Intergalactic Summit

Tolerance for a lot of things aren't really a thing in the State, it would seem.

And in their pursuit of being entirely non-Gallente, they've decided such things as human rights and equality aren't Caldari enough.

Cute.

There are no such things as 'rights' only privileges that are earned through service - either your own or someone else's. Equality is another laughable conceit, when people are clearly not equal.

The State offers every citizen proper recompense for their work and loyalty, based on their merits. Or how else would someone like myself, with no family, have become a capsuleer?

Given the corruption in the Federation and the nepotism in the Republic and Empire, I find it laughable that WE should be accused of inequalities.

Respectfully, it's of course not yours exclusively, but ... well, looking around ...

Among the four empires, it seems like only the Matari really share your interest in the idea. And ... to a lesser degree, really. If I understand correctly, aren't they sort of falling back into their traditional hierarchies?

Outside ... um. Respectfully, concern with equality is probably even less.

You're New Eden's only real democracy.

... which you keep surprising people by surviving as, instead of collapsing into chaos. So there's that.

At this point, it is important to define a few things.

"Equality" as defined by the Gallente (and the Federation) isn't a measure of an individual's capabilities, monetary value, societal worth or other quantifiable measurement. It is the belief in an intrinsic value of all humanity, a value that demands all individuals be afforded the same liberties and opportunities under governance as any other individual.

By extension, this means that every individual is afforded the same opportunities in society; that none should be barred based on the circumstances of their birth, the station of their family or other predispositions. This means that every individual has the opportunity to succeed in whatever path(s) they choose to take but consequently also has the same opportunity to fail.

This very same belief demands that all citizens of the Federation be given equal voice in governance, equal opportunity to affect the policies and practices of the government under which they live. Were it not so, if certain individuals had a greater voice in government, then the principle of equality would be a complete farce.

It is important to note that this does not preclude a social, political or military hierarchy. Such hierarchies are developed and upheld in society, even one that espouses freedom and equality. The primary factor being that these hierarchies are not defined by the station of one's birth, or by external decree but by an individual's choice to pursue success in a particular field of expertise or to acquire a particular standard of living. The crux of the system being that everyone has the same opportunities to achieve those goals and are only limited by their own aptitude, ambition and persistence (or lack thereof).

The next thing to understand is that every government is conceptualized by the people who found it and will therefore be a reflection of the ideals and beliefs held by those founders. Whether that be an Empire founded on the principles of Divine destiny and inspiration, a corporate meritocracy founded on the system of corporate privilege and sacrifice for the community, a Republic founded on the hierarchy of tribal ancestry and identity or a Democracy founded in the ideals of equality and liberty.

We Gallente generally hold the belief of intrinsic identity and equality very dear, akin to the fervor the Amarr hold for their faith in God. It is true that most in the cluster do not hold to the belief as we do and many may not even understand it or understand it but choose to reject it; but that will not change our belief in it. It is one of our primary motivators.

Respectfully, Mr. Antolliere, I ... think ... that was my understanding of the word. There are probably nuances to it from a Gallentean perspective I still don't understand, of course.


Actually, Mr. Bete, there are a certain number of immigrants to the State from elsewhere. They're expected to integrate fully, though, which means giving up pretty much all aspects of their former cultures.

The Khanid are kind of an unusual exception, if I remember. They're generally allowed to continue to practice their religion in private.

Achura aren't, though-- we're expected to fully identify as Caldari before we can gain access to, for example, capsuleer training. It's a little hard to stop us from "switching back" once we're licensed, though.

Um. Also, if it needs clarifying, I don't presently identify as any nationality in particular. I just know more about the Caldari than about most people.

I get it. You wouldn't want to live in the State anymore than we'd want you there. You'd hate being surrounded by people who base their lives on values like duty and merit and sacrifice for a greater good. You feel that being held to those values yourself would be an intolerable infringement of what you imagine are your 'rights'. Whatever those are.

You don't care that those traits are what allow us to do more than you with far less than you have. You don't even understand that the unfortunate curtailment of certain of those rights is all that allows us to operate the high population-density orbital societies that house so many of our citizens whilst maintaining them at a standard of living that rivals your own or that the constant military, social and economic pressure from your own society demands the level of vigilance that we maintain.

So, sure. You go off and celebrate diversity or whatever it is that's the cause of the day on Caille campus today. Just stay out of our way - we have work to do.

The government can violate these rights, that doesn't mean we don't have them. When the government violates our rights, we have the means and methods to repel the government and force change. If we do not do so, that is not the government's failing, it is our own failing.

Blaque and his cronies are not particularly popular, as any honest research would show you, and while he represents an understanding that freedom is never free and liberties must sometimes be protected even from those who enjoy them; he does so as an extreme not as a norm.



"That perfection is unobtainable does not mean you should cease to strive for it." The same is true of any goal worth pursuing, equality among them.

No, our government isn't perfect, neither is our society or the people that compose both. That will not stop us from striving to become better than we are and to reach toward goals that seem unobtainable, because as we strive for them, we draw closer to them with every step and that alone is worth the effort. We may not have achieved perfect equality, but have a far more open and equal society today than we had centuries ago and that is a measurable degree of success.

The idea of a family does not act against equality, it demonstrates quite adequately what equality represents. Every child in every family should have the same opportunities available to them, the same rights afforded to them and the same liberties granted to them. Families in the Federation experience this. While a child may be conditioned by their parents to think and act certain ways, or be tutored toward a specific career or field of expertise; that is the domain of the parents, not the domain of the government. That child will have the same opportunities as any other child should they choose to seek them.



How convenient that the State disregards them as both citizens and Caldari so they can be so easily dismissed as "not part of our society." The fact remains that they are products of your society and it is your society that chooses to isolate and cripple them. I also know (as I'm sure you do if you're being honest) that not all "dispossessed" became so because of "failure to meet satisfactory standards of work or behavior."



That is commendable and I respect and admire such action.

In the Federation, charity is both a private and a public pursuit powered by both the individual (or interest groups) and various governmental programs designed to help those struggling.

Meh, the only "rights" a human has are the ones they can enforce themselves. I don't need a government telling me it's ok to do whatever, I'm just going to do it if it feels right.

How odd, then, that the second-most common minority in the State, after Amarr/Khanid (which one would expect given close relations with the Khanid and the fact that they are by far the most populated state in the cluster), are Gallente. Roughly 3%, which works out to somewhere between two and three billion Gallente citizens of the State ((EvE:Source)). I suppose we just brainwashed them all.

I don't know where you get these supposed rights from, anyway, but I have no problem with the Federation embracing them. If it works for you, it works for you.

I do have a problem with the Federation assuming that it is a moral imperative that everyone else follow them. What if you believe that the moral value of just reward and meritocratic advancement is more important than equal treatment? At least some Amarr, Khanid, and Gallente do.

You say that sacrifice and social cohesion are not as important as diversity and personal liberty? Why aren't they? Isn't it better to have someone striving beside you, than to have to live as a lone figure, free but isolated? But if you are going to strive together, you, as a society, have to sacrifice individual eccentricities to ensure that everyone gets along.

You say that your version is better. It may well be, for you. But the Caldari have done much more with much less than the Federation, in less time. Your system probably wouldn't work for us. And our system, with its flaws and hiccups, is still the best we've tried.