Senator Armstrong - A Deconstruction of Villainy

I died laughing when I heard that at work

Because his idea of a good and responsible politician is that of the one who reads from the teleprompter and says all the correct things all the time, while they do the exact opposite of what they claim, while keeping their atrocities hidden, which is something the "good" people/American, that you and this ytber clearly think you are, absolutely love. Nothing says moderation and intelligence like slowly dehumanising your political opponents down to the individual! Yay for democracy!

especially true in light of recent events lmao

@rohankishibe6433: Unfortunately. Being insane *should* disqualify you from politics.

They have rules about disallowing crippled people from running for President and Roosevelt still got elected, four times. It's all acceptable if you fooled the people.

I mean he is now

He’s gonna make America great again 🇺🇸🦅

I'd vote for him, no contest.

He had my vote after that first sentence when we get asked if he would get votes. Restoring freedom of the individual and the right to choose.

How would Pres. Sears have done in comparison?

So, a Teddy Roosevelt. Fun fact, Teddy wanted to fight in WWI, but the army denied his attempt because they were worried about what an ex-president being killed in battle would do to national morale.

sad but true lol

@@justinweber4977 That’s a nice anecdote, why don’t you back it up with a source?

​@@Butter_Warrior99my source is that I made it the fuck up

@@justinweber4977 Also King George VI and even Winston Churchill wanted to enter into direct military in WW2 as they both once serving in army before but in the end they decide not to, not only they bit too old but also they worry how would Uk react if they lose King and Prime Minster altogether in war

And ain't there nothing more American than that son? While guns are in the DNA since literally landing here the modern American loves their strongmen, the football player, the boxer, the MMA fighter. There's something about seeing someone beat the absolute tar out of another that drives the modern man to cheers. Maybe it's feeling impotent compared to all these heroes we have raised. Can't start a nation like the founding fathers or win the West like mythological cowboys but damn can I punch whatever. Punch it so hard that everyone has to see reason. It's America at it's most cartoonish and controllable. The dreams of politicians and populist is to control that wave and to direct it as they see fit.

@@ravenoferin500 Not just American, pop... universal it is. As much as fists were outdone by bullets, there is always that masculine pride in being able to punch somebody so hard they start to see stars. There's a reason why Popeye decides to throw haymakers instead of unloading a gatling magazine on Bluto. There's a reason why boxers wear gloves and not shotguns. The naked body is a weapon that's universal to mankind even back in the days where they were physically closer to monkeys. Even with nothing but underwears equipped, you can still ball up your fist and punch. Tie your fists and you can still kick somebody. Tie your legs and you can still headbutt somebody. No matter how many fancy stuff you use to fight... your body is always ready for an ol' fashioned beatup.

A character's strength is dependent on their political convictions.

It's not necessarily political conviction or anything in that matter. It's the aspect of realizing that in this day and age. It's either you push your morals on to someone else. Or they push theirs on to you. It's been that way for ages. It's just that we keep forgett, and we let the fantasy of new ages, clouds, ower judgments of what we still do. Or what we should do.

22:34

If I had a nickel for every time a Metal Gear game featuring Raiden as the protagonist contained political and social commentary that only became more and more relevant each passing year, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?

I feel like raiden shines because he's much more "vulnerable" as a character at least it feels to me that I can connect more to Raiden and less to solid,naked,venom snake i sadly dont player all games of the series just 2,3,5 and rising

@@jjtheenton Crazy how everything is meme here, including what i just wrote

isn't there an american division about memes?

​@@jjtheentonanother day for thanking god that Raiden isn't the main guy of mgs4 or we are absolutely fucked

That's an interesting but accurate viewpoint..

True . There us nothing wrong with wanting freedom. But how Armstrong wanted to implemented and the methods he used to achieve his goal are wrong

No he fucking isn't. Thanos was a guy trying to wipe out half the universe for a booty call and the mcu one is a pseudophilosophic dumb ass Watch Panther as Star Lord. He couldve used the Embers to fix everything but then again the mcu is plagued with shitty writing and retconned lore

​@@sebastianfilip6459Armstrong was the eren before eren then lol. Armstrong solution to freedom is cull the weak, and eren takes it a step further and decided that the solution to freedom is kill literally everyone else lmao.

@@vudangtung5638 Armstrong strongly believed on his own ideals, while Eren ended up being a pathetic cuck who didn't even knew what he was doing. I 100% blame twitter, zoomers and the editor for messing up Isayama's work, assuming he's not a hack.

