EVE Fiction

Too many forum posts about 'Caldari rule! Their ships are boss and can fit X and X at the same time'. No.

Which race do you think is morally the best? Not the best turrets, or armor tanks, but as a culture and people.


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Perhaps there is no true answer; we are from all over the world and thus identify with different cultures. I look forward to hearing your replies, fellow pod pilots!

Gallente are no better than any of the other races.

Gallente are self righteous meddlesome folk who believe "their way" is the only way. You're "free" as long as you live by their rules and their standard, submit to their law and their authority. It seems to me as they're portrayed as the guided hypocrite, since they refuse to coexist with any ethnic group as everyone must do it their way. They talk the talk of freedom and equality, but they want dominance and control as much as any other faction. I also seem to recall references to political oligarchy, corruption and massive gaps between the haves and have-nots.

That being said, they obvious have redeeming qualities. Just like all factions do. Each faction has admirable aspects to it that can make them likeable to players. But they also have darker sides that can make them something to be opposed too.

Caldari, for example, are an overt capitalist mega corporate state. However, they are also very openly accepting of personal merit and they are dedicated to the "state" and the survival of their people. In the Caldari State those who can do, like when their corporate leaders killed all their opposition to unite the Caldari response against the Gallente. Or when a Caldari commander led his fleet in a desperate attack on superior Gallente forces to buy time for evacuation of Caldari Prime.

Amarrians are the easiest to polarize against because slaves. That being said, they are dedicated to their cause and for a long time in game lore would the only group rebuilding humanity. They've just also been very blunt about the concept of "you'll either help us, or we'll make you help us." a very Roman approach.

The Minmatar I am I think the least educated on. They are so heavily impacted by their history of slavery to the Amarr that despite the implications of their strong tribal culture, innovation and ingenuity they lack a lot of their own personality as a Faction. I hope someone else can talk more about the Minmatar.

Full disclosure: not a philosophy major.

Since morals are typically a personal sense of right and wrong and ethics are typically socially-informed rules of right and wrong behavior, we can choose a race as a standard-bearer for our own personal morals but we can also view the empires' ethics through their own lens of morality.

Taking the Amarr, of whom the common creed might be said to be "to save the souls of all the peoples of New Eden", they genuinely desire a return of all people to the good graces of God. Ethically, slavery is a mechanism, written in Scripture, to bring those who are unwilling to personally embrace God into a state of submission. It is likely not their preferred method in most cases, and the average Amarr would much rather everyone simply accept the faith wholeheartedly. Slavery is the extent that they are willing to strain that desire in order to 'reclaim' God's wayward children, while they overlook any lasting effects it may have outside the spiritual realm. How unethical then is their action in view of morals that demand the salvation of all humanity?

Contrast this with the Gallente, whose common morals demand nigh-absolute freedom from personal oppression and democratic representation for all who formally accept the Federation form of governance through citizenship. On the surface, they too seem very much concerned with the well-being of the collective of peoples, though perhaps less so in scope than the Amarr. Yet these morals are routinely overlooked or cast aside in favor of security and expedience of bureaucracy, in the subjugation of the Federation's ethnic minorities, in treaty-sanctioned PoW camps where torture is not uncommon, and in jackbooted Black Eagle squads publicly executing their directive with ruthless prejudice. Is this the bastion of freedom and just governance?

This smattering of detail glazes over much of the nuance of how various peoples view right and wrong in New Eden, but it is easy to see just how readily the average citizen will set aside 'doing right' for the sake of empire. In my view, all the nations are equally guilty of acts that we modern Earth dwellers find reprehensible. I would consider all their governments exceedingly unethical. Yet even in standards adopted by their own indoctrinated subjects, 'doing wrong' is frequently accepted as the best course to a desired outcome.

The Intaki.
Or the Achur.

No one.

Whoever you pick, it's a case of Blue and Orange morality. So I guess everyone!