Intergalactic Summit

Three years ago. I moved back home to Amarr because I had the resources to and because people in the Republic made it very unsafe to live there if you held the faith. What with the coup putting extremists in charge who started a war and encouraged anti-Amarr anger, leading to murders of faithful minmatar who hadn't done anything to deserve it.

Did I say it was pretty? No, I didn't. It wasn't, at all. But you are doing what everyone else in the Republic does, placing all of the blame on the Faith. You're contributing to the problem.

Do you know how Vitoxin works? Every matari does.

Every minmatar slave injected with Vitoxin must get a daily dose of antidote - or die. Some of 'em may choose to put an end to their suffering, but death from Vitoxine is really slow and painfull. If someone will commit suicide - his family will be executed.

Vitoc - the only known antidote for Vitoxin produced by Empire - grants another day of life for slave. And a temporal euphoria with high addictive effect. Vitoc kills by itself - just slowly than Vitoxin. Even if slave will not die from toxin or it's unpredictable mutations - antidote will kill him as well, sooner or later.

I work for the Empire. I see thousands crates of Vitoc moved in hangars every week. Republic made me what i am, and, probably, would try to make worse if i ever return. And still - i see no way for Matari to "normalize relations" with the Empire.

The Tribes put PEOPLE over each other by virtue of their experience and seniority because they PROVE that they are fit for that position and can be trusted to perform for the good of their communities there. Even then we still argue with each other. In fact, our elders and chiefs still appoint people of lower position as executors and advisors for matters which they recognise they are out of their depths of.

We do not put BEINGS over one another. The primacy of BEINGS is the issue I'm putting forward. Fire is not above water. Wind isn't above earth. Machine is not above flesh. The dead is not above the living. The Nefantar is not above the Starkmanir (despite what they would have you believe).

That's very different from blind obedience to the One God, or to putting the True Amarr above the Udorians by virtue of being 'Chosen' (on the record, I welcome Empress Catiz as the new leader of the Empire solely because her presence on the top spot shakes up the whole idea of True Amarr being the chosen and thus above others).

Also, yes, they can have freedom. They have the freedom to live in the Federation. They have the freedom to return to the Amarr. However, if they are going to be one of us, to live among us as kin, then they will have to accept the ways of kin or be an outsider.

You mention billions of Minmatar do believe in the One God. I point out that they are among the Amarr, where they can practice their Faith amongst their kin who hold the same views.

I suppose there's the option of having representatives from both parties to meet up and put out terms. Then we wait and hope that both the Faithful and the non-Faithful will keep their word.

However, I must warn. In highly impoverished areas, starving hounds care not for honour. This, I speak from experience.

And those turn out terribly half the time (optimistic estimate).

Anyway, so on my cryptic warning about starving hounds, I am going to have to mention about the poorer regions of Minmatar space, especially out in the boonies. By boonies, I mean edges of high-sec and low-sec regions.

However, I am tired so I think I just leave it to someone else to get that ball rolling.

Republic jumped on board with CONCORD doing its paperwork before Empire ever did, but ok.
How do you see republic/empire relations in a couple hundred years from now, just space walls and people dying here and there or something a little bit more positive.

Also by "we" I assume you mean Republic?

The weaker party has more to gain from binding the stronger to an overseeing body. That doesn't mean the weaker party's always going to feel like they have the time to go through 'proper' channels, though. No system of rules will ever be perfect. Sometimes, you have to set them aside, break the rules, and then take responsibility for your actions.

As for how I see relations between the republic and the empire in a few centuries... (and what I mean by 'we')...

I sincerely hope that there will be no relations between the Republic and the Empire in a few centuries.

