Intergalactic Summit

Nothing. We simply get it done.

I imagine it's something like "Do you want noodles with that?"

Well said Gesakaarin-hanni.

It is the very nature of Caldari society that led me to embrace their ways and go to great pains learning of their culture, history and mentality. Even now I feel it would be erroneous of me to say that I am fully versed in the nuances of State life, but such is the nature of being segregated from the baseline population by dint of my capsuleer status.

The difference here is of choice. I chose to be Caldari by action and allegiance if not by blood, their ways of life were not imposed upon me and indeed I had to provide significant concessions and reasons for my application to operate as a citizen instead of a mere contracted free captain. Federation culture, on the other hand, is pathogenic in it's need to 'integrate people into a culture of individualism'. Why is individualism inherently good (to the Federation) and collectivism bad? Surely the greatest freedom one may have is to be allowed to excel within their society; if not as an individual than as a part of the collective whole. In this way the lowliest workers in the State contribute to the upkeep of society, and thus in a small way contribute to the success of their employers. What does individualism do in this regard but allow people to choose the hard path, the path that takes them out of productivity and into a life style of self serving hedonism, or worse, counter-cultural activism that impacts entire districts or worlds with it's destabilizing presence?

Meritocracy is not a perfect system, but it is focused on the collective health of the people. Given free reign, some people will willingly or unwillingly compromise their quality of life or that of those around them. Strict control of one's life in every aspect is not the way forwards; it is the control of incentives and the prospect of greater responsibility in line with one's capabilities that allows those with the most contributory and effective ideas and practices to dictate the pace of their immediate subordinates, ensuring that good practice is essentially a way of life.

Now returning to the core elements put forth by the good General, the primary differences between this insular collectivist meritocracy and the ideals of the Federation lie in foreign policy. Caldari cultural values are not shared freely, not impressed aggressively and most definitely not focused on integrating foreigners. You earn the right to even stand under the flag of the State. The Federation is willing to spread it's philosophy for all, aggressively where it must, insidiously through mass consumer goods targeted at usurpation and integration of elements of foreign cultures that will 'ease the transition'.

To conclude, the Federation's foreign policy is focused on arguing that those that will not 'compromise' between two cultures are 'enemies of freedom', a fallacious belief that at it's best is popular delusion and at it;s worst is a carefully calibrated attack aimed at finding chinks in the armour of societies and cultures outside it's aegis.

Build it and they will come, ladies and gentlemen. Build it well and they will stay.

Rodj you literally spout lies and BS at every opportunity. The Ealurian and the others wouldn't need to be rescued if they had not been enslaved in the first place, as it stands the lost culture and traditions of the Ealurian are being researched to help them live life as they would have, sadly the Amarrian's wiped there history of the face of the universe so all information has to be collated through heretics and such.

Do not try to white wash your crimes with lies pointed at my republic.

You're correct that a lie is a deliberate falsehood. You do, however, speak much that is demonstrably false. I shall reserve judgment on whether you do so deliberately or unwittingly.

A question can very easily be a lie, however. Questions are an important tool in rhetoric. rhetoric is invaluable to propaganda. Propaganda is, very frequently, an inspiring lie (or at the very least an exaggeration).

I do not actually think that Mr. Blake's statements are false. In fact, they seem rather demonstrably true.

What I actually said was that they are unsuited to freedom and in no need of "rescue" so please stop trying to put words into my mouth.



If you had done even the most basic of research you would know that the Ealur are incapable of being freed and would struggle to survive being let free, much like a stray dog released into the wild would quickly be devoured by wolves.

I have heard these accusations time and time again, about how we Gallente supposedly force our culture down the throats of other peoples, trying to assimilate them into our "way of life". I don't see it. I simply don't see it.

What cultures, exactly, have we smothered? The Caldari are often happy to point to the first war between our two peoples as a culture war, when it really was a sovereignty dispute catapulted into open warfare by an act of terrorism. The Caldari culture was never under threat. It was alive and thriving before our two peoples met, it was alive and thriving while our union lasted, and it's alive and thriving now. The Caldari have never been endangered, as a culture.

