I know, I was just agreeing with you though, killing someone doesnt make you EVIL. Take Tom Anders for example, he killed that NCR trooper, he did it because NCR would never DREAM of playing Altruist and donating water. So I was basically agreeing with you. No need to be smarmy.

@Wrighty- I fail to understand your opinion 'House is not human because he uses machines' claim. Man has used medical technology since the dawn of man to extend the longevity of the human life. House is literally on a specialised hermetically sealed Life Support system. I mean, originally, men would turn 10, have kids by 20, and die by roughly 35, and now look at humans, we live to roughly 100 years. House was roughly in his mid 50's when he did this, he isnt immortal, look at his body, after 200 years, it has deteriorated, so in roughly 200 years, on the assumption House's LS systems do not fail and shut down, he will die through body deterioration. He isn't a brain in a jar, when he dies, he'll die. Rex is also an example of this, albeit in a more complex way. His brain is 200 years old. House is the equivalence of 2 lives of a brain in a jar through his advanced technologies by my calculations. But to say House has lost his humanity is a very unanswerable statement, some men, like the FotA care about each and every person, and others, like House, care about the big picture. That doesn't make him any less human, it just makes him less emotionally ettached.

Man isnt capable of living past 100 naturally. Anyway its not the age that bothers me, its the complete lack of human contact. Sure he gives orders through the securitrons and speakers but that itsnt the same. He spends years and decades surrounded by machines, with no proper contact, i would probably lose my humanity. Real people can think about the big picture and not lose their humanity, but houses isolation and complete lack of human contact bothers me. Hard to picture what lifes like in the mojave when you are in complete solitude and saftey 24/7.

Well, I understand where you're coming from, but some people are so independent they could go most of their life going into isolation and being completely fine with it. But I do agree that one viewing, sayyyyy, a gunfight, through a securitron watching from hundreds of feet away wouldn't get a grasp on life in full grasps without seeing it themselves, but then again, we do the same thing everyday with foreign events outside our nations.

-Don't forget your very own Roosewelt. . He was de facto a dictator for a period.


-Come now... Comparing House to Stalin? Really? Stalin was a paranoid, massmurdering, ignorant tactical dunce. House is none of the above.


-Which is different how when compared to NCR or the Legion?


-Look to your own history. The first "civic" building in most cities were Saloons or brothels. Or a combination. Besides there is a major difference between Atlantic city and NV. All of the caps that House earns goes straight back into his plan for vegas. He has no personal vices, no needs. He is not corruptable. Everything will go toward propelling Vegas into his vision. He has created a "cradle to grave" conglomerate. A Keiretsu. The money flows to vegas and stays in vegas. All of his profits are reinvested. They don't go to shareholders, like in atlantic city. And because House has such grand plans he will need to renovate and rebuild Vegas. And he will use humans to do it because he cant replace his securitrons. He will pay these humans. And sooner or later he will need more skilled help than he can svck up from the surrounding areas. He will need to educate them himself. He will need schools to educate Sanitation workers, architects, construction crews, engineers, teachers, accountants ect. He will need to educated doctors because going to vegas and getting dysinteria or cholera is badfor repeat business Its crap PR too.


-Morality... really? Morals and ethics are subjective. And then we have the fact that both the NCR and the Legion are just as bad or worse in their moralities. Both could have done "more" with their resources but are blinded with "expansion". They want to expand their teritorry. Their powerbase. Period. And House is in the way. Killing house for the NCR/legion is basically a Political hit. The Legion uses slave labour. Hardly Moral. The NCR use freelancers to torture suspects (Refoulement... Bad) and want the BoS slaughtered. No requests for dialogue or compromise. The NCR in Vegas do not have civil Leadership. They have a military commander that makes all calls.


- There are no guarantees. But there is such a thing as a Curriculum Vitae, a trackrecord. In a nutshell House has been right about most things and has survived thusfar despite everything. The odds of that are beyond astronomical. His CV would land him any top job as a strategic planner or anolyst. Considering how well he has done so far, that trackrecord lends quite a bit of credibility.



- Indeed, lets. Florence had an epic impact on art culture, science and economy of Europe and conversely world history. And no Pol. Sci student or anolyst goes through University without reading at least one of his works ad nauseam.

