Intergalactic Summit

This is a frequent criticism or observation from outsiders, and citizens of these two entities often compound the mistake. This is because Caldari are taught to present a unified face and Amarr tend to divide the cluster into 'Faithful' and 'everyone else.'

This is not to say that they have the level of diversity of the Federation, but it's more accurate to say that there are five Amarr cultures, one for each Heir, and eight State cultures. Of course, each has an 'outcast' culture as well.

Anyways, I was wondering if maybe some Amarr or Caldari types might want to share what being part of Ishukone or the Sarum family means to them.

In general, I try to.

However, it's something I'm personally interested in. 95% of the Caldari I've met and interacted with are Kaalakiota. For a long time, this was my only model of Caldariness. Do you see the Kaalakiota as a good representation of the Caldari people?

Several of those families have ruled over the same domain for centuries, and their policies and interests have given rise to different cultures. Everyone in Amarr space is part of one of those domains, while most commoners and slaves have no bloodline to speak of.

I am not being facetious. About 95% of the Caldari I have met are from that company.

Fascinating. I would be interested in hearing them in a more private venue, I find that outside opinions shared in sincerity can reveal truths otherwise hidden to those of us on the inside. If you would be willing to indulge me, that is.

To address the original inquiry, I am neither of House Sarum nor a Caldari but I can share my experiences being under the guidance and jurisdiction of House Kor-Azor.

House Kor-Azor has always been a moderate family in the Amarr political arena, seeking diplomacy and peaceful resolution to conflict. This is something I have grown to admire and seek to practice myself, even though I tend to take a more direct approach when I believe it necessary. The current head of House Kor-Azor, Heir Aritcio Kor-Azor, was once known for tyrannical and unjust leadership until he was judged for this by the Speakers of Truth and after serving penance, has become a well-loved, benevolent and just leader.

The Order of Light's Retribution is borne of this belief that redemption can come to anyone regardless of the depth of their depravity if they commit to penance and that none are above the law and will of God, regardless of their position. Having watched how the territories under the guidance of House Kor-Azor have shifted due to the change in leadership, I have gained an understanding of just how importance just leadership is.

I would be wary of mistaking friendship with sameness, friend.

I was born into a Sukuuvestaa tube-child program and raised by a family with a long and proud history of service to the Corporation. I was educated and taught my skills in a Peace and Order Unit paramilitary youth organization until I graduated and was formally enlisted in the Fleet Branch of Peace and Order Unit at twenty where I provided ten years of Corporate-Military Service to Sukuuvestaa. I was proud to serve Sukuuvestaa and satisfy my duty as a citizen through military service, I submit this only as preface to my thoughts in order to outlay my potential bias before I continue.

Institutional memory forms a fundamental part of any Megacorporation and every corporate-citizen is taught the history and traditions of their Okusaikan which they form. Sukuuvestaa Corporation remembers when it was the product of Caldari colonial expansion from the Homeworld when we sought to escape the patronizing of the Gallente and their Cultural Deliverance to find new havens of Caldari freedom and liberty among the stars and in the void of space upon the creation of the VH-451 stargate and Sotiyo-Urbaata drive. It was through determination, courage and ambition that these Caldari colonial enterprises succeeded in their aims of creating new homes for our people.

The Federation was formed to unite these colonies under the principles of of equality and democracy but it become increasingly clear that the Federal government was nothing more than the tool of Gallentean economic exploitation and cultural prejudice over what were once independent Caldari colonies. Sukuuvestaa was the product of proud Caldari colonial independence and the merger of the private development firms that built those worlds. A corporate bastion to defend the rights, lives and liberties of Caldari colonies against the predations of an unjust and corrupt Gallentean government in their affairs. It was the Federation and the Gallente through legislation created to serve their own interests to the detriment of the Caldari that drove Sukuuvestaa to seek new worlds outside of their control.

The Caldari State would not even exist if not for Sukuuvestaa forward thinking in constructing and developing new worlds for the Caldari people beyond the control of Federal oppression at great cost in blood, lives and fortune that was accomplished only through determination and perseverence in the face of ever present dangers. For the almost half of Caldari territory that Sukuuvestaa Corporation currently owns, the vast majority of those worlds can trace their history back to the first founding by Sukuuvestaa. It was Sukuuvestaa that built the new Homeland during the Exodus and the Caldari War of Independence and provided the colonial infrastructure for other Megacorporations to use in the defence of the fledgling Caldari State.

