimCity in particular could be endlessly perfected, generating a fascinating steady state of a living ecosystem, whether an entire planet, or a booming metropolis. The Maxis of the 1990s provided great experiences through quirky games like SimAnt, SimLife, Unnatural Selection, SimTower, to smash hit simulations like SimCity 2000. I played each of those, and loved them all. It was the early ’90s and was the golden age of DOS and PC gaming.

Simant (1991) – This was the first game that I ever bought for my DOS computer – This was in second grade, so I was 7 years old, in 1992. The computer I played it on was our family PC, a 386SX 16MHz / 4 MB / 60 MB HDD, and the game came on a single 1.44 MB floppy. I still have the manual.

Being a weird nerdy kid, I loved reading manuals and guides to things, and I loved the literature that Maxis provided, both in their physical manuals and accompanying publications, but also their in-game “lore”, in the form of scientific summary. I learned more about ants while playing SimAnt than I did anywhere else. Oh, the good old days, when Maxis actually cared about the subject matter, and indeed, felt more authentic to the subject matter and left the game mechanics develop around it.

The story of Maxis is a prime example of the sad fate of independent artists and thinkers when forced to operate under a profit machine. Maxis, as one of the most quirky and inventive studios may have had no hope under a monotonizing corporate giant, and sealed its own fate when on July 28th, 1997, it signed away its soul to EA. A quick read through the comment thread of the Ars article shows that this move was little surprise to many:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/03/ea-closes-simcity-studio-maxis-emeryville/?comments=1

The Tale of Two SimCities

My latest experience with a Maxis product was Simcity 2013, and the Cities of Tomorrow expansion. Having thoroughly enjoyed both, it’s quite a challenge to reconcile the experience with the online negativity surrounding the game. It has incredibly unique IP, a great game engine, wonderful content and replayability… yet collapsed under the collective weight of player expectations, and poor management by EA. If one came to appreciate it at it’s best, it’s an incredibly awesome simulation that is quite unlike any other mainstream game out there, but I guess in EA’s world, that’s the end of the line.

After buying the game on a whim at the end of 2013, I’ve been pleasantly surprised can say that if you try to enjoy it for what it is, rather than what previous Simcity has taught you expect, or what else you want it to be, then you can come to appreciate that it is an incredibly intricate simulation of a city, that has an incredible amount of dynamic activity that come together in fascinating, sometimes unexpected ways–often in the form of snarling traffic.

Indeed, I too have had many frustrating issues, and the issues that plagued Simcity at launch continued intermittently throughout my play time. A lot of forgiveness later, there still is a thoroughly enjoyable game that is well worth whatever fire sale price it can be had at now. I’ve played quite a bit, and over time, I’ve gotten quite good at building wealthy, highly educated, virtual cities, with wacky transportation options:

I won’t address those criticisms individually, but I can say that the game is much more enjoyable when creating an ecosystem of cities, rather than a single gigantic one, and as i got better at engineering entire urban regions, the strategic element of game play became quite rich and enjoyable. As I came to understand the model behind the game, I became increasingly appreciative to the intricacies of what was being simulated. Dan Moskovitz gave a great talk at GDC 2013 on the SimCity engine, Glassbox, after which, I much better understood how to work with the underlying engine.

The game itself, when it works right, is quite fun, and like I mentioned before, is quite like managing a living, breathing entity in some sort of equilibrium. My favorite times in the game would be when I rescued a struggling city, and built it up into a stable steady state, and i could sit back and watch it go. I would say it has the same therapeutic benefit as tending to a garden or watching fish in an aquarium. It helps that the game has a stellar soundtrack, which alone is worth the purchase price for me–I particularly love the soundtrack from the expansion:

All of which, makes the bungled launch, the excessive in-app-purchase like add-on content, and the incomplete feature set at launch (no single player mode?), seem like a series of publisher date/design-meeting compromises, along with an odd review-score changing incident that ultimately dinged the game so badly that I can only imagine that sales must have suffered. A shame really, as it likely was the final excuse EA needed to axe what was left to go fund cheaper projects like EA Sports: XYZ 2016.

In the end, what’s left is an odd lesson on corporate acquisitions and the impact on one’s identity and soul. None of this should be news to any studios today, but Maxis, for it’s long personal history with me, is one that I’ll remember passing. As for Simcity, it’s truly unfortunate that it’s legacy is going to be the one that self-destructed under EA, but for what it’s worth, I know history will remember Maxis for the incredible contributions it made to millions of kids like me, growing up to love games and tinkering around with systems and agents.

But as you’ll notice that the internet has since dumped it’s hate on the review score. Oh well, thus is the life and end of EA franchises. I hope the spirit can live on.

<br />