House can stay in power for a very long time. Look to the European "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansestadt" federation of citiystates. By virtue of their great wealth they were a political force that gave them a political force far disproportional to their demographics or territorial size for more than 400 Years. They decided who they lended money for armies, political bribes, ect. They were kingmakers. Now Imagine House throwing his financial prowess behind a NCR candidate for president... Houses model of civic governance can easily be exported to other areas. It only takes a few ruins that he can plaster with neon signs, and open up to the vices of men. Because men being men, we will always want wine woman and song (or gambling in this case).

House doesn't tax, enslave or even demand fealty. He gives you the option to make money... or leave. The NCR/Legion gives you the option of submitting or dying. I really cant see House as anything but the sensible choise.

I wish I was as eloquent in such convincing points as yours. :laugh:

-You hold your own. Easy :foodndrink:

Worse than that, because house is god in his own little world. He can wipe out cities with his securitrons and no one will tell him he is wrong. Our leaders are kept in check with many advisers and there are many protestors to debate with them and tell them what it is really like to be in the war torn villages of Iraq for instance. House has no one, and that is what scares me about him

@Farbautisonn

It is merely your assertion that Roosevelt was a dictator. Under you model, Churchill would be one also. Every American president is a “de facto” dictator during war time, if the threat s great enough – think of Washington and Lincoln. The distinction is that they’ve never been granted a “de jure” dictatorship – legally recognized absolute power.

You also seem to have ignored the question “is Mr. House evil?” The questions wasn’t “is Mr. House’s rule more desirable than rule under the legion or the NCR?”

A man who is evil can still be good at his job. He may only be evil in his personal life, but may enact sound state policies. The Roman Emperor Tiberius was a sadist and a pedophile but he balanced the state budget. Genghis Khan and Shaka Zulu were monstrous on many occasions, yet very astute at statecraft. Personal morality seems to be glossed over when accompanied by great personal achievement. Heck, Stalin was an amazing bureaucrat yet I think he’s nearly the devil himself.

I said that House took a lot of unethical actions, several of which seemed unnecessary or driven by paranoia, and that he had a few major personality flaws. I didn’t think he was a good person - “evil” is a stretch – but what is evil in the end other than not good? It loses meaning if you parse it that thin.

I also never said rule under Mr. House was any worse than the NCR or legion, although the fact that I thought I would be more competent to run NV made me question his genius. . .

Also, nearly half of the casino revenue in Atlantic City is taken by the state of NJ, not by shareholders. I don’t believe that the revenue gained from Mr. House’s casinos would be viable for a functional state without taxation. I always questioned the game’s logic in which people travel hundreds of miles to gamble after the apocalypse – through a searing hot, dangerous desert - when gambling and prostitution are legal everywhere!

Well see, House is a very Andrew Ryan-esque character.I don't know if you've played Bioshock but this still should make sense.

Andrew Ryan was the de facto ruler of Rapture, a city he built and only the richest, brightest, and artistic were invited (House has effectively built New Vegas and his city is for the rich), but, as time grew on, a rival businessman named Fontained took Ryan down a peg when he started play the charity angle, which Ryan, being a hardliner of Randyian and Free Market principle's frowned upon, over the expanse of a year, civil war broke out. Now, in reverse, House is an all powerful businessman, but at the same time, his power relies in appeasing his people, he wants the general progress of humanity. Hence he allows the Omertas 'Den of Vice' as House himself calls it, to appease the customer. If you stop making your people happy, guess what they'll do? That's right, they'll revolt, or they'll leave and take their business elsewhere. House is not a charity, but he's playing with a very delicate system of checks and balances.

- Problem is that its not solely my http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_dictatorship. Roosewelt was a "Benevolent Dictator" Prewar, by virtue of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Recovery_Administration#Judicial_reviewbeing ruled unconstitutional. The first two years were more or less a "benevolent Dictatorship".
-Nope. Ive replied to it in many a thread. House isnt evil. Moralities and ethics do not concern him. He follows the law of a probable outcome. In DnD terms he is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawful_neutral#Lawful_Neutral. In the real world he is "gray". He is a businessman that plays the game better because he knows the vices and history of men. That the other players are ignorant and crude certainly isn't his fault. He finds no obscure or perverse pleasure in hurting people. That he does things that can be percieved as evil is another story. Just like the rest of the players he plays to win. But because we can put a face on House and because House doesn't care for anything but his vision he is easy to typecast as "bad". We "metagame" by applying our moralities and ethics of our swaddled lives to a situation that is a far cry from what we live in. Every great statesman has done "bad" things to others. Every great nation has. Imposing the will of the many in a democracy for instance can still be viewed as a dictatorship of the many. Especially so if said nation decides to impose its will on other states or state like enteties.