12:04

Maybe Devil May Cry too.

yeah, even if a person isn't physically strong there's still other strengths they can use to get what they want, whether it be intelligence or charisma or willpower or whatever else. Physical strength isn't the only way to get what you want and Armstrong seems to acknowledge this fully

I look it more as, if you aren’t strong, then get stronger. He acknowldge that Raiden was weak at one point and grew to become stronger. So it is not the power you are born into, but power that you have. Nanomachine are just one way to obtain power, and it is foolish not to use it. I feel it is wrong for Brett to call him hypocritical for this. It is totally in line of his philosophy.

I though it was pretty clear he was talking about will power , those who are willing to stand up for what they belive in and fight for it.

@@Bluedragon-iz3oo It is hypocritical as that nanomachine tech (along with the shitton of stuff he bought and/or hired) is clearly not a product of sheer willpower, but a fuckton of employees and the finance to fund and maintain everything. Which means financial and social prowess (as Armstrong could not have had gain access to clearly unusual technology were he to not have statuses). Which means tangible, quantified strength.

He isn't self controlled, which is strength.

REVENGEance you might call it

I am not up to the complete lore of Metal Gear games. Why would Raiden want revenge from Desperado? Because they produce the same kinds of child soldiers like how he was once?

@ruzgar1372 revenge specifically might not be exactly correct, but Raiden has multiple reasons to hate desperado. Child soldiers, them starting wars, death of the president and his injuries from the beginning. If you wanted to stretch you could say this was sams revenge too for what Armstrong did to him.

Batshit insane, and in any other time wouldn't be even given a time of day... but if he actually existed, he'd get votes. He'd be quite bipartisan, and maybe he could actually achieve the goal he wanted if he doesn't drive the country into the ground.

He's not insane. This world is.

​@@Kim_YoJonghe was kidnapping children and stealing their organs alongside making them fight wars

@@Kim_YoJong #Im14andthisisdeep

@revengance4149 I'm 37 and Armstrong is right.

Man would get my vote just for that

He would definitely vote for that TikTok ban lmao

Nah, Armstrong looks for tools he can use to further his own interest. The man was a manipulative politician through and through.

Well, most Americans would have the same mindset towards old enemies too, so long as they’re “genuine” or serve our interests. You don’t think the U.S would love to get along with Russia more? The only thing stopping us is a difference in idealogy

​@@MsMrapplepieideology isn't the problem it has to do with economics and worldwide influence

​@@mote_vengador2832Kinda. Same deal with Europe, there is many cooperation, but the second us isn't on first place...they are on their own. This is a dirty game, and you can prosper in peace only by being the best, one way or another.

@@deauthorsadeptus6920 sadly it is like that but eventually one way or the other the superpowers would have to cooperate further

I mean, that's because might does make right. That's just how the world works. You can do whatever you want, including good things, if you have enough power to do so. And if you don't, your ideals are irrelevant, because you'll be forced to do what someone else wants. Any law works only as long as it's enforced, after all.

@@ForOne814the concept of “right” is about what should happen not about what does happen. Either way people often choose to construct institutions around their moral/ethical beliefs.

​@@kylehankins5988 depends on the definition. Stuff like "human rights" is absolutely more of a guiding principle and not an actual enforceable thing. They are about what should be done, and rarely things that are being done even remotely follow those notions. To the point that I honestly don't care about them, those are just buzzwords to me. But property rights, labor rights, gun rights? Those are both docrtinal and actual enforceable rights. They are both about what should happen and what is happening. Those are actually important. My actual point is, while you can disagree with the principle, you can't change it. And because you can't change it, you should follow if, if you wish to achieve desirable results. Whatever those results are is irrelevant.

it was "the weak should get stronger" for armstrong, he doesn't hate the weak, he just doesn't care (about neither the strong nor the weak)

@@HungVu-ec3jk he was indifferent to almost everyone involved, although that doesn’t make his ideas any less insane.

You explained this perfectly. America has deep roots in the values of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps”. I don’t really know how to articulate this right now but conviction and the desire to be something more permeate American culture, and that is what Armstrong wants for all of the country.

Indeed.

This is actually his point. But he poorly articulates it to the point the video completely misses his point

The latter is what he means, the former is what it obviously would happen

This is what Armstrong's first theme, "Collective Consciousness" criticizes; those souls who didn't have the confidence to establish themselves in society and better themselves rather giving in to their existence as one person in a land of many, along with the upper class that manipulates them into carrying out their will for them.

Exquisite meme Jack

Heh heh, Max0r go brrrrr

I think what brett is referring to is while Armstrong states he desires individual strength he is infact relying on the collective support of those who made the nanomachines

​@@meepfanmeepster8620no, he's using his own resources to buy those things. His world view is intact, even if this brainlet video essayist does not get it. That's like saying someone in the wild west with a similar world view was cheating by using a 6 shooter instead of his fists. It's idiotic.

