One of the themes of NV is the trouble that comes from Old World echoes. House is a relic of that world, as is Hoover Dam, while the NCR tries to emulate pre-war America with twisted nostalgia, not much unlike the Legion with their pseudo-Roman charade. The same theme about being stuck in or with the past repeats itself in the Big Empty (literally "Old World Blues"), the Sierra Madre, Zion Canyon, and on the Long 15.
Considering that, all the major factions are more or less the same. Much like scavengers, they're trying to build a future from scrap. But that's not a sustainable path.
>>799There is the question whether capitalism is compatible with the Wasteland. Fluff-text implies that as the NCR has developed and the land has been scraped clean of any scrap worth scavenging, the Republic has been forced to act in an expansionist manner to acquire more resources and to provide an internal refuge to a constant exodus of citizens fleeing wage slavery for the promise of opportunity in the periphery. Once again, a reference towards the Old World, the age of the rugged cowboy and the settler.
But as it has done so it has become stretched thin. The NCR appears to be at risk of regressing into Robber Baron feudalism led by the Brahmin lords before being able of achieving an actual anti-capitalist zeitgeist. There may be a century, or even several centuries of troubles and tribulations ahead before conditions become favorable for that. Who knows, the NCR might fracture and fall apart in that time.
As such, I would personally prefer an independent Vegas where the Kings and the Followers have sway. The Mojave is a strange place, so I cannot imagine anyone but the locals, those who are familiar and accustomed to the challenges of the region, being able of building without suffering a sustainable future in the region. Westside speaks for that.
To achieve permanent success, one does not only need to change the material relations and the productive forces of a community, but foster a collection of certain values, a self-sustaining culture which values maintaining Socialism, or whatever they'd call it as the 2200's roll towards the 24th century. People in the Mojave already value cooperation, getting paid your worth, and deserving a say in matters which touch you. The Kings speak of kindness, the Followers are building mutual aid, and Westside fosters a budding seed. These things provide an opportunity unlike any other.
After all, a new world calls for new solutions. A shame the independence ending is so vague and unfinished, when there's so much nuance and variation that could've been wrung out of it. Perhaps the devs cut it as time and money was being pulled from under them, as to keep the other options viable.
Reposted because I fucked up.