Racial stereotypes

[95th Rifleman]

The recent discussions have got me thinking, how much do we subscribe to racial stereotypes? This effects many things, not the least the prosecution of war. An example is the Japanese in WW2, Americans considered them too weak and prone to poor eyesight and dismissed them as a credible threat in air to air engagements, yet the japanese proved to be some of the best and most skillful pilots of the war. Cultural attitudes and racial stereotypes play a huge part in our lives, whether we choose to accept the fact or not.

How does it play out in our games of T2K? Over the years i have been guilty of, rather unconscously, portraying NATO troops as more moraly sound than warsaw pact. When warcrimes or amoral acts have been commited by NPCs it is most often by the hand of a soviet. I was born in 1980, while Britain was not as focussed on the "Red Peril" as America we where brought up in a society that saw the communists as less moral, less "good" than we where. In the movies,literature and common perceptions of the time, this was accepted as fact.

Also common views and stereotypes regarding even our NATO allies had an effect and talking to veterans of the two Gulf wars, I've learned that they could effect relations between allied contingents. I'll list some common stereotypes that where common when I was a teenager, so you can see what I mean:

Russians (soviet): Cruel, ammoral fanatics who would willingly commit any crime for the soviet cause. Uneducated, barbaric and primitive. poor soldiers with poor equipment that is rarely cleaned or maintained.

Americans: Undisciplined, gung ho, poorly led. They have all the kit but not the training to use it. Arrogant, badly educated, convinced they won everything singlehanded.

Germans: Arrogant, by the book, no sense of flair. Poor at handling unplanned, unexpected situations. There was a general sense of distrust associated with the Germans when i was growing up.

Now when you look at the reality you notice that the stereotypes have a certain element that rings true but are overblown and inaccurate. I was wondering ow this plays out in other people's games, chcarcters and personal viewpoints.