-No arguements there.


-People who deal in absolutes are usually not very good at compromising or undestanding subtelties. Things are rarely exclusively good or bad. Something You percieve as good I might percieve as bad. Whilst removing a dictator could be percieved as great for some, others would see it as interference in another nation if not downright Imperialism. If you are amongst the people benefitting from said dictatorship even more so. Again I refer to the "Law of a probable outcome" that is the only law that House observes. By counting solely on "Black or white" policies you are left blinded to alot of other options... which is basically the major flaw of both Caesar and NCR. They apply their own methodology and ethics and arrogantly assume that everyone should / will follow those. NCR and the Legion have eachother typecasted in black and white, and throw house into the camp of their opposer. They do not undestand nor do they aspire to undestand House. Both could have made very favorable deals with house. Both could have grown very rich with House. But their imperialistic attitude blinds them. They do not undestand the other party. However House undestands the motivations and the plans of the others perfectly.

I am not watering things out. I am merely suggesting that the distance between Black and white is a lengthy rainbow of colors, or shades of gray. For example the legion is great for merchants and caravans... because things are safe. But that safety is built on the exploitation, fear and slavery of all in the occupied territories.



- I can relate. But its a bit of Hybris. Because House has a proven trackrecord. You are basically the hamfisted Hired help. What you know out of game is not really stuff you can apply ingame. Because your toon doesnt have a degree in political science. You will be learning from scratch and by trial and error instead of learning from a master.



- And the state distributes the wealth amongst all of NJ. Not just Atlantic city correct? Also House isn't hampered by having to do state wide initiatives. He has only has to focus on vegas proper, and let a trickle down economy handle the rest.

As for the logic of travelling hundreds of miles to gamble. I see no problems there. American, European, Chinese and japanese Gamblers visit all casinos from Macao, over Monaco to Vegas. They do it to experience new and exiting things and to gamble. They do it to be enertained. Which is why the strip is allways changeing and allways looking for top performers to drag in high rollers and anyone with cash. You park the kids and the wife at the cirque du soleil show and go to gamble with the other high rollers. Or take in a show yourself after gambling. And you do enjoy good service and nice glitzy freshly renovated or newly built hotels. NV would have high class escorts... Ghouls, robots ect... For the afficionado or fetischist or even the boored hick or trooper going to vegas would be a priority. Its a place of magic to forget the horrors of life outside the "reservation". Its a place where your every desire or dream can come true... and It just might... if you roll that 7 or get that blackjack. And men do like to hope...

@ aww. . .you know who

People go to Monaco and to modern Vegas b/c in the modern world gambling is often banned elsewhere and b/c modern forms of transportation are comparatively easy. Vegas is where it is b/c gambling is illegal in California. No one in their right mind with a family in NV, in game, would bother to risk death by scorpion and mutant to blow caps at a casino when they just as easily could have gambled at home. Modern Vegas did not become a family destination until the 1990s, when it built roller coasters and huge pyramids. NV wouldn’t a attract a “family” for 100s of more years; in the mean time it would have to subsist on a trickle of hardy travelers willing to make such a long trek by foot. Modern Vegas was a desert until everyone had a car. New Vegas would not survive.

I respect the “moral relativism” position you have on Mr. House, but the Roosevelt / dictator link is specious. Merely b/c the supreme court overrode Roosevelt's actions does not make him a dictator, no matter who decided to put him on what neat little list they came up with. The most famous presidential powers case was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youngstown_Sheet_&_Tube_Co._v._Sawyer where Truman attempted to seize the nation’s steel mills with the army – but it’s silly to conclude that because of that action Truman was “a dictator.” That’s historical hyperbole. The president’s exact powers are rather murky and often are not pinned down by the Supreme Court for a very long time.

