Intergalactic Summit

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INTAKI and the FEDERATION


The original concept for the Federation considered it as the interstellar meeting ground for all humanity, providing a forum for diplomacy and cooperation. Certainly, when the merits of the Federation have been debated in Intaki politics this initial vision has been commonly cited.

In this transmission we look at the development of the Federation itself through history and the concurrent development of Intaki affairs.

FEDERAL HISTORY and the INTAKI

Having entered interstellar society after first contact with the Gallente, the Intaki were quick to embrace spaceflight after the acquisition of warp drive technology. Already in the pre-Federation era the Intaki were active in colonization and the civilizing of the worlds in what would become known as the Placid region.

The diverse interests of different groups operating in space brought about inevitable conflicts of interest. The Intaki faced meddling on colony worlds from the Gallente United Defense Command and the Gallente-led International Space Cooperative, with the latter even claiming worlds within the Intaki sphere of influence.

It was to address these problems that the Intaki signed the Federal Charter, which replaced the previously Gallente entities with Federal structures intended to be more inclusive. Committed to diplomacy, we joined to address shared concerns in interstellar society and eagerly embraced the emerging vision of a united humanity.

Guided by an an early commitment to maintaining self-reliancy and low levels of involvement by the central bureaucracy in Placid affairs, nevertheless the history of the Intaki since joining is that of becoming increasingly assimilated into the Federation, with the structures of the Intaki Assembly melting under political pressures under the primacy of the Senate.

The creation of the Federal FTL communications grid signaled an era of centralization in the Federation. There was now an inclination to meddle in local affairs, but the legality of such action was questioned by many Caldari and Intaki Senators. Ultimately this lead to the creation of the Federal Constitution which granted the Federation the right to legally intervene in many local affairs.

For the Intaki the initial reason for the signing of the Federal Charter was to find ways and means of addressing such political meddling by the Gallentean organizations involved in space colonization. The Federation sought to provide this mediation by its democratic nature and the Constitution made control of the Senate necessary for the control of local affairs.

When the Federal districts were created later, the influence of the Intaki Assembly as the representative entity of Intaki interests in the Federation was greatly diminished by splitting Placid into constellation sized voting blocks, by effectively making its existing colonies independent and by forbidding further colonization.

Certainly, all these changes have come to be accepted as necessary steps in the service of a guiding vision for a united humanity. For today's Intaki citizens, our cultural and political distinctiveness and our self-reliance were loosened in service of the greater agenda of bringing about a more harmonious fusion of humanity, but it is necessary to understand that we have not arrived to the current situation without considerable opposition and debate.

When the Caldari ceded from the Federation, effectively bringing to an end the reality of the notion of a singularly united humanity, the Intaki Assembly had to once more reconsider the role of the Federation. The meddling of the bureaucracy and Senate politics had been enough to drive the collectivist Caldari away from the only interstellar forum available. Was the Federation serving its purpose or had the Senate failed in its role as purveyor of interstellar peace?

Considering their own history, there was considerable sympathy among the Intaki for the Caldari cause. Fearing that the Caldari example would lead to the secession of the Intaki or the Mannar, under the Gallente majority the Senate became steered by the Hueremont Doctrine which clearly outlined the Caldari and other secessionists as rebels operating beyond the law, subject to harsh retaliation, instead of granting them any official recognition.

Hello stranger.

As much as I support the cause for Intaki independence, I recognize it is not a realistic proposal at this point in time. Furthermore, Andreus Ixiris has provided a critical deconstruction of your posts that I am in agreement with in the vein of general logic; you have stooped to revisionist history and a misreading of the political situation present and past between the Federation and State to construct a favorable case for your ideology. I support Andreus' reading of your work in this instance, not out of love for the Federation, but in the interests of bringing the real issues of Intaki secession to light, if not in the region of Placid, then at least in the dissolution of the bar on Syndicate Intaki colonization.

Making arguments based on fallacies and revisionist statements only damages the core efforts of your less vocal peers. I urge you to analyse and recollect your thoughts on this matter to present a realistic and balanced view that deals with the Intaki who desire complete autonomy first and foremost. It is clear that the Federation still commands a great deal of respect and affection from our people despite reservations I and notable others share. The Syndicate is the first port of independence in this line of thinking, as these individuals have been cast from the Federation due to their past grievances against it, and remain barred from touching the fertile worlds of their region on pain of Federation intervention. Liberty for those who wish it - if you force a human being to be free in a manner of your choosing, you are yourself a tyrant.

Perspective, reasoning and a focus on reconciliation will gather more momentum for the cause of an Independent Intaki state than the erroneous and misleading rhetoric displayed by the original poster.