I’d love to know if he had that size and physique prior to the nanomachines.

Not everyone. Jetstream Sam has no augments and was still able to hold his ground against Raiden.

@@maniacone4499 “Samuel Rodrigues, also known as Jetstream Sam and Minuano (ミヌアノ, Minuano?), was a cyborg mercenary involved with the Desperado PMC group who fought against Raiden during the events of 2018. “ “Sam did not have many cybernetic enhancements, as Raiden discovered upon killing him, having maintained most of his original body. Instead, he was equipped with a powered exoskeleton (serial number 977-AZQEE) that enhanced his strength, durability, speed and agility to incredible superhuman levels, as a means of matching up to other cyborgs. Sam's only cybernetic replacement was his right arm, although he displayed great skill in the use of his Murasama sword prior to this.”

If I remember right, Wolf said something to the effect of "Yes, I am programmed to value my own well being first and foremost" or something _and then immediately contradicting what he just said his programming is._

@@StarshadowMelody He showed that he's more than his programming, and more than his selfish nature - which instantly refuted Armstrong's entire worldview. That's powerful stuff.

@@johndoe8655 Armstrong’s a hypocrite, though. He sees the nanomachines as his own power, even though he just bought the enhancements. My point is not that Armstrong doesn’t see the value of collective effort. My point is that he doesn’t understand what Wolf would have to gain from self-sacrifice. Wolf does end up surviving, of course, but I feel like that’s more because Armstrong didn’t get the chance to completely finish him off.

@@StarshadowMelody Wolf doesn’t contradict it, but rather states that he’s moved beyond his programming. He says something like “I can establish my own parameters and directives now, so I’m choosing to prioritize Raiden kicking your ass over my ass remaining intact”

Heh, it's less that Blade Wolf was pointing out a flaw in his logic, and more like Blade Wolf was applying Armstrong's logic to himself. He decides to make his own choices and fight. Armstrong, following the logic, just accepted the challenge and started punching, may the best man/dog/being win.

Nah, Armstrong looks for tools he can use to further his own interest. The man was a manipulative politician through and through.

He was delusional. He thought that his strength up till that point had granted him through self interest and because he deserved to win up till that point through being strong that therefore Jack would agree with him. It was his defeat ideologically before the physical loss he would soon face

Bro you took his bait 😭

@@ElBandito I don’t really agree with that he just wanted to be on the same side as one is the epitomes of strength

@@user-tg7st1be2r Easy to be on the same side with strength when one is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and is a Senator. Never be fooled by demagogues.

Or, maybe, it is Raiden who is stronger when he believes he is fighting pure evil

It's effectively Raiden's idea too: The dominant worldview always came from the ruling class.

⁠@@user-uq9se1nx9qOh, definitely. That’d also link back into his tool of justice thing and the Ripper dilemma he had. Struggling against Armstrong wasn’t necessarily because Raiden lacked power, but because he went in trying to slice through Armstrong apart like he was just some purely evil villain. Once Raiden realized the truth of Armstrong and why they really had to be enemies, *that* was when he could finally start the real fight.

@@teslashark "No matter who wins justice will prevail, because those who win decide what is just" -Donquiote Dofaminco

@@chriscormac231 Yeah, Oda and Kojima are pretty open about drawing from Marx's observations about culture formation

You're Armstrong. You know why?

I miss those guys

Ahh good times 😔

@@SilentSoul645 , do you have huggable arms too?

@@MegaToonzNetwork I do 🫂

Psychotic, and yet justified, a brutally honest man with no care for societal niceties. At least that's the feeling I get, considering how the Japanese. Often interpret Americans as being very frank individuals.

If Metal Gear Rising was made today, I wonder what they would think about Americans now? Insane, unhinged people who are locked in an ideology and can’t budge and still place America above everything else even as they spit on its corpse?

Japan has a way worse history than the us does. It’s hilarious people think Japan is some epitome of good while they have done some of the worst crimes to humanity in the past 150 years

Except even that idea is flawed, because the idea of unrestricted power being based on strength ultimately means being unrestricted from just… Forcing people to fight for you. And having people fight for you, would be called war. His ideology would come full circle into the same society he complains about, where the masses (or in this case, the weak) become sheep to the few (or in this case, the strong). The strong would simply reinforce weakness amongst those below them, because why not? Nothing’s stopping them from doing so. So, no, you’d still end up with young men dying and old men talking.

The first king may very well not have been the strongest warrior in the tribe, but the rather the best at manipulation who convinced the strongest he had ideas so good he should be the one who tells everyone what to do.

That's exactly correct. He isn't just talking about physical strength.