'The Republic', at its core, is a polite fiction, an idea of a central government for a people who traditionally have eschewed one. I would far prefer a 'Tribal Confederation', though I know that sounds far too similar to the Gallente Federation for many to stomach. Rather than a central federal government, though, I'd like to see just that: a confederation, where the leaders of each of the Tribes come together to agree upon a course of action. The Tribal Council brings us closer to that - in many ways, it achieves it - but I think that many, especially outside the Tribes, see the Tribal Council as a step backwards. They think it is a step we must take right now, to get our unruly Clans in order, and that when we are 'civilized' enough, we can then move back toward a stronger central authority.

We must reject that. We must reject that so clearly that we reject the very 'Republican' label. We are not governed by a legislative body of elected representatives. We are governed by a simple gathering where the leaders of each member-state, each autonomous Tribe, discuss matters, and come to a consensus on how the whole should proceed. This gathering is not needed to make rulings on who trades with who, or who holds what property rights where, or how any given member-group should deal with the issues that it grapples with. It is only needed for those times when we must act as one people. It is a confederation at best, not a Republic.

And when I say 'we', in terms of such broad strokes, I mean the Matari people, those who choose to be within the Tribes, whether they live within the space held by one of the Tribes, or within space held by another power entirely. I live in Delve. That does not prevent me from being mindful of the leadership of my Chief, or of doing my duty by my Clan.

Where will the relations between the Amarr people - the Empire, if it endures, or whatever form the collective assembly of the Amarr call themseves - and the Tribes be in a few centuries? I would hope we can find peace. I would hope that the Amarr can recognize the grave harm slavery does to both the slave and the slave-owner, and end the barbaric practice that poisons the souls of all it touches. I would hope that the Tribes can continue to define ourselves by who we are, and not simply who we oppose. And along the way, I would hope there can be a degree of healing. And I can do my part to work toward it. Even if I don't believe those efforts will succeed.

We'll probably still be at war, still slaughtering one another and claiming moral superiority on both sides. The slaving raids will continue. The reprisal raids will continue. The stigma against Matari who follow the Amarr faith will likely continue, despite all efforts to the contrary, simply because the Amarr will continue to hold our people in bondage and tell us they cannot even be allowed to decide for themselves just who they are. That is all... all too likely.

But I can still hope.

We all do what we have to, man. What you've been through has shaped you, what I've been through has shaped me. There's just too much blood and death out there for me to not cling to hope, you know?

I mean, there's gotta be something more in this life. Something better we can do, something better we can be. Without even the hope for things to get better... what would be the point? Might as well just wallow in hedonistic excess with someone cute, right?

These days I run on the grounds that there's alot of problems needing to be fixed. And well, Clan and Kin.

I suppose I had gotten inured to disappointment that I expect to be disappointed at every turn.

Good idea. But, like all of good ideas, it will face a lot of people who will do their best to make it not happen.

First of all - there are a lot of fanatics, hot-heads and those, who make money and fame from war. Every goverment needs an Enemy - to fight against, to blame for all loses, to point out for angry and suffering people, to hold own positions. If there will be no such enemy - people will turn on goverment itself. A lot of matari wants to keep fighting. A lot of amarr don't even consider matari like anything but animals. A lot of people from both sides make profit on this war.

Second - this warfare is pointless. CONCORD just gave a sandbox for main factions - a killing ground to let 'em weaken each other. To keep 'em busy. This war is endless, 'cause no one will ever prevail. The Empire is not allowed to crush the Republic. The Republic is not allowed to crush the Empire. There's a power which don't want to see neither Republic nor Empire get strong.

And at last - capsuleers. These brain-washed puppets, who's life will last for month or two, if they will be lucky. They were told they're immortal. Gods of this new reality. Allmighty preborn killers. These fools will fight each other no-matter-what. Some of them just like to kill or can't do anything else. Others - feed from the table of war. War consumes minerals, weapons, hulls, fuel and ammo, and gives ISKs in return. Capsuleers need to be busy. If not - these monsters with no fear of death and no reason to live will go frenzy.

I like your idea and respect your motives, but there will be others who don't.