Intergalactic Summit

I am not a philosopher, and I'm not particularly good at writing. Forgive me if I can't express myself as well as I need to.

This evening, I was party to a long conversation about many different things. The bulk of it is not important, though.

At the end of the conversation, the following exchange happened (I have removed the names of the other participants for privacy reasons):



My question, given what was said above, is this:

Hypothetically: What would happen if the Empire were to lay down arms -- to not offer a single shred of resistance when the Republic came to claim its people? If we were, in fact, to 'leave them the hell alone'?

Would it be a peaceful interaction? I would not expect it to be. In my interactions with the Minmatar, there has been one overriding emotion when it comes to the Empire: anger. They have been so angry, for so long, that it has become ingrained in who they are.

So much so, in fact, that if the above scenario were ever to occur, I would venture to say that the arriving Minmatar would simply shoot every Holder they encountered simply because they're angry.

So -- the Republic shoots the Empire, and the Empire shoots the Republic, and this will be the order of things until the stars die away, because the Republic is too angry to stop shooting, and the Empire can't put their guns away because of it.

The cause of the anger is not relevant to this discussion.

Do you honestly think that, if we put down our weapons and let the Minmatar come to 'free their people', they would do it peacefully?

'Oh, my people are free, I guess I don't want revenge for the past seven hundred years anymore! Guess I'll go home and knit a sweater!'

Be realistic.

First off, Diana Kim is more likely to become a citizen of the Federation than the hypothetical situation you propose. If the Minmatar would rather die than be slaves, then the Amarr would rather die a thousand times than be conquered by the Minmatar.

However, assuming the scenario you propose did happen, there would certainly be genocide.

Oh, is it time to play the game of Let's Blame the Victim again Captain de'Crux?

Don't you think the Minmatar have every right to be angry because your masters invaded their peaceful civilization, killed them by the millions, glassed Starkman Prime in an attempted genocide of the Starkmanir, broke up families, sexually assaulted their women, pumped the uncooperative full of neurotoxins, carried out forced breeding programs, conducted inhumane medical experiments and generally did your best to destroy their culture for the better part of a thousand years? And on top of that swear to your god that you'll come back and do it all over again someday?

Be that as it may, you're attempting to perpetuate a horribly racist stereotype. I sincerely doubt that most Minmatar want to become you and commit genocide. They are a passionate people with long memories but, not raging animals with hearts full of malice and blood lust. I believe them when they say that if you imperials would "leave them the hell alone" that they'd stop shooting you. Aside from your dubious revenge argument what reason would the Minmatar have to fight you once their people were released and you gave up your reclaiming?

Sadly the Amarr will never renounce the reclaiming as it's central to their entire existence so the whole hypothetical is moot.

Enjoy the fruits of the poisonous trees you've sown, imperials.

You mean, should we be angry that the Gallente tried to starve us out, then tried to exterminate us, then spent one hundred years trying to conquer us, another hundred denying us our home, and then, when we had it, attempting to reconquer it?

Hmm. I'm thinking...yes.

I'm all for burying the axe if it's in the best interests of the State, Vikarion-haan, but I do believe that it should be consistent, no?

You would probably just end up called something silly along the lines of "race traitor".



I think you answered in the wrong thread. The one you are looking for is 10 pages long already.

I, personally, am for burying the axe in Gallente heads. Still, if it serves the interests of the State, I do think that my personal preferences should be subsumed.

And yes, I do find the irony rich. Your point was well-made.

Quite.

I'm not going to make any claims that we're the victims here or anything stupid like that, as the Empire has proved quite happy to reciprocate, but this is why I've totally stopped buying it when the Republic play the victim card. It used to have merit; now, not so much.

Always.