Intergalactic Summit

Straight to it; the problem with the Caldari State is that it will always be subservient to the rest of the world, as the rest of the world operates a civil governmental system that treats corporations as mere units of society. But to the Caldari, corporations are the society. It is unsurprising, then, that when Tibus Heth rose to power and established the closest thing the Caldari have to a civil authority, the Providence Directorate, that the State was touted to be stronger than ever?

For years, the Caldari have flailed around, complaining about Gallente influence in their affairs. Ask me this; how does the Federation treat corporations in our borders? They are not and never will be sovereign entities. We treat them as one unit of society, alongside other units that include individuals, memegroups, non-governmental organizations, and so forth. Why is it that the Amarr Empire can weather Gallente influence outside of food services and entertainment? Is it because of their military? The Caldari military covers a vastly smaller area than the Empire, and thus is arguably stronger in the relative sense. The answer is that because the Amarr Empire has a strong, civil government, they can not be as easily influenced by Gallentean interests. Their economy might have wealthy Gallente businessmen in places, but the economy is not the cornerstone of their society.

That's the core of it. Because the Caldari has little interests outside the economy, they can easily be dominated by an empire that, not only has a larger economy, has a vast sphere of interests in other areas. Do not underestimate the power of Gallente megacorporations, that often match or exceed that of the Caldari (if only by size and scope). Quafe has a presence on every single world in the known universe, whether it be a vending machine, a tuckshop in a shanty town on a nullsec frontier world, or a production plant in a major city. Duvolle Laboratories was founded only three decades ago and yet is a technological leader in biotech and drive systems. CreoDron was found fifty years ago and has a global reach. Some Caldari megacorporations have existed for over two centuries and are small in comparison.

Combine a powerful economy with a powerful central government. The Federation is not broken down into 8 megacorporations, 7 tribes or 5 royal houses, but over 60 districts, and then again over hundreds of planets, and then again over thousands of smaller states. Thus, each constituent unit is far weaker than its equivalent in other empires, eg. a Caldari megacorporation each has its own military. Consequentially, this is what makes the President, chief-of-command of the Gallentean armed forces, the most powerful individual in New Eden. In turn, this has guaranteed continued dominance of the Gallente Federation over the Caldari State, and the continuing inferiority complex which has dominated your people for decades.

That is why the military is such an important part of the Caldari nation. Because you do not know how to govern yourselves by using a strong, central government, because you do not possess a strong foreign diplomatic skillset, you use violence instead. The Gallente Federation does not put as much long-term stock in the importance of the military, yet we have established ourselves as one of the two foremost powers alongside the Amarr Empire.

The Gallente Federation is your largest market. We’re right next door, for starters. Not only that, we put just as much cultural stock into capitalism as you do. We seek to accumulate wealth. Not for everyone, granted, but we still seek to do so. Trade is an integral part of Gallente society, which is why the Federal bureaucracy has a much greater interstellar presence than other bureaucracies. What was described elsewhere[/url] as “Practicals, Patriots and Liberals” is focused around foreign trade policy. You factionalize your corporations depending on trade. You need trade; you cannot be isolationist, otherwise, your people will suffer. But if you want to trade with us, the very entities that constitute your sovereignty, the megacorporations, must submit to the whims of the Gallente government. You have to abide by our economic and trade regulations, our labour laws, our human rights laws, and our legal system.

You must submit your sovereignty to the laws of a foreign government to even trade

You could say “Oh, we could trade with the Amarr Empire instead!”. You could, but the same problem is there. You must submit to their laws and, guess what? The Amarrians eschew trade; just look at the Ni-Kunni. They heavily regulate their corporations and economic activity. Is that who you want to trade with, where the opportunity is less? Why is it that the Gallente Federation is smaller than the Amarr Empire, yet possesses a larger economy? I just told you why. There is the Khanid Kingdom, true, but they’re on the other side of the universe, and they’re only one region. Moreover, you have to go through us, or the Minmatar Republic, where the security of your transports are guaranteed by international trade law, or you can go around through nullsec.

You could say “Oh, we could trade with the Minmatar Republic!”. Again, like the Amarrians, the Minmatar do not put the same amount of stock in capitalism as the Gallenteans do. They’re too busy devising ways to wipe the Amarr Empire off the map, while trying not to kill each other based on tribe or religion. Their labour and regulation laws are nearly non-existent, like in the State, but because they do not put as much stock in economic activity as the Caldari do, it has not become some ultracapitalistic melee like it has in the State.

While fundamentally the points you make are correct, something tells me this might not go down very well. Something to do with your tone, to be frank.

Was this written in YC 105?

Despite missing out on the capsuleer economy earlier on, State revenue is now pouring in from the trade capital of Jita. It was the The State who hasn't missed a beat and was able to expand into an entire region while the Federation remains stagnant. The State has recently developed a mechanism to provide for a mutual defense to go alongside the robust corporate security forces.

No, The State is doing just fine.

Perhaps this was an effort to deflect attention away from Federation problems, most notably the Matari immigrant timebomb waiting to go off, who knows? All I know is The State is on the ascent while The Federation is struggling with security and cultural issues.

I will try to comment on a number of your points, but I will start with one of my root complaints because a more complete response could take quite some time. So here is a quote of yours from the "Recall Roden" discussion:
(whitespace condensed)
Your advice to the Intaki is that they should stop complaining about not having a say in their central Federation government because small government is more important than big centralized authority. Yet you tell the Caldari that we should stop relying on smaller bodies of government because a big centralized authority is the key to prosperity. You do realize that these arguments run counter to each other, I hope? If you want to argue for a middle ground, then please feel free, but that is not what you have done in either discussion.

I am a little disappointed with some of your very.. shortsighted views General Inhonores.

Very interesting words, General Inhonores, and I'm not surprised to see the State apologists doing what they do best, making excuses for their fundamentally broken society.

In fact, I'm being overly kind, there. I live in a society, a dynamic organism with culture and everything.

The Caldari live in an economy, and little else.

Now now we both know this is simply not true. As much as I'm sure you'd love to paint the Caldari as nothing more than cold calculating money obsessed businesspeople, because then it makes your own stance and beliefs a lot easier to live with, even you know that the Caldari race has a long and proud cultural heritage. Infact it is that cultural heritage that has been a backbone to their success as an expanding Empire and retaining such a strong economy.

Blatant untrue stereotyping makes you worse than the portrayed enemies of the Federation that you paint.

TL;DR. It was just too tempting..

Personally I find an issue with my blood in that they live under the veil of a thin facade. Yes they have a powerful nation but they operate under the illiusion of freedom when they are a slave to vice. Allow me to elaberate a moment if I may.

Take your average entertainment girl. She dances she sings and flirts but if the pay checks stop coming for any reason she vanishes from the eyes of those who felt any form of connection to. She doesn't care about the customs she pleases, she does it just for the money more then likely because her looks is all that the corporates who lord over her see. They don't see her grace, charm or intellect. They see ( and I ask pardon of my Amarr elders) A pair of **** that can drag in more numbers to the bar.

So yes maybe the Caldari are shallow and all they care about is money. Lest they are honest about it instead of dressing it up in freedom, short skirts and good music.

Observation of recent activities on the IGS give me the impression that if there's someone foaming at the mouth over this topic it would be you, Mr. Inhonores.



This is true. The corporations strive towards economic excellence, which is measured ultimately in profit. Your conclusion, however, is wrong. To the Caldari, meritocracy is more than just a buzz word.