Look at the Intaki. They have been part of the Federation from the beginning, and their culture is still as alive and vibrant as ever. Look at the Jin Mei. Same thing. Though some of them choose to leave their native lands and seek their fortunes elsewhere, there is nobody forcing them to strip away any piece of their culture, as long as those cultural practices don't break local or Federal law. Even immigrant Minmatar are perfectly free to go on identifying themselves as Maatari and adhere to Matari cultural practices. Many of them do.

There is only one single ethnic culture within the Federation which is in serious danger of dying out. Paradoxically enough, it is the Gallente culture. Some people will point to such facts as how the Gallente Federation is named after our culture, and argue that it demonstrates an attempt at cultural hegemony on our part. What these people completely fail to realize is that the very word "Gallente" is by now a stolen, or at best lost, word. It sees a lot of use as an adjective describing anything typical or particular of the greater society of the Federation as a whole. The assumption that it means that the Gallente are the dominant power within the Federation and that we're somehow pushing our culture on the rest of it is an easy one to make.

If you try, however, to use the word "Gallente" the way it was quite obviously meant to be used, you'll quickly get to see the other side of the coin. It is perfectly fine for an Intaki to be proud of his culture and its people, and to compare his native culture favorably against the other cultures that make up the Federation. It is also perfectly okay for a Jin Mei or a Minmatar to respectively do the same.

If you are an ethnic Gallente, on the other hand, arguing that Gallente culture, Gallente traditions and Gallente values represent something distinct and unique, separate from Intaki, Jin Mei or Mannar culture, and that it should be kept distinct and separate, and cherished and celebrated by us and us alone, you are suddenly treading on dangerous ground. Outside of a few communities (Solitude is arguably the region most willing to see reason in this regard), such opinions will at best be considered socially awkward. At worst, it might even be labeled as hate speech.

You see this in every corner of society. Ethnic minorities receive favorable treatment and special considerations wherever they go, while the actual Gallente culture is left to disintegrate. Private schools catering specifically to minorities far from home so that they get to learn about their languages and cultures are lauded as good social initiatives, but it's a brave man or woman who will found a school for Gallente children and say that Intaki aren't welcome to apply.

If we really were the cultural imperialists that people on this Summit and elsewhere make us out to be, we wouldn't have nearly so many witless teenagers running around sporting foreign tribal tattoos. We wouldn't have nearly so many idiot hooligans dressing up in the shirts and paraphernalia of Intaki kendu teams. We would be marching, togeter, to the songs of Old Garoun.

We are not doing that. Instead we are bending backwards to accommodate every foreign element that enters our society - and if at all possible, we try to emulate it, too.

That is what we're doing.

Belfleur,

I'll keep this simple so we can avoid any confusion.

The Gallente do impress their culture, law and civilization upon others and they do so through cultural warfare, you are neglecting historical fact if you try and claim otherwise. You subject anyone under your "jurisdiction" to your Democratic government and claim it is a government by the people, yet the representatives of the non-Gallente persons under your jurisdiction are often the silenced minority.

The Caldari withdrew from your Federation not because of a sovereignty dispute but because the government kept passing into law legislation that restricted the rights and freedoms of the Caldari while bolstering the power and influence of the Gallente and claiming it was what was best for the majority. Eventually we tired of it and since you refused to let us withdraw quietly and decided to blockade all access to our homeworld and the outer colonies we established, we decided to demonstrate to you the strength of our protest in the only language you couldn't silence with legislation and silver tongues.

The Intaki have and are still going through a similar situation or did you think the Intaki Liberation Front was a coffee club?

But your god is imaginary so how is that supposed to work?

(sorry couldn't resist)

I think I'm starting to see why their is a disproportionate amount of submissions from Federals present on this IGS.

Anyways I'm sure many think I'm the last person that should be saying this but could we please TRY to keep the arguing to a minimum atleast in this feed so we can have more dialogue like Emile Belfleur's?