To be a Sukuuvestaa citizen then is to never forget our heritage and to honour the sacrifices of our ancesters paid for in blood. It is that debt that can never be repaid that drives us to fulfill the legacy of never stopping in seeking to build a better State. The dictates of duty prescribe nothing less than constant vigilance to ensure that neither the Caldari State nor Sukuuvestaa shall ever again languish under foreign dominance. We shall always remember our forging in the fires of War, and it is only through constant conflict and competition do we seek to rekindle our passions for perfection and burn away our weakness and imperfections until only the hardened steel remains to be moulded into the weapons by which we shall strike down our enemies wherever they may be found - whether they corrupt us from within or threaten us from without.

Whether one raises their banners on the fields of battle or in the boardroom, if the enemy is a soldier or an executive is irrelevant: Final Victory is all that matters. There is very little difference indeed between War, Business and Politics for all three are intertwined and integrated and those who fail to realize their intrinsic relationship will not know success in their endeavours. One must seek to cultivate a spirit weathered by the harsh winds and a heart as cold as the snow for when fighting in the interests of Sukuuvestaa and the State in any field or profession there can be little room for compassion, forgiveness or mercy when the only rewards for a failure in duty are dishonour, disgrace or death. In holding oneself to these standards does it inculcate in others the virtues required to serve Sukuuvestaa and the State with honour and dignity.

This, I would say is the essential philosophy behind Sukuuvestaa. Many in the State and elsewhere have often labeled Sukuuvestaa as pragmatic and ruthless: I would not disagree. Survival requires such qualities in order to triumph, and in life as in nature it is only those who are the strongest, the most adaptable to different circumstances, the most flexible in a changing world, who shall prevail. There can be no room for weakness in battles of the survival of the fittest and in the end it is far better to be feared than loved in the arenas of business and politics. Those who pander to the interests of those outside of Sukuuvestaa and the Caldari State are unworthy of either and are nothing short of traitors to both.

[Continued.]

Your right in some ways on this one. The different cultures you speak of are only slightly different form each other and the differences in culture are not very large ones but on some small level they do exist but not on the level to call them completely different cultures

Exactly. Look at my rack of plates, each of the plates is distinctive and separate but combines to form my dinner service. If I toss the rack in the air and let the plates all shatter, their shards mingling in with each other, are they more diverse? Yes. Is my dinner service better for that? No.

The Caldari may not share our beliefs, but at least they believe in something. This sense of devotion is a common thread we share, even if it is to different causes. And though for different reasons we are similar in our conclusions: A strong sense of patriotism to our respective governments. The Caldari seek to peacefully spread their culture through boardrooms and businessmen while we seek to peacefully spread ours through temples and priests. When peace fails neither are hesitant to respond with entire fleets on a moment's notice, for both of our central governments and our navies are strong and decisive.

We have also gained much from each other in more than simple trade or science. In one hand you can see we Amarrians constantly striving for perfection & unity of purpose with the spiritual world, and in the other hand we can see the Caldari doing the same for the material world. Where our cultures meet and overlap is where humanity will come to see the unity & perfection of both Heaven and Earth. Through exchanges in trade & lesson in economics, the Caldari fill the gaps of the Needs of the Body that we Amarrians had been sadly neglecting. In return we can offer our theology, art and spiritual guidance to nourish the Needs of Soul.

I may seem that two such entities would be more likely to compete than cooperate, but this is not the case. We Ammar live in a theocracy, with church and state being one and the same. The Caldari are a sharp contrast, with religion having no influence in their government at all. But it is precisely because of this that our religion is of no threat to the Caldari, for even if every last member of their society were to embrace our Faith I seriously doubt that it would affect their actual government in any way. Likewise, material wealth and such are not the true goals of the Amarrian people, and so no amount of Caldari driven prosperity (though certainly welcome) will change our essentially spiritual nature, either.

We are thus capable of this symbiosis because both of our cultures & governments are strong enough (or at least set in their ways enough) to not be threatened by the influences of the other, for these emigrating influences are precisely in arenas that the other society are most lacking.

You can even see it in the most minute of details, such as the legendary strength of Caldari shield technologies and the legendary strength of Amarr armor crafting, or the devastating power power of their missiles and the endless endurance of our lasers. Just as our fleets augment and strengthen each other so do our cultures.