That's the same point I have about Armstrong. He doesn't mean it by physical only. He means it mentally as well. With great strength, it's useless without a strong mentality. You'd only have a barbarian if strength is dominant

Yes. Though it's not enough to be smart. He sees people who risk themselves to satisfy their desires as strong. A politician sending soldiers to die for something they don't believe in is the ultimate weakness to him.

Not because they're smart, but because they've used their intelligence to gain power over others. It's all domination with these types of people.

Even the song during the final boss fight reflects this and the neat part of that particular song is who is singing it? Is it our hero? Or is it the villain? Either way, the two of them came to the same conclusion and yet had massively different paths to reach that conclusion.

​@@LightnaI've seen many treat it as a dialogue between them.

​@@Lightna I heard that the theme that plays when you fight the MG Excelsius (Collective Consciousness) is Raiden's perspective of Armstrong and his morals before his speech and how he believes Armstrong is just another corrupt ruler, somewhat similar to Big Brother in 1984. The theme after he realises Armstrong has a different philosophy than just "Control the people's thoughts, Control the economy" shows that in a way, Raiden agrees with him, but its too late for talking out of it after Raiden gets Sam's sword, hence the name "It Has To Be This Way", he didn't want to fight Armstrong, but at that point he had to. idk tho, its up for negotiation since there's multiple views on it and that's just my view. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

and after the end credit Raiden actually keep on fighting , keeping Armstrong's legacy on going .

​@@Lightnaive always seen it as the two doing it in unison sorta

Yes and Armstrong will fail to understand it.

Weak are purged, more weak appear relative to the new situation

Homelander from The Boys hits the same beat. Putting on the mask of this god loving, america first patriot, wearing the flag as a cape. And then you hear him complain about the marketing bs they make him say and realize he doesn't care about anyone but himself and his image in the most cynical ways possible.

Hmm I would as armstrong is right up there with the illusive man from mass effect. Humanity first, make humanity great again. Humanity will lead the other species.

Nicely stated.

I wonder which characer represents a positive caracature of American Exceptionalism?

Armstrong directly rejects American Exceptionalism in literally very next cutscene when he talks about how America is rotten to the core & how he hates American pride & everything around it. He's anarchistic to the highest degree.

The funny thing is the director told the localization team to embellish Armstrong's politics. In a bizarre twist for English localizations, we have a better version of Armstrong than Japan does.

Hmm I would as armstrong is right up there with the illusive man from mass effect.

Very quotable… so quotable in fact that (Trump)

The Boss & Liquid are way better.

​@@SomeGuy_Somewhereopinions brother

He would have the world burn to live in a world where he is the only free man

@@land_and_air1250 at least there would be one truely free man

Um dude, hes training child soldiers so they can commit heinous acts so he can jumpstart the war economy. Even if his end goal is to end the war economy, him torturing kids and abusing the system he claims to hate just shows how insane he is. His ideals are admirable, but hes evil at the end of the day.

@@Hariburger are you suggesting that current us politicians wouldn’t do that?

there's a lack of information about what exactly Raiden inherits. My interpretation for example is that he indeed started to aggree with a violent overthrow of the status quo but probably not with Armstrongs AnCap hellscape

@@giratina6665 Communism heaven would be a better way to express Ancap hellscape.

​@@Binary_KommandoCommunism is incompatible with capitalism. Capitalism is a reification of class interests and conflict. Communism is the elimination of the worker/owner distinction. Classless, Stateless, Moneyless.

no it doesn't, Raiden has said such things himself before he even met Armstrong, not to mention that he's only agreeing with him about the state of the world, NOT about ideology

@@slkjvlkfsvnlsdfhgdght5447 If Armstrong had his way Raiden wouldn't be considered a terrorist for doing the right thing

Hideo Kojima had very little to do with this game as it released

​@@NightCap7he was still a consultant, so every story element had to be approved by him. It's in the gameplay where he was truly hands-off

@@NightCap7 The story of MGR was done in collaboration with Kojipro after the decision was made to shift from a prequel to a sequel of MGS4, Kojima was brought in to consult.

Makes sense he is a Westaboo.

Kojima wants to be american so bad

Imagine Raiden carrying around Armstrong's reanimated head as he continues rambling about America 🤣

Actually a few times, I thought “hey, he sounds familiar” 16:43

Already made a joke about this in another video. AND the fact he's also the same guy who voices Celebrimbor in Shadow of Mordor/War! XD Armstrong would respect the HELL out of Kratos, and you know it.

The voice of Alucard in Hellsing is also the voice of Sundowner.

