I think you should say more about how Dutch is a communist actually. Because that's what I was getting from the game as well and I'm so fucking sick of seeing, "ahahaha of course they don't like people like you, you're a criminal sillyđ€Ł!" Like dbshehshdhdh
Dutch isn't against industrialization, he's against capitalism. The US has always been an Oligarchy. George Washington was not voted in as president by the people. Like... Ehjdhdjfjdhdjsksbbjrjbdndisibebd djjisjdjdndnsn I'm gonna bang my head against something solid.
I TOO AM BANGING MY HEAD AGAINST THE WALL TALKING TO THIS FANDOM LORD SAVE US
OKAY
First Iâd like to open this ask by writing two fundamental truths:
The American dream is where hope came to die
the entire RDR franchise is for the communists, everyone else go tf home
I'm gonna cover or attempt to cover a variety of topics that I will list here and! I will try to keep it brief by saying only the mostâą important parts of it but there are so many other topics I could talk about to show how the message of the game is COMMUNISM is the answer like 1. hoseaâs health and arthurâs health 2. how micah is a cog in capitalism and why he would always be the only one that could survive their lifestyle (i will only quote him directly instead of wasting my words: there are only winnings and losers and i intend to be a winner) 4. feminism 5. why the women choose to follow dutch 6. dutchâs health and decline 7. how their health ties to capitalism but i wonât because i yap too much and honestly nobody wants to hear me have sermons (+ the actual colonization actively taking place in the era of the time.) (+ the workers/immigrants struggle.)
and before i start⊠i had thought we all understood dutch was a communist i could actually CRY (overestimation⊠on the most⊠obvious thingâŠ)
Dutch isn't against industrialization, he's against capitalism. The US has always been an Oligarchy.Â
dutchâs success was not only attributable to his charmâ but the fact he spoke what the people FELT, he saw hunger and he addressed hunger
dutch going out of his way to teach most of the gang (the ones who didnât know) how to read/write and how this ties directly to his communistic beliefs
I am going to start by quoting the man himself,Â
âThis place... ain't no such thing as civilized. It's man so in love with greed he has forgotten himself and found only appetites.âÂ
People love to use this line against Dutch, as an ironic finger-pointer but⊠this encompasses everything about society as it is that Dutch actively disdains and hates. In his eyes we see that civilization has not proven to be more âcivilizedâ because it is still full of greed and hunger. The van der Linde gang is actually a modern Robin Hood, and I think we all know this so I will not get into it too much but I will quote the wiki:Â
âA gang of criminals, dissidents and free-thinkers who have chosen to reject a corrupt system of power and live instead by their own code. As the price on their heads continues to grow, so does the struggle to remain free.âÂ
This is a direct quote from Rockstar Games, the actual makers of this game. A direct quote!Â
They said the gang, âreject a corrupt system of power,â and guess what that âcorrupt systemâ is. GuessâŠâŠâŠ. Itâs capitalism. Itâs the law and it is the Bourgeoisie.Â
The law serves one master and has always served one master. The Rich.
I would like to quote from the communist manifesto.Â
âSociety as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes, directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.âÂ
We see the active class struggle in every npc we encounter, from the downes family to the mine workers to migrant workers to the boys working the docks to everything that is saint denis. Â
This is an important quote from Dutch,Â
âWhen I'm gone, they'll just find another monster. They have to, because they have to justify their wages.â
This is a direct nod to how capitalism always finds a scapegoat to use as the evil and turn the peopleâs eyes away from their own demise and their own powerlessness. This is often immigrants, the poor, women, etc.Â
Dutch had 1 goal with the gang and that was;
âRob wealthy people and corrupt people and redistribute most of the money to those who are poor and desperate.â
This is a direct copy from the wiki under Dutchâs goals.Â
This was Dutchâs goal and has been consistently his goal until his mental decline when he became concerned for his life and his sanity and decided to choose himself. Dutch until the bitter end, was for the people.Â
This is another quote from the wiki although they did not show much of it in game;
âDrive away the federal government and bureaucracy from the West.â
This clearly shows you that this man was actively fighting against the whole capitalistic system (and him being a romantic he underestimated his power and the active fight in the people, hungry as they are which brings us back to his beautiful quote about greed and finding only appetites but i digress.)