Lincoln, who suspended Habeas Corpus, was outright told by Supreme Court that he was in violation of the constitution in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_parte_Merryman, in 1861 but he ignored the ruling up until the end of the war. He was arguably one of those “benevolent” dictators you've been looking for

-

Nah. Gamblers are adrenaline junkies. The logic behind wagering a common mands yearly wage or the wages of an entire factory for a year comes down to excitement. Pitting yourself against odds and other players. Rich kids and high rollers especially would always look for the next thing. Whats the fun of being the brahmin barons son in the middle of nowhere but with a heap of caps, if the only place you can blow it is at the local [censored]house with rundown sanitation, ugly and disease ridden women and croupiers that smell like manure? The trip alone is an adventure. Hell I'd want to go see it at least once if it was reasonably close and I don't gamble. I can though. The closest casino is about 5 miles from my doorstep. Hell I could walk. Our local casinos however are dreadfully boring when compared to the glitz of Vegas and the splendor of Monaco. If I was a gambler I'd want to pit myself against players who had alot of money and more skill than that/those of the local roadhouse. .

As for Vegas not attracting families... I seriously believe you are wrong. With a vegas expansion, relative safety and the potential of a paying job and decent shelter, everyone would flock to vegas instead of living in a shed somewhere where Raiders or a radscorpion might drop by any moment and your crops might fail or get stolen. Its even a historical fact. Its called http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization:D. As house requres more skilled help the city would grow... with all of the benefits and problems that brings.

I keep seeing people talking about house's "mass murders". When did this happen? The only time I recall him killing any amount of people was when he woke up the securitrons - and that was to drive off the tribal people that had started squatting in the strip. He won the Vault by beating them at their own game (Mr. House being able to play the odds like no other, they didn't really have a chance) and then filled it in to protect himself. It's not like he did it in the dead of night when the vault was asleep - he told them all to get out. Incase you didn't notice, Benny's plan was exactly what House safeguarded himself against. He was going to tunnel through the rock into the basemant of the 38 via the vault tunnels - but he couldn't because the tunnel that goes under the 38 is full of concrete.

How about House "Land-grabbing"? Huh? He took over the strip and went for the dam, but that's it. He's putting value into the land and the people he already has under his control. The NCR and the Legion are the land grabbers with the "more, more, more!" attitude. Mr. House is running the odds for the best result. He did it before the war, and he's doing it now. Sure, he wants to land-grab in space but that's neither here nor there. Let us not forget that the Enclave's plan was to colonize another planet as well - the player being the only thing that stopped them by blowing up their oilrig launchpad.

Sure, House wants you to take out the Brotherhood, but they're nothing like Fallout3 would have you believe. Lyons is the only one that gives a crap about people and they cut him off for it. If the roles were reversed and the Brotherhood was coming at House full force, they would kill everyone in the strip to gain control of the securitrons and the 38 just so no one else could have it. Even the Yes-Man tells you that they're going to mess you up in the future if you let them live. Again, House is the master at playing the odds. . . and the numbers say the Brotherhood will come if you give them time.

FDR definitely had authoritarian tendencies....but he wasn't Dictator yet, as your link proves. The SCOTUS shot down the NRA, which flirted dangerously with fascist economics, and when he reacted by trying to pack the SCOTUS with hacks who would rubber-stamp his Diktats the Senate remembered it's gonads and refused to let him. Woodrow Wilson's use of his War Powers during WW1 is probably the closet thing to a dictatorship we have had here.



While I think that the NCR could have cut a deal with House in theory....it wasn't likely to happen. A deal would get House the protection he wants to pursue his dream, and the NCR gets House's expertise and finally some tax revenue that would enable them to straighten out thier finances. But both had reasons why a deal would not be acceptable that have little to do with ideology. House behaved towards NCR officials in a high handed manner and didn't bother to conceal how he was trying to turn every interaction with NCR into a Zero-Sum game where they did the heavy lifting but the benefits all went to him. While that may well have been the only language Kimball and Oliver could understand even the competent officials like Hsu and Hanlon were convinced House was playing them for svckers and privately seething about wasting the lives of thier men to enrich House. I got the impression from talking with him he had nothing but contempt for the NCR's leaders..except Hanlon...and did in fact consider them svckers whom he had over a barrel and was going to ruthlessly fleece at every opportunity to finance his dream. His miscalculation was that they would svck it up until he chose to spring his trap and it was too late for them to retaliate. On the NCR side, the only way House was likely to agree to annexation is if he was recognized as de facto, if not de jure, Governor (for Life) of the new State of New Vegas...so he had the legal authority to stop anyone from interfering with him and his plan...making him instantly one of the most powerful politicians in the NCR and a major player in the political scene in Shady Sands whose influence would only grow with time. I would imagine House getting such a deal would infuriate and terrify the various special interests that basically run the NCR....interests that Oliver and his protege Col. Moore were beholden to.