​@@DeathMessenger1988Greek Saga Kratos, but not Norse Saga.

mfw Biden steps in the Ukraine war and obliterates an entire Russian batallion

Same, but for the opposite reason

I mean, to be fair, name me ONE politician from the last century that you're truly confident was both morally and mentally upright and had a meaningful impact. The nature of the job itself just attracts the power-hungry, the narcissistic, and the delusional. Y'know, all the people who view themselves as the main characters of real life. So what really makes Armstrong worse than any of them? They're all guilty of similarly twisted aspirations, so why NOT side with the one who genuinely believes in his cause rather than just manipulating everything for his personal benefit and who has the means and competence to succeed in his mission. The bitter truth is that humanity isn't really capable of producing leaders who can be good people while remaining effective in their efforts to bring about change. You often have to fight dirty to accomplish anything, but you probably won't have a very positive impact on the world if you do fight dirty. Damned if you do. Damned if you don't. Entropy will win out in the long run, anyway, so unless you're comfortable just being passive, neutral doormat, there's not really an objectively better option to get behind than someone like Armstrong. It really just comes down to if your subjective ideals are compatible with his.

I would but YT would censor him. A politician who was put through the grinder of humanity and trashed on his whole life, yet managed to fix everything that plagued his country.@@metanightmare4454

So basically, the only hope for the future is luck that a politician wants what the people want and is hellbent on that front as opposed to human vices?

I didn't even realize he ignore raiden cybernetics completely

Raiden didn't ask to be a cyborg though, to be fair. Considering the lengths Armstrong went to in order to conceal his augmentation, it's safe to say he did.

@@mercury2157 He did ask for an upgraded body, considering he would have never been able to defeat the winds, let alone Armstrong, with his older one.

i'd even go as far as to argue it's perfectly fine under his own ideals, just be strong enough to get the nanites, whether that being to get yourself into the position where you have access to it legally, or just stealing it or what have you, that's perfectly fine in his own ideology, armstrong became a politian through various 'strengths' like charisma, intelligence and through having made connections and the like, that strength gave him access to the nanites.

@@supremcaos Well. He was originally turned into a cyborg when the Patriots abducted him and forced those modifications onto him. So yeah, he didn't ask to be a cyborg. But he did ask to get that upgraded body after Sam nearly killed him. Still agree with your initial point anyway.

Except Lincoln wanted national unity, not anarchy born of "every person for themselves". Lincoln also advocated the emancipation of blacks--"the weak" of the society, which Armstrong wanted to purge. Trust me. when you look deeper, Armstrong is just a madman, fallen into his own hype.

Teddy Roosevelt?

He was also willing to fight and die for it. He may be a madman, but god damn does he have balls to go face to face with a cybernetic ninja psycho.

​@@stephenlee1664 ...while being even stronger (at least he thought).

​@@kjj26khe was stronger than raiden, raiden only won because of the murasama.

He wanted a world where it was morally acceptable to kill people you disagreed with. No thanks.

He literally quotes Umberto Eco's essay "Ur-Fascim". He's a cartoonist platonic ideal of what a fascist is.

The best part about Armstrong is that: he speaks about freedom like a libertarian, wants total control like a democrat, and is more patriotic to the cause than a republican.

@@geronimo5537this

@@geronimo5537 Based

@@geronimo5537amazing (here before somebody starts an argument)

​​@@geronimo5537 As Brett said, every American can find something agreeable in Armstrong. And unfortunately, it's clear that that is all it takes. ONE agreeable thing and all the rest can go f*ck itself.

Armstrong literally needs to suck the energy out of the world around him for his nanomachines to work. Unlike every other villain in the game, all his strength has to come from sources outside himself.

@@HeavySighSA thermodynamics called, it wants you back in the lecture hall

​@@HeavySighSA in a way, doesn't Raiden also do that, with his enemies electrolytes and him taking his enemies weapons for himself?

@@Urd-Vidan Could be argued, but the electrolytes seem to be mostly used for repair, as Raiden can use blade mode even if he's out of energy. So that's an argument that is tied to player effectiveness. Conversely, Armstrong's fight literally starts with him draining energy out of his giant robot for his powers to even work, and he continually tops himself off during the fight. Without a convenient external power source to drain, Armstrong has no power, much like how his personal business needs the forces of brainwashed kidnapped orphans to drum up business while Armstrong claims to follow an ideology that wants people to 'fight their own battles'.