I think the main concern would be that a weaker central government would encourage factionalism, and the Federation already deals with enough of those headaches within the system of political parties. One might imagine what would happen if the ethnic Gallente (as an example, as such a fractious state could divide into any number of territories) suddenly decided that they faced a threat from the Intaki. At present, they're all under the umbrella and any scuffling gets everyone wet. Civil war might be almost inevitable unless, like the Matari, you have a conveniently omnipresent enemy to point at in order to get everyone in line.

Unfortunately, I don't think GoGo's idea of greater Intaki autonomy in the face of increased militarism would be appreciative of that style of politics by fear. Instead, the Federation needs to find a common bastion to put their back against, the way we Amarrians do. We have our faith and, in lieu of faith, the Federation has politics. Their politics, like our faith, may not ever be carried out perfectly, for men are fallible creatures. But there's nothing wrong with rallying around something that works in an ideal world and then working towards the ideal.

That is essentially what the Gallente Federation is. The Church of Democracy.

It's a long story.

the question to ask is: what's in the best interests of the Intaki? Because for the time being I suspect that the status quo is still the best thing for them.

What would independence buy them? Well, for starters they'd become a lone system, an independent enclave encysted within and surrounded by the Federation, meaning that all interstellar trade would have to cross Federation borders and be subject to their laws. Intaki would need to find a naval force to replace the fact that they're covered by the same kind of FedNav response fleet that dealt with the Kador assault. I doubt the system itself has the resources to build stargates to other territories and bypass Federation borders. Independence from the Federation would gain them nothing, and lose them much.

What about alliance with and/or membership of a foreign power? While full membership would certainly mitigate the downsides to leaving the Federation, it'd introduce new problems, such as prejudice, mistrust, and all the other problems that come with integrating into a new society.

The State represents probably the best foreign hope the Intaki would have, but Caldari Megacorps would be reluctant and slow to employ Intaki when they have their own domestic workforce to find positions for, and who have corporate-approved educations and have followed corporate-approved career tracks. The megas like to be in control, and an influx of seceded Intaki applicants would be less... ordered than they typically like. investing in the Intaki people and taking them on in any serious way would be a big risk for any of the megas, both politically and financially

The Minmatar? Similar problems, really - the Matari love their tribes, and if you're not a Tribal then you're already handicapped in the Republic. Forging that alliance into something that worked would take even longer than it currently is. The fact is that if you're not Matari, then the Minmatar Republic isn't much concerned with you. That's understandable - they have big enough problems of their own.

As for the empire... well, it would result in slaves. Lots of them. I don't think I need go into too much detail here, it's obviously just not a good match, culturally. If the point is to preserve the uniqueness of Intaki culture and the independence of its people, then it would be counter-productive to hook up with an Empire whose stated divine mandate is to convert the entirety of humanity to be subservient to their god.

So I don't see a scenario where secession really benefits the Intaki, save by the generosity of foreign powers devoting a lot of money and resources to helping them out in a gamble that's unlikely to pay off. That's hardly encouraging. The fact is that one system's worth of people just don't have any foundation to be viable economic competition with corporations and governments that span whole regions.

Maybe I'm overlooking something, but if the Intaki want what's best for them, then from this outsider's perspective the best thing for them to do would be to stay where they are and continue to apply just enough pressure to stay themselves and stay balanced, without pushing away all the benefits that come with their current situation.

Ultimately, it's nobody's decision but their own.

Yup.

FDU whites.

Oh, no, you didn't!

It's amazing what you'll sign when a doomsday device is within system-close proximity of the spiritual birthplace of the Federation.

I think the OP's history reminds us of something quite interesting, actually, which is that the Federation (as originally conceived) is an idea whose time has passed -- though I believe it is an idea whose time will come again.

I'm not talking about democratic liberalism, but about the idea of ecumenical interplanetary government. When the Federation was conceived, it was a "light touch" -- a very limited government intended to safeguard the interests of its members, who retained political autonomy (and who, to a significant extent, still do).

The idea that the Federation was destined to be a meeting place for all humanity was an expression of ignorance, not arrogance. We did not know that the Amarr had already returned to space. We had uncertain evidence that interplanetary forms of "identity" were even sustainable over the long term.

The transformation -- some would say corruption -- of the original minimally-interventionist, non-military Federation into its current form is the result of many things, but clearly the external pressure of a strongly centralized, expansionist and incommensurable interplanetary government (the Amarr) played a large part, even in the absence of open warfare.

Viewed from this perspective, the alliance between the Caldari and the Amarr has a certain unfortunate irony.