EVE General Discussion

The stations of uncensored expression are closing down; the lights are going out; but there is still time for those to whom freedom and honour mean something, to consult together.

Capsuleers have, it seems to me, formed a true judgment upon the disaster which has befallen the Empire. They realise the far-reaching consequences of the abandonment and ruin of Jita. If in February, March or April, High Sec, Low Sec, South and West had jointly declared that they would act together upon Goonswarm if Herr Mittani committed an act of unprovoked aggression against this system, I hold that the Dictator would have been confronted with such a formidable array that he would have been deterred from his purpose.

But all these backward speculations belong to history. It is no good using hard words among friends about the past, and reproaching one another for what cannot be recalled. It is the future, not the past, that demands our earnest and anxious thought. We must recognize that the democratic, liberal and peaceful forces have everywhere sustained a defeat which leaves them weaker, morally and physically, to cope with dangers which have vastly grown. But the cause of freedom has in it a recuperative power and virtue which can draw from misfortune new hope and new strength. If ever there was a time when men and women who cherish the ideals of the founders should take earnest counsel with one another, that time is now.

All the universe wishes for prosperity. Have we gained it by the sacrifice of Jita? It has been destroyed and devoured. It is now being digested. The question which is of interest to a lot of ordinary capsuleers, common capsuleers, is whether this destruction of Jita will bring upon the world a blessing or a curse.

Shall we be able to say to ourselves: "Well, that's out of the way, anyhow. Now let's get on with our regular daily life." But are these hopes well founded or are we merely making the best of what we had not the force and virtue to stop? That is the question that the peoples in all their space must ask themselves today. Is this the end, or is there more to come?

To this has been added the cult of war. Children are to be taught in their earliest schooling the delights and profits of conquest and aggression. A whole mighty community has been drawn painfully, by severe privations, into a warlike frame. They are held in this condition by a party organisation, who derive all kinds of profits, good and bad, from the upkeep of the regime. The Goonswarm tolerate no opinion but their own. They feed on hatred. They must seek, from time to time, and always at shorter intervals, a new target, a new prize, a new victim. The Dictator, in all his pride, is held in the grip of his Party machine. He can go forward; he cannot go back. He must blood his hounds and show them sport, or else be devoured by them. All-strong without, he is all-weak within.

No one must, however, underrate the power and efficiency of a totalitarian state. Where the whole population of a great bro pact, amiable capsuleers are gripped by the neck and by the hair by Goonswarm tyranny - for they are the same things spelt in different ways - the rulers for the time being can exercise a power for the purposes of war and external domination before which the ordinary free societies are at a grievous practical disadvantage. We have to recognise this.

The culminating question to which I have been leading is whether the universe should meet this menace by submission or by resistance. Let us see, then, whether the means of resistance remain to us today. We have sustained an immense disaster. Empire lies at this moment abashed and distracted before the triumphant assertions of dictatorial power.

Far away, happily protected by forum anonymity, you, the capsuleers of New Eden are the spectators, and I may add the increasingly involved spectators of these tragedies and crimes. Will you wait until freedom and independence have succumbed, and then take up the cause when it is three-quarters ruined, yourselves alone?

"No."

There, in one single word, is the resolve which the forces of freedom and progress, of tolerance and good will, should take. It is not in the power of one alliance, however formidably armed, still less is it in the power of a small group of men, violent, ruthless men, who have always to cast their eyes back over their shoulders, to cramp and fetter the forward march of human destiny. The preponderant universal forces are upon our side; they have but to be combined to be obeyed. We must arm. Empire must arm. Low-Sec must arm, Null-Sec must arm. If, through an earnest desire for peace, we have placed ourselves at a disadvantage, we must make up for it by redoubled exertions, and, if necessary, by fortitude in suffering.

The people will stand erect, and will face whatever may be coming.

Dictatorship - the fetish worship of one man - is a passing phase. A state of society where men may not speak their minds; such a state of society cannot long endure if brought into contact with the healthy outside world. The light of civilised progress with its tolerances and co-operation, with its dignities and joys, has often in the past been blotted out. But I hold the belief that we have now at last got far enough ahead of barbarism to control it, and to avert it, if only we realise what is afoot and make up our minds in time. We shall do it in the end. But how much harder our toil for every day's delay!

Is this a call to war? Does anyone pretend that preparation for resistance to aggression is unleashing war? I declare it to be the sole guarantee of peace. We need the swift gathering of forces to confront not only military but moral aggression; the resolute and sober acceptance of their duty by all the corporations, great and small.

WC

tl;dr

Does this mean I finally get to use Starbase Defense Management for something other than shooting TEST?

Pleeeaaase do this.

Was only about 40 people there when i visited not long ago.

Hardly worth the effort. 0.0 is dead.

When we're at home we tend to take all of our clothes off and spread ourselves all over the couch like any good fat man should.

(Neither of my two 0.0 duders are in VFK, and I base all of my isk generating far far away from the gangs that wander through there)

It's the main hub for an alliance of thousands. Surrounded by completely empty systems, and systems with one person in them. It doesn't get more dead that that.

And i wasn't just there the one day. 40 would be the rough average from two samples.

One sample is happenstance. Two is science.

And that is what Eve should be all about. People talk about burning, and chaos, and all that crap, but the truth is, New Eden is pretty damn stable.

And that's a shame.

Confirming 0.0 is dead because its residents don't sit in "hubs" and spin their ships. I heard Catch is dead because there are only 20 people in HED-GP.

I already mentioned all the empty systems i passed through getting there, and all the systems with just one person in them.

You know as well as me that's very common in 0.0, and not an isolated event. In the past i've lived in what used to be the Northern Coalition's space, and also the drone regions when the Russians held it. It's always the same damn thing.