Letter of Concern
A Review of the Guide to the Technocracy
Dear White Wolf Publishing Company, Inc. and Associates
In the past several years we have received several complaints from parents who were concerned about the material disseminated by your company. They noticed negative behavioral changes in their children after reading your books. The concerns most often cited were: loss of sleep, changes in eating habits and sleep patterns, changes in peer group structure, excessive daydreaming that borders on delusion, and perhaps most unsettling a blurring of the line between fantasy and reality.
We have been investigating these matters for many years now. We are highly concerned about your material. In particular we are concerned about the premise of your œMage” game. You not only suggest that reality is subjective, you seem to confirm it in everything you write in the game. The first words in the introduction of a recently released work state, œReality is fragile,” and further that, œReality is never as sure as we think.” This theme is presented throughout the entire work.
While you may maintain that you are exercising your First Amendment rights and that the material you are presenting is merely a game, we consider what you are doing to be irresponsible in the extreme. Perhaps youths with a strong grasp on reality are able to handle the premises upon which you build your game. However, as we all know young people have problems with separating fantasy from reality and we feel that those children who are drawn to your products may have a propensity towards this difficulty. Research into this matter has shown that your products tend to be bought by over-achieving youth that feel isolated from their peers. Said group also has the highest rate of suicide. While we are not prepared to draw a correlation between the two, at this point, as publishers we would hope that you would be careful in how you present any game that could endanger the lives of our children.
Of particular concern is the way in which the government of the United States of America is portrayed. A recent addition to your line is very troubling- œGuide to the Technocracy.” In other works, you have suggested that the œtechnocracy” is an evil machine- like entity run by shadowy governmental agents creating a conspiracy to enslave the common man. The œGuide to the Technocracy” takes this one step further presenting itself as a recruitment manual written by the government. It is a very well written book, written by obviously gifted individuals. However, this only exacerbates the problem; as the book is written so well, reality is very hard for the reader to distinquish.
The œGuide to the Technocracy” describes the fantastical creation of
itself. The writers of this material have seen fit to use real historical
details in conveying their plot line, which is troubling in itÆs realism.
This reach into the past goes far back indeed suggesting that the foundations
of this evil are prehistoric. It almost suggests that every tool ever created
is a part of the rise of the technocracy. By this standard, all technology
must in some way be bad. Do you feel that creating paranoia about tools
and presenting that matter to suggestible youth is responsible? Have you
ever heard of the Unabomber?
Many pages of the book are used to detail how to œcreate” a member of the Technocracy. Do you truly feel that it is wise to have youth pretending that they are capable of magic that controls the future of reality? Further do you think that shadowy government types that bear a great deal of resemblance to the communist party carrying technology that is hundreds of years in advance of the present is a wise concept around which to build a fantasy? You include new personality types, none of which suggests that anyone who works for the government could truly be a decent person and that even those who may be slightly redeemable have glaring flaws. There are new background levels that suggest single individuals are capable of guiding governments with a word and have œimplants” that could make them strong enough to throw a truck. As though all of this were not bad enough you include new skills such as manipulating the media, interrogation, torture, biotech, and zero gravity operations. How many civil servants do think have been taught to torture people?
All of this material is presented in a tone that attempts to suggest that the œGuide to the Technocracy” is itself propaganda, written by an evil government trying to justify itÆs actions. The writers that you have hired for this book are wonderful and very convincing; if the government did employ them there is no telling what potential good they could do. Unfortunately, you have decided to put them to the task of writing dangerous and seditious material. Let me reiterate our concerns about your material. First, we feel that the material is presented in too realistic a manner in its portrayal of an evil conspiracy by the government. Second, we feel that the material because of its realism is dangerous for the intended audience who research has shown to be unstable to begin with.
In conclusion, we feel that your company is being irresponsible in your publishing of various materials and, in particular, the œGuide to the Technocracy”. While we have yet to find any overt illegal activities occurring, be advised that charges may be pending, as your material borders upon threatening the peace and stability of the government and may pose a serious threat to itÆs civilian population.
Sincerely
Lewis A. Freed
Federal Bureau of Investigations
Associate Director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center
(NIPC)
Written by Brent Halstead
Edited by Conrad Hubbard
All Material Copyright © Conrad Hubbard
