Our choices, as an enterprise, were entirely based on making
a profit and maintaining a certain level of resources at all times to act as a
cushion in case of unforeseen issues. Though idealistically the situation would
be handled with mutual understanding and generosity, that is not an accurate
representation of your average colonial enterprise. On our fictional venture,
deep in the jungle, we couldn’t bargain or work together to make a better deal
with the natives, truthfully depicting the language barrier between colonials
and natives of the time period. This made violence, or lack thereof, our only
tool in gaining resources and communicating with the only people who could get
us resources. Keeping this in mind, my group made sure to save some force cards
to use as the game neared it’s end and kept track of our balance of force to
goodwill cards in the native relations deck. We also looked at probability for
harsh weather conditions when deciding whether or not to push for resources
each month. As unfortunate and grim as it is, we profited because we used force
an, although it was only a game, it make me think, as I suppose it was meant
to. I thought about the role of violence and force in the relationship between
European colonials and those they attempted to colonize, if we can even call it
a relationship. Honestly, the only way to avoid using violence was to fail, or
not play the game. I guess that makes a pretty good argument for throwing in
the metaphorical towel and putting down the deck of cards. When the only way to
avoid violence is to not play the game, it says a good deal about the game
itself. If it is impossible to do something without harming others, the benefit
of what you set out to do must be weighed against the lives of those you harm.
I guess that set up a fairly simple choice for the colonists, as they weighed
the promise of gold and resources against the lives of those they considered
almost subhuman.
And now I must add my last little paragraphs, commenting on
the game, checking off the little sections in this journal prompt. I found the
game realistic for the most part, especially considering the reliance of the
colonists on the natives and the inability for the two groups to really
communicate. The one thing I thought might have been improved upon was the
amount of chance involved in the native relations. I thought it might have been
based more on the colonists’ actions of each month, rather than as a whole.
Although, I couldn’t find a feasible way to do this with only playing cards.
There isn’t anything I would change as a group, considering
we did produce the most profit in the class and I would be afraid of changes failing
to reproduce our good fortune a second time, but were the victories in this
game based on ethics rather than profits, I would feel differently, of course.
That seems almost silly to say, but I feel the selfish need to mention it, how
very human of me.
