Intergalactic Summit

Hakatain, are you telling me the Caldari State is a free society exactly like the Federation? Can you be a Caldari without pledging allegiance to a megacorporation, and experience the exact same legal rights and comfort as one who does? If the Caldari State was a bastion of freedom and individual liberties, as you're suggesting it is, we'd see just as many immigrants flock to the State as they do in the Federation.

Let me give you an example. Say I wasn't a capsuleer, and I wanted to migrate to the State, along with Anette. I'd encounter several problems. Firstly, I'm not Caldari, or at best, I'm what many of you call a 'half-breed'. Anette is only a quarter, which makes it worse, and what would be an exotic appearance amongst many Caldari would make her a target. Her skillset is also non-standard. Her academic grades in hard subjects (such as maths and science, which the Caldari value) are poor, yet her artistic talent is seen as compensatory to many Gallenteans. Do you think her artistic ability that espouses individualistic hyperfemininity and non-confirmity have any value in the State, particularly being at a non-adult age? Moreover, my foreign military service would make it practically impossible to penetrate State society and become a full citizen, regardless of my individual merit.

Meanwhile, in the Federation, your background is irrelevant. In societies where I would get persecuted for the above, I can take it up with the local courts as an infringement of my inalienable rights. We have a Constitution, after all, and self-entitlement can be lovely...sometimes. This place is more diverse than anywhere else, I'm sure I could find a place across the hundreds of planets where I could 'slot in'. To that end, I have.

I'm not answering your questions since I'm not going to play this by your terms. What I've defined above is another particular set of freedoms. The freedom from being judged, the freedom to determine own's one destiny...so forth.

If you're telling me the State is exactly the same, then ****, I'm packing my bags already.

Depends on how good you are at the job you do. It's not like the State hasn't imported military personnel from other cultures before, and NOH is always looking for actresses who can catch the public eye. It's not so much a matter of xenophobia among the more liberal and practical megacorps as "what can you do for us that someone already here cannot do?" From your description, Annette might be able to get you in, but I doubt the reverse is true.

Either I have failed to communicate my meaning clearly, or you have failed to understand it. The State doesn't decide your place for you - quite the reverse, when working properly most corporate education systems restructure themselves constantly to produce a curriculum well suited to the individual child's interests and talents. Over time, that feeds into career paths which are, again, chosen by the citizen according to their preferences, predilections, education and talents.

At least, that's the experience I had. I must acknowledge that there is inequality involved - not all colonies have the resources necessary to produce such a tailored approach to education, but the service is generally provided as soon as it becomes practical for the simple reason that it produces the best results. The corporation invests in its citizens and, where that investment pays off, they get a citizen who is highly trained and talented in their chosen field, and enthusiastic and happy about their role.

At no stage in the process is the citizen doing anything they don't want to do, and at every stage they receive the option of saying "I wish to explore an alternative". It is up to the citizen to succeed at their education - the most that the corporation does is provide the opportunities.

You're a military man, you know how military education works - they don't give you a whole lot of personal freedom when you're on the job. They expect you to succeed, but you choose your own curriculum, pursue your own career. That's how life is in the State.

With regards to NOH, you've listened too much to the propaganda. NOH don't just do gambling, recreational compounds and borderline-legal racing: they also produce music, dramas, documentaries, political broadcasts, chat shows, action holos, traditional stage plays... if it can be classed as "entertainment", you can be sure that NOH have at least dabbled in it. How much they dabble in it depends on how active the market is.

as for this bit...



I simply don't see the appeal. If you dislike your government, why remain under its umbrella? If you have the power to strike out and find something more suited to your ideals, why wouldn't you? The reason is simple - however much you may disagree with individual policies the fact is that you remain committed to the more general philosophy. If you genuinely did reject the Federation, you would not wish to remain a part of it. Picketing, placard-waving and protests are still part of the process of Democracy - whatever particular facet you may be objecting to, the fact is that by engaging in a demonstration march or whatever you are still actively participating in the core ideal of the Federation, rather than rejecting it.

The choice is simple: reject and leave, or agree and stay. You might say that slavery would be the condition of rejecting, but being forced to stay. One might also be reject, but be unable to leave because of a lack of funds. There is however no such thing as rejecting but choosing to stay. if you choose to stay, that says immediately that you have not fully rejected, even if your sentiment is "well, it's better than all the alternatives".

Ideas are an economy, the meme marketplace runs on the currency of how many people are willing to buy into that idea.

There is no such thing as 'standard skillset'. Not everyone becomes corporate manager or scientist. If she can draw, well, she can easily become a painting machine operator, house painter, or paintbrush operator. You know, someone has to paint all our fences, buildings and other stuff. I don't think there will be problem with finding appropriate position for her.
Regarding your military service, this won't be a problem, if you will stay as a worker, whose duties do not intersect with interests of the State, intelligence, science, government or military areas. For example, a pot crafter. Or, if you want more combat-oriented, a bouncer in a bar.

The Minmatar People are possibly also more likely to consume Gallentean Culture Products than the State or Empire.

You DO realise that there is a market for art in the State, right? It's not all shipyards and heavy industry and research labs. People want creature comforts, consumer goods, artwork, games and entertainment, and are willing to pay for them. There are entire sectors of our economy in which good artists can flourish. We have art galleries, concerts, poetry, hologames and even (shocking, I know) art degrees. One of the fashion designers on the Noble Exchange is House of Ranai, a Caldari label.

The fact that your mind immediately sprang to the phrase "The Corporation has no need for painters, we need workers in the shipyards" really does betray that you simply refuse to consider the fact that the State is populated by people, not by drones. People who are willing to give their all for their heiian if the need arises, yes, but still people. With lives, interests, talents, ambitions and their own route to success, who are able to pursue them. Who are able to pursue their own fulfillment, to find happiness in their own way. They may not all succeed, but they at least have that opportunity. How else do you define freedom? What other possible definition is there? What definition are YOU using?

Also, will you PLEASE stop saying "well Shogaatsu and Kim say..."? I'm half-convinced they're playing up to your prejudices just to mess with you. If they aren't, then their memories of growing up and living in the State as a citizen are very different to my own.



I told you, the marketplace of ideas. Entertainment media can - and often do - boil down to ideas with a price tag. NOH broadcast what people are willing to pay for. I'll grant you that this results in a huge amount of garbage, but then again the same is true of Gallentean entertainment. It's alarming sometimes just how parallel are our respective nations' tastes for this excruciating "reality holo" rot.



There's the difference - you're talking about the Federation as a government, I'm talking about it as an ideal. If you rejected the ideal and stayed anyway, then the only reasons for doing so would be to either exploit the government, or undermine it. The fact that the government and the philosophy are so intertwined in the State doesn't disprove that basic point that if you genuinely did reject everything the Federation stood for, you wouldn't want to remain. Nor would you have to.

And that is exactly the state of affairs we have in the State - if you reject our way of life, nothing will stop you from leaving. Our citizens are free to choose their own destinies. A slave is not.

The corporation doesn't take - the citizen gives.

For many, the route to fulfillment, and the destiny they choose, is heiian, sacrifice of the self for collective benefit. So it was with me, and so it is with a great many millions of Caldari. Like I said - for many of us, the road to happiness is to find something greater than ourselves and devote ourselves to it. I think that's an instinct common to all humans, in fact.

You know, there are always jobs, that even a gallentean can do.

Ow.

(Tarryn chuckles) Why Ms. Kim, you...surprise me. In a good way, even