@@HeavySighSA Tbf, that's part of his powerset. Almost all the bosses in the game have their own "hacks" that give them something over Raiden. Even Raiden is a state of the art cyborg that's continuously evolve in the game by taking his opponent's weapons along the way(Examples like Mistral's arms and Sam's sword). Armstrong's philosophy doesn't only mean physical strength, but also mental strength and willpower to take what you want, with the power to do so. It's overall strength. He's still following his philosophy, even when born with a silver spoon. He took opportunities and put in the work to get to where he is. He used everything he was born with to the maximum. Even in death, he still won with Raiden, the ideal citizen for his "America", who took his ideology.

you expect an intangible consciousness to do everything?

a lot of people who have never read hubert spencer (or in this case, haven't played the game) assume social darwinism is survival of the physically strongest, ie: muscle and brutality. they are the thickskulled muscle-brains they imagine themselves standing against. survival of the fittest refers to adaptation, fitting in.

he played college ball yk

Also, Armstrong outmuscled Sam, and Sam expected a quick solution which was the cutting of stuff. Even there, Armstrong had a stronger will than Sam.

Exactly people miss his point all the time he isn't talking only about the fisicly weak he is talking about useless burocrats that abuse the sistem they have total control. He wants to wipe the slate clean off all the bullshit.

On God

Terry Bollea would 100% vote for him.

the memes brother

​@@aaronchef82is......ARMSTRONG BECAUSE THEY HAVE STRONG ASS ARMS

I think you have a good point

Nationalism is a meme repeated over and over across the world so yeah parallels can be made. The sweeping under the rug of past tragedies and the heightening of glory.

Sounds like a win/win to me.

You could, in theory, have that. The dominance without the atrocities, or at the very least a lot less heinous ones compared to Imperial Japan.

I feel like it could be a caricature of both the U.S and Japan during those times

Great comment

He does throw giant debris tho

This is no longer a comment, it's fcking document

Um... I'd point out that the dude makes it a point that his training is military and sports. He doesn't have refined swordsmanship like Jetstream Sam or advanced cybernetic bodies like the other Winds. He's slower and clunkier because he's a fleshy human bolstered by Nanomachines (, son). It's not that he's inexperienced, he's just not as refined as Sam or as advanced as people like Monsoon. Not only that, due straight up calls out Raiden's attempt to play him up as some suit only for him to point out that not only did he go to a more 'standard' college, he actually gave up a pro career in football to serve his country. Dude's more of a hard worker than you give him credit for, and does care about America. Too bad he's also ****ing nuts.

Nice

The only antagonist I know well that could possibly rival him is Mephiles from 06, and that's only because he gets so much screentime. He's great, but Armstrong is exceptional

@@thatdoofus4529and this is more or less the only screen time Armstrong really gets until dlc it’s insane how well written he was for essentially an hours worth of game at most

@@boney2982 Exactly! In just 40 minutes of cutscenes he outshines 99% of any kind of media's antagonists (books, movies, video games, etc.)

@@thatdoofus4529 the Japanese are truly a different breed when it comes to a lot of fiction

@@boney2982 Alot of their work is peak. Studio Ghibli has a really good game called Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch, I highly recommend. Very good and cute rpg, but not afraid to hit you with a lot of dark narratives

And if the war were a child, he'd touch it.

The academic term is Hauntology, thanks, French socialists, but Kojima can't fit this long word into tight scenes.

Nah, that will not make money, cause there will not be billion dollar military contracts.

his philosophy os also wrong in amd of itself: a world where might makes right is a world devoid of morals

​@@slkjvlkfsvnlsdfhgdght5447 I would say that Armstrong doesn't just believe in the purely physical "might makes right", as when he describes what he seems to view as strong and weak it tends to revolve around character, morals, principles, ideals, etc. He wants an America where those who are strong enough, intelligent enough, brave enough, or willful enough are able to do what they want to do or what they believe is right and just. His criticisms are about people lacking guiding principles of their own and not bothering to think about why they do the things they do. The real problem is that in Armstrong's America nobody else but him is actually going to follow or understand his values because it will be watered down and simplified. And, when he's gone it would just descend into total anarchy. The issue is not so much Armstrong himself, but rather that his ideals would lose their meaning once actually put into effect, because people would just use it to justify their own evils.

​@@austinkersey2445 You haven't thought this through, whatsoever. You've still described might makes right, and Armstrong makes a point of this when referring to how Raiden took his life back into his own hands, in spite of his initial conditions limiting his ability to do so. As well, those with severe disabilities would never be strong enough, intelligent enough, nor literally willful enough to simply protect themselves against enemies who are more capable. They would effectively be euthanized en masse, because like Armstrong says, "people will die and kill for what they believe." It's infuriating how a series that inspired such emotion and sympathy over the conditions of war can have a fanbase that ultimately believes in war anyway. If I were Kojima, I couldn't be more heartbroken.

​@@megamillion5852it is truly shocking and appalling to me how many people seem to unironically buy into all Armstrong's bullshit. He is an excellently written villain but he is a villain, vile and reprehensible. It is kind of terrifying that so many people fail to understand that he is wrong or why he is wrong.