With the Legion....I don't think any deal was remotely possible. The Charles Edwin House, Captain of Industry, Engineering Titan of the 21st Century, founder of RobCo, one of the mightiest Corporations ever to exist.....bow and scraqe to a barely educated Wastelander with pretensions of being a God-King and put his Dream...the Dream he gave up everything for...in Caesar's grubby mitts? I think he'd chug a gallon of antifreeze before he'd even consider doing that. Even if his pride wasn't in the way, I doubt he would see Caesar's plan...which Caesar himself characterizes as Totalitarian...to use a Cult of Personality based around Caesar, slavery, and extreme terror as tools of social engineering as being a viable or desirable way forward. After all, it's not terribly different in practice than the USSR under Lenin and Stalin, or Maoist China that House himself was familiar with. There is no room for him in Caesar's system and he knows it. Someone like him could only work in the leadership of such a State, and Caesar couldn't accept a equal...who also has his own private army...or a lieutenant that is so obviously his superior in intellect and education and too proud to hide it.

As far as Caesar goes....he knows House sees him for what he is, which makes him a threat. He also knows that one of the biggest sharks of the Pre-War world is not going to be satisfied as one of his lieutenants. Either House would insist on being co-ruler, be plotting to replace him personally or through a pliable proxy....or more likely be doing both. Also, he is living reminder of the Old World and it's forbidden knowledge....complete with a private army of robots that answer only to him.

The conflict between House and Caesar is probably the most honest of them all. House wants to take up where the Old World left off, Caesar wants to start over. Both are incapable of either accepting the other as a equal or willing to serve another. House rebuilt, and Caesar covets New Vegas to become the launching point for thier mutually incompatible visions for the future. Basically, Vegas isn't big enough for the both of them.

I'm not here to add to the discussion about House, I've basically said all I have to, but I will note that the fact we can even have these conversations about a VIDEO GAME, is amazing within itself. I can't think of many video games with a level of depth found within New Vegas' story. I think the "gray" was at first hidden from me, at least within my first play throughs and indeed the conflict of NCR vs. Legion was very black and white. It was only when I started playing the House storyline that you had real gray choices. You have a Hawkish Republic vs. An Objectivist Realist. That makes for a very good conflict because neither is wholly right per say, (though I still think it goes too the republic for reasons stated before).

house however, doesn't prevent others from enslaving.
he isn't interested in governing people, setting up a just system, where everyone has the chance to grow in.
he's basically upholding some sort of controlled anarchy, where the strong are allowed to prey on the weak, with him as the puppet master.
ultimately, he just lacks the empathy and compassion towards other humans, which would allow him to see whats really needed to shape a promising and prospering society.
that has been his weakness ever since, and the plethora of decades as a de facto cybernetic life form didn't help much improving on that, either..
so, the only sensible choice to me is to run the whole thing myself :celebration: (and besides, an ending, that doesn't involve yes man tossing oliver from the dam is never a satisfactory one^^)

Kill House for the Legion, hear his response when you tell him why.
He hates slavery, really hates it. Unsurprising given who he is...

No, he's essentially setting up capitalism. Where the strong succeed and the weak fail, also known as "oh god oh [censored] we need to survive". He is no puppet master, he is about as straightforward as you can get, he blatantly tells everyone what he wants to do. Unlike, say, everyone else.

He doesn't lack empathy, he understands, again kill him for the Legion. He looks past it though to the bigger picture. I don't know how many times it needs to be said but if he devoted all of his resources to others it would fail. You cannot save the world by donating every penny you make, you just get people expecting more and kill yourself. He wants the best, he looks for talent and pays well for it. It's that simple. The fact that so many people are opposed to such an obvious method of hiring talent suggests you either don't understand or are jealous. I'm guessing the former.

'Controlled Anarchy' WHAT? I think a rip in the fabric of space time continuam just occured.

