When thinking of monsters as the result of capitalism, the thing that springs to mind are the inhabitants of the city of Rapture in the game Bioshock. Based in the fictionalized 1950s, the height of post-war American consumer capitalism, Andrew Ryan decided to build a city under the ocean reserved only for the wealthy elite and intellectuals. Free-market, unbridled capitalism reigned freely, with slogans painted on banners upholding the invisible hand of capitalism that guided the city's progress with no centralized government. For a time, these practices worked, creating great technological innovations far and beyond the scope that existed within the 1950s. However, greed started to take over the businessmen who took advantage of the unchecked system. A miracle drug called "ADAM" was discovered, but it was also highly addictive. Because there were no controls or regulations regarding this drug, the capitalists were quick to monetize ADAM, especially during times of conflict, and tried to sell it in new ways and even eventually this started to replace currency. The corporations entirely controlled the distribution of the drug, and could tightly regulate the availability. The widespread effects of the limited supply with large consumer demand were enormous- the majority of the population turned into crazed addicts, fighting each other for one more quick fix. The city soon fell into disarray with no more capable workers able to keep the city functional. The lesson of this is simple- the unchecked capitalist system and the greed of powerful companies created a hierarchy in which essentially enslaved the population until their eventual demise. The city of Rapture in Bioshock serves as a warning and message that unchecked human greed in the desire to create a profit will always have harmful consequences.
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