That's interesting

That just means that you don't mess with this senator

If anyone doesn’t get it. He basically said “harden skin doesn’t make you hit harder. It makes your moves slower and more rocky.”

He's actually really strong. Raiden can lift thousands of tons of steel or stop a moving ship. And we can see Armstrong stoping and catching Raiden punches or straightup wrestling with him.

Didnt he absorb the electricity from the metal gear which gave him strength and powered his nanomahines

Kojima didn't write MGR

MGR wasn't written by Kojima though

No it isn't. Kojima's views is stereotypical whiny Japanese man.

​@@EpicRedCondorhe was still doing advisory work to Platinum since the Franchise was his child in terms of scrip writting

And every deep blue state politician and MSM would do everything in their power to smear him to the edge of Sol and back. But would they be successful in doing so? Every red and hot blooded American would be on Armstrong's side and believe him when he says he would destroy the bureaucrats, media, everything the common American despises, with his bare hands, and nanomachines, son.

One neat touch that I don't know if is intentional, but his tie is yellow. Dems have blue ties, republicans have red, third party and especially libertarians are yellow. I'd vote for him just to screw up the two party system.

He's also the spitting image of a weak and dumb person thinks powerful people should be: large strongman body with the preference and ability to bulldoze their way through problems. The real problem is that Armstrong would be more than smart enough to _keep_ a good portion, easily a majority, of his voters in lock step with his vision to the point where breaking his influence would likely mean resorting to physical violence, much like Raiden.

Yup. Americans don’t care if people elsewhere get killed, they‘d vote for him hands down

@@darkthunder301 I mean, we saw what happens when a shadow of Armstrong’s charisma falls from power. If Armstrong was able to start in the elections, he would either win, or civil war would erupt.

Except like the majority of people who tell you "fake news" and all that, he himself acknowledges he's a master user of all that rot and corruption. He engineered a social media campaign. How can he then denounce the media as being corrupt? The man is a hippocrite. He claims he will abolish the very lever of power that allowed him to ascend. He wants to abolish war by waging war. He wants to reform the media by spreading lies and disinformation. He wants to remove bureaucratic innefficiency for a libertarian dictatorship, one of the most self-eating power structure in history. If the man is not a vile liar at the core, then hes just delusional.

Dude, all senator armstrong cares about is money lol

​@@ArgonmentYTI don't think there's any way of knowing that considering a major part of his philosophy (with no evidence that he's lying) is cutting off the source of income he KNOWS to be absolute. Armstrong cares about some fucked up things but he's not all about the green.

@@ArgonmentYTno way in knowing that

​@@ArgonmentYT the truth then he does need capital and votes wanna know why he has a dream

Borrowing an observation from another essay on the subject? The fact that at a FEVER PITCH, the soundtrack breaks out in to SONG with lyrics singing about the emotions and tensions of the current scene makes MGR a Musical.

I feel like Collective Consciousness is more like the image Armstrong conveys at a surface level, as it's the theme that plays during Sam's encounter, and later when Raiden faces him in Excelsus however, after Armstrong starts explaining his ideology without any of the bullshit for the public, It Has To Be This Way starts playing, Raiden slowly realizing "maybe we're _not_ that different"

All of the themes in mgr are not only absolute bangers but wonderful descriptions of the bosses psyche, past and reasons for being where they are.

Collective Consciousness is basically what Raiden initially sees Armstrong’s worldview as, or even further what both Raiden and Armstrong see the Patriot AI as. Only after the MG is taken down and Armstrong is pressed on his actual beliefs, ‘It has to be this way’ could be either of them.

Collective consciousness is literally the thing Armatrong hates the most. The whole song is cynical to the letter.

Well he succeded in the debate because he manipulated it. He uses emotions to not allow apponent to speak. Its classic propagandistic move. Go emotional to convince your opponent. If he will say hes bs with cold head he will get critized and not taken seriously.

The best part about Armstrong is that: he speaks about freedom like a libertarian, wants total control like a democrat, and is more patriotic to the cause than a republican.

Yep, he's a bona-fide fasc!

And Sam don't forget Sam.

​@@anthonynorman7545 "Everything I Don't Like Is Fascism"

@@anthonynorman7545he’s an extreme libertarian if not a full blown anarchist. That’s basically the polar opposite of Fascism. Sure they have the same strongman idea but in execution they’re polar opposites.

yeah, I think critizing Armstrong for that misses the whole point of his character.

TBF, Sam before the exosuit, at a very young age took on an entire cartel who had automatic weapons and such... This was before his blade was turned into an HF blade... SAM is effectively the perfect example of what Armstrong was talking about, and even after he lost his arm, was given another by Armstrong who could have killed him.