Anywho, the word your looking for is 'Lessez-Faire' which more or less means 'let us be'. It pretty much means as long as House is in power and gets and does what he wants and your motives won't hinder him, you're free to do as you wish.

yeah, so that's why persons like dazzle exist on the strip, huh?




he doesn't give a damn **** about an individuals' fate. it's exactly this "the bigger picture" justifies anything attitude, that produces the biggest examples of inhumanity.
this is something he absolutley shares with caesar, only with houses' methods being more subtle.
but if it was necessary to fuel his space ship with little babies and kittens, house wouldn't hesitate for an atto second....
you can share his views, his philosophy, but please don't try to connect that with a term like empathy


@col martyr

you're just changing terms.
as a matter of fact, house applies only one regulatory rule on the strip: don't cross his personal interests.
other than that, everyone's allowed to do whatever he/she wants. that, as a matter of fact, is anarchy.

No I'm not, by definition, to be a true Anarchy, there would be no laws or established order. What you just said is Lassez Faire, House is the established order.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassez_faire is House's ruling in a nutshell.

again, for me that's just hair-splitting. call it what you want, the matter of fact consequences for the people on the strip are not touched by that.

Mr. House's rule would be what I imagine a stereotypical Supervillain's rule would be like: as an Autocrat not interested in actual governance but simply using the power to pursue their own personal desires.

Democratic systems may not always seek to improve the well-fare of humanity but they do provide a method for the actual society (i.e. the people) to influence the way it controls itself. While a competent benevolent dictator can theoretically provide greater well-being to the overall society, House approaches governance through Free-Market Capitalism... except when he arbitrarily decides to use violence to get his way. His philosophy is one which cares nothing for the common well-being and is in fact proud of its Pseudo-darwinian justifications that trample "the unworthy" underfoot. Therefore, if evil is the system that results in the most harm, House would make for an evil ruler.

That is not to say that House couldn't be "good" in the proper circumstances, but rather that he should never be allowed to helm human society.

Been through this. He can't intervene with the families, he makes it abundantly clear when you ask why he can't get Benny the rules.

He needed the families to protect his tech (and in his mind, the future of humanity) from the NCR, otherwise they would have rolled right through them, as it is with the families and unupgraded securitrons he can't stop them but could inflict severe casualties, enough to stop the NCR attacking until the Legion is dealt with.
His agreement with them means he cannot send securitrons into their casinos, meaning they are a law unto themselves, House doesn't like it, evidently, but he has no choice. If he didn't let them have their way there would be no New Vegas, the NCR would control everything west of the Mojave possibly exempting Nellis Air Force Base (and since the Courier would never have been set on their epic quest, the Legion would take it all from them at the second battle)

Point is yeah it exists but House isn't advocating it, his opinions on the Legion are clear as are his views on slavery. For God's sake he's the personification of Ayn Rand's perfect person (well, more or less) slavery goes against EVERYTHING he believes in.



No, it's abuse of the "bigger picture" mentality which produces inhumanity. By itself it's wholly logical, minor sacrifices do sometimes have to be made, often the cried of pain have to be ignored in order to progress, more so when the world has gone to [censored]. The problem comes with abusing the power and that's not limited to that mentality, it's just the most prevalent one we hear about. (Yeah, not the most prevalent, not at all)
He wouldn't mostly because kittens don't exist in Fallout (honestly, some people ) but seriously because it's not about the space travel. He wants to save humanity. His narcissistic parting gift details this, speaking to him details this, understanding anything about him shows it as really freakin obvious that he wants humanity to survive and technology to prosper. Seriously, actually listen to the people you're demonising before you make your mind up, I swear everyone comes to this game with their heart behind X or Y and refuse to change it no matter what.

Mr. House is the only major faction leader in the game who has some pride. The NCR and the Legion on the other hand both are backstabbers. The NCR wants you to kill Mr. House, even thought they signed a treaty, despite of their ''dedication to old world values''. And then there is the ''alliance'' between the Legion and the Khans. And the biggest backstabber is of course the Courier, if he decides to work together with Yes Man.

Then there's Mr. House. He betrays the NCR, only because he knows they'll do the same as soon as they get the opportunity (Courier). He's intelligent, unlike the NCR (Powder Gangers incident) and respects human rights, unlike the Legion(derp).

You know,one really has to wonder if House really 'betrays' the NCR, seeing as if you work for Mr. House and play your cards right, you can go through the game without so much as farting in the direction of a trooper let alone firing a bullet at one, he never asks you to kill them, he just asks you to ensure HE will have the dam. All in all, it's very machiavelli, control without conquering and so on.