Dutch van der Linde is a revolutionary communist figure whose dream of collective freedom and anti-capitalis rebellion is shatteredâ not by his own failure but by the crushing weight of the law and the ever expanding machine of American Capitalism. His unraveling is a the natural consequence of the system he fought as has been seen in many respected communist leaders too (greed and the crushing weight of capitalism will kill everyone.)Â
Dutch has a communist worldview where he believes in the collective over the individual, he is seen using the collective âweâ and âusâ versus âthemâ-- them being the elite, the banks, the lawmakers, those who hoard power and us being the people, the hungry, the dirty, the orphans (him adopting orphans and giving them power to fight back and making sure they are well-read is also a direct moral standing coming from his communistic views.)
Dutch doesnât see crime as a moral failing and doesnât go out of his way to terrorize anyone like Colm, but he sees their way of life as a resistance against a corrupt system.Â
The vander Linde gang is actually a very communal structure, they function much like a rural commune where everyone contributes, and everything is distributed within the gang. Mirroring Marxâs visions of post capitalistic society, collective ownership, abolition of class and mutual aid.Â
I donât want to talk too much so I will insert some quotes reflecting Dutchâs communistic mindset:
âI got a saying, my friend... we shoot fellers as need shooting... save fellers as need saving... and feed 'em as need feeding. We're gonna find out what you need.â
Dutch is a romantic and he believes in the American Dream but the pure American Dream instead of the capitalistic monster it is;
âThe promise of this great nation. Men created equal, liberty and justice for all. That might be nonsense too. But it's worth trying for. It's worth believing in. Can't you see that, friend?â
â Dutch to Arthur Morgan in "Blessed are the Peacemakers".
Dutch does not choose violence, but is more often than not forced into it by the system and his code is what separates him from other gangs like Colmâs. Which is also why he is a direct parallel to Colm.
Colm is capitalism, Dutch is Communism (peep the colors, symbolism for the win.)
Dutch does not choose violence lightly and he has quotes directly showing this, but his violence is a responce to a world that does not leave room for dissenters. The law offers no negotiation, only bullets. (This is also seen with the natives and why the vander Linde gang and the natives actually have so much common. Although the premise or reason of why they are being haunted is different, their struggle is one and the same as is all the struggle of the lower class no matter ethnicity. (Que Communism theme song and me screaming the communist manifesto again as it has a lot to say about capitalism and colonization and class struggles.)
âListen to me! We don't want to kill any of you!Â
âWe're trying to reform society to a kinder, truer, better wayâŠâÂ
âWe are dreamers in an ever duller world of facts.â (You canât live and dream in a capitalistic world.)
Here is the THESIS to Dutchâs worldview;Â
âYou kill, I kill. You rob, I rob. Only difference I can see is I choose whom I kill, and rob, while you destroy everything in your path.â
âThe Pinkertons have had time to reinforce. The civilized world is closing on us.â
There is a reason Dutchâs official introductory quote is; âTheyâre chasing us hard because we represent everything they fear.â And that is because he is a Communist.Â
I will end this with because I do not wanna talk too much:
Dutch van der Linde is not a mere criminal nor is he a tyrant, he is a radical man whose mental health got destroyed by the expansion of a system he knew was evil and his life was the emodiment of revolutionary hope crushed under the boot of American Capitalism. He stayed a communist but the world proved too brutal for one to survive.
Just extra, I promised myself not to speak too much on capitalism as a reason for mental decline but jsjakfjak, canât help myself but iâll keep it brief.
Dutch lost everything trying to hold onto his morals, because every plan was crushed by the ever expanding of capitalism, the pinkertons hiring private mercenaries everywhere, the lands seized by the government and removing nature where they would hide, the native people being slaughtered and their way of life/their food being eradicated, money being the only salvation to get from point A to B.
His paranoia is not madness and his ever erratic plans are not stupidity but direct consequence of being haunted by the government, it is systematic trauma.
Also Dutchâs quote, âI gave you all I had.â IS the thesis for his mental sanity disappearing and is more impactful than Arthurâs âI gave you all I had,â argue with the wall.Â
THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME YAP I TRIED TO KEEP IT BRIEF BUT I DON'T THINK I SUCCEDED TOO WELLâŠâŠâŠÂ I have written too many essays on this subject to be normal... I apologise...