@@thebanditman5663 that is absolutely true. Still, Sam used advanced technology to augment his skills during the events of Rising. He would still qualify as "cheating", according to the video

@@tinaherr3856 however this technology has in effect become commonplace now within society. Athletes with cybernetics are mentioned. It’s like phones. Once upon a time only the rich had them, not just because of expense, but because of limited supply, but tech evolved and now everyone can poses them with a little work. In Rising, Sam has a single cyborg arm, and an outdated exosuit, but is a better swordsman than Jack because he was traditionally taught. Canonically Sam lost to Jack because Jack after his loss, continued to train, then of course gained access to his repressed ripper personality.

@@thebanditman5663 again, I don't disagree that Sam has skills before and beyond the tech he uses. I was saying that the video is wrong to say that using advanced tech is "cheating"

Yeah, Armstrong represents the naive ideals of absolute individual freedom that americans lean towards, I think it's odd to characterize the fact that his strength comes from money as a contradiction when that money is clearly something that is understood as an expression of strength by that ideology.

@@CrystalLily1302 Its a shame they didn't include Armstrong's interactions with Sam. Armstrong has no issue with a man going out into the world and destroying those he perceives as evil and bringing justice down upon them (like Raiden does) but tells Sam that the evil he wishes to defeat is like a Hydra - just cutting off one head at a time won't kill it - You need something greater than yourself to pull it out at the roots.

i imagine that some people would just straight up assasinate the 'havers' and steal cybernetics or whatever, they have the strength to do it so why not ya know? the people rising up and overthrowing the system are also using strength to pursue they own goals and ideals, not like there aren't a shit ton of people who would have the means and motives to do so, this IS america after all

It really doesn’t matter what form that power takes. Look at Raiden. I think it just matters how you use that power. Again, like Raiden. And as to Armstrong’s ideology, I believe it’s less about the stronger person killing him, more that the person who kills him embodies his ideology that he’s content with. Raiden, for better or worse, proves Armstrong, at least to a point, that the truly strong can carve out a destiny for themselves, even if they choose to help those who don’t have the strength themselves, and they can kill to keep the “status quo” going. Might makes right.

@@acgearsandarms1343 also it implies that the status quo is not so great and raiden is fighting a lost cause yet refuses to do anything about it

​@@HungVu-ec3jkWell doesn't Raiden go rogue at the end

@@abysswatcher9172 Going rogue to carry out Armstrong mission. Not literally but come on he's basically doing that

*Nationalism

@@nielsjensen4185 no. Patriotism

@@yeah_definitelysame difference

@@JohnBrown-tw2qi All shit.

​@@JohnBrown-tw2qiNo there is a difference. Patriotism is loving your country and being loyal to it, nationalism is the belief of its superiority

The best part about Armstrong is that: he speaks about freedom like a libertarian, wants total control like a democrat, and is more patriotic to the cause than a republican.

@@geronimo5537 he'd honestly be a damn great president if he had someone to help him tone down the crazier parts of his ideas

Exactly. It's easy to spew rhetoric about "every man should be allowed to follow his own rules" when your a wealthy, manipulative, Nano enhanced monster. He only has the guts to talk so confidentially about because he feels (and for a large part IS) indestructible

What if he was used as a reskin for TF2's "VS. Saxton Hale" mode?

Raiden sums it up quite well: "You're not greedy.... you're batshit insaaaaaane!!!" Edit to extrapolate: Over my last thirty-odd years, watching the internet grow from sapling to the gnarled husk we know it as today, I've seen my fair share of hard libertarian types, especially when crypto became the big interest for them. It seems the harder line you go past 'a man's freedom only ends by another man's fist' the more you realize a lot of these turbo-libertarians for some reason think you can simultaneously live in a universe where they're on top and yet also sell it how everyone else can, while also with a bit of squinting realizing that the type of life and mindsets they're often wishing for sounds suspiciously like being the top of the feudalism totem pole. Armstrong's not immune to this either of course, his views are a hyper-focused might make right sort of libertarianism, but well, look at the man! I'd seriously argue and debate how much of his philosophy is just part of a twisted form of bloodlust, something that is kinda another theme of MG:R in general considering how many of the other stories are some level of 'how does the rest of the cast cope with being mass murderers?'

It does weaken his relatability. Since yeah, its obvious now he will rule the utopia of shit that he would create. But as you stated, yeah it makes so much sense, because we see this all the time. People with power framing a change as beneficial for everyone, when in reality, its only because it benefits them, you'll never see the benefit of that change.

That's not much of a realization, he even says it himself. His goal is the total freedom of the individual and the natural, evolutionary survival of the fittest. Screw communism and capitalism, anarchy is the way to go.