It’s bad form to quote yourself, but since you’re not doing it …
I guess that could be taken as a threat, if you squint a bit or look at it in a particular light.
Even if I look at it that way, though, you’re still horrible at paraphrasing, Ms. Teinyhr. What I said, was more like that it wouldn’t pain me even slightly to kill or bring misery to my mistress’s enemies, but that the Directrix wouldn’t want me to, so I don’t try.
I was maybe a little angry when I wrote that; it’s not something I feel all the time. It’d be … small … of me, to play games with their loved ones’ lives just to make immortals suffer. I don’t aspire to be small in such a way, even if I’m okay with being little in a lot of other ways.
You can have the abloobloo, though, if you want. I don’t really think it turns up much in the text, but, I don’t think a little sorrow over the fate of the people we kill is unhealthy or misplaced. It’s maybe not totally okay, to be totally okay with such a thing, I think.
You’re such a prolific poster I can’t seem to find it and I do not wish to spend hours to find it, but you did declare yourself as the enemy of “minmatar” and particularly Arrendis and Miz, in some of these similar threads that were active around the same time. Mainly, I’m perplexed why you’re surprised people are eager to pick up guns against you when you yourself are willing to take up arms against people who have done you and yours no harm. And you keep proudly saying that you would have no pangs of guilt about doing so, yet now you apparently again “feel sorrow.”
As an uninvolved party, my understanding is that Ms. Jenneth’s comments were more a, “defense of me and mine,” remark, given that both Ms. Culome and Ms. Del’thul have given the impression they’d love nothing more to raze the Amarr Empire to its foundation, and then kick over that as well.
Ms. Jenneth, to my understanding, has not particular love of the instution of slavery, but does have a love of those to whom she has dedicated herself.
Now, I might be somewhat overstating their desire, and I’m certainly not going to wade into this particular conflict, but that’s the impression I’ve developed.
I’m a retainer and bodyguard. It’s my job to prefer death over allowing harm to those I guard. Even leaving aside friendship and gratitude, if I were to “sod off,” I’d be turning my back on my duty … my oath … my integrity … my sense of self.
I gave my word. I’ll keep it. If I can’t do even that, there’s no reason I should exist.
Is there no one whose life you value above your own, Ms. Teinyhr?
Well, considering I’ve said on multiple occassions (including recently and in this thread) that what I’d really love is for the Amarr Empire to act like goddamned adults, apologize for being bloodthirsty uncivilized murdering serial abusers, and swear off their goals of Universal Reclamation… yeah, I think saying I’d love nothing more than to raze them is kinda false.
I’d love not feeling like it’s necessary more than I’d love actually doing it. I just don’t think they’ll ever make any kind of official Divine Imperial Throne-lander Proclamation along the lines of ‘We’d really like everyone to come to God, and think it would be best for all of you guys, but we recognize that not everyone will, and we accept that some of you will have to burn in hell for your stubbornness, we’re not going to try to force it’.
That’d be a great first step. Not gonna happen, though.
If what my ancestors went through is the path to heaven, Hell seems pretty nice by comparasion. Also, did it ever die? It just got taken over by, heh people who don’t see any value in peaceful public discourse…
I think it’s possible we may find that peace will come when the citizenry of our nations, free and slave, worker and peasant, have decided they’ve had enough of the machinations of the empires and capsuleers. Perhaps this war we’re worrying about will precipitate this great raising of the public conscience, or perhaps it will come sooner, but none of the empires will escape unchanged, if they don’t dissolve altogether, when this happens.
What am I saying? The empires might all be faced with either fighting an external war or having revolutions occurring within. In fact, the war may cause the revolutions which, ironically, may shut down the war. I don’t think we’ll get out of this with no blood being shed, but we all may have to decide on which side of history we’ll want to be.
Dr. Valate’s feelings about the Empire seem to be “complicated,” Ms. Ambrye.
It even kind of goes both ways. One of her titles could be, “Least-Horrible Sabik Heretic,” or maybe, “Lowest Priority Target.” That said, she’s still a high-ranking blood heretic with close ties to a local Sabik queen (read: absolute “my whim is law” autocrat) and an ego the size of a moon. Just … if we’re talking blooders, there are so many worse people over there.
The vast majority of people are sheep. They want only safety and comfort, and will give up any amount of liberty to achieve them. There won’t be any ‘great raising of the public conscience’, because quite frankly, a large chunk of those normal people you’re looking to don’t want it. They actively want ‘not that’.
And they’re not wrong. Because that’s work. That’s a lot of work, and takes a lot of time, and a lot of sacrifice. They’re already doing a lot of work in not enough time, sacrificing just to live their lives and take care of their families. You want some kind of enlightened public running everything in the ultimate expression of socialist uplift? It’s a lovely thought, but most people don’t have the time, and if they did, they don’t want the extra responsibility. They just want to live their lives.
Dr. Valate’s an idiot, as her recent self-inflicted tantrum at CONCORD demonstrates.
The thing is here, I have trouble respecting someone whose loyalty can be bought with basic human decency. I’ve gotten the impression had it been for example me who had helped you out in your time of need, you’d be here singing praises of how wonderful and misunderstood the Minmatar are.
What safety? What comfort? If they have no liberty how can they have the others? Perhaps they can for a short time, but without liberty those safeties and comforts erode. Even sheep, under the right circumstances, can be formidable when driven to it.
They’re already doing a lot of work in not enough time, sacrificing just to live their lives and take care of their families.
And increasingly so. If there are enough people agitating and educating new ideas these ideas might work their way into the subconscious of society, it might be enough to move the masses to action when they are ready.
You want some kind of enlightened public running everything in the ultimate expression of socialist uplift?
Enlightened enough to throw off their shackles and keep them off. The masses to take over the governing of what’s left of their empires? Perhaps not so much, given the sheer volume of space they’d have to work together to govern. Some sort of centralized body would probably be required to coordinate everybody and their activities. Could that be better democratized? Perhaps, I’d hope so but I can’t predict the future.
It’s a lovely thought, but most people don’t have the time, and if they did, they don’t want the extra responsibility. They just want to live their lives.
Local control by the community, definitely. Why not? If they control their own production who says they won’t have more leisure time to pursue such activities. With properly democratized, or at least accountable, centralization there’s no reason that resources cannot be shared in a way that most would agree to.
So, the funny thing is, I sometimes wonder about that, too. It’s possible that I sort of imprinted on the first person to show me kindness and give me a home. … Only, does it really seem to you like real decency, without naivete, is a very common thing among our kind? It hasn’t seemed so commonplace to me.
I haven’t really had reason to regret where I’ve ended up. The things I thought I saw, and valued-- they haven’t turned out to be illusions. They’re real. Directrix Daphiti is a human being, of course, not a god or sefrim; I’ve been accused of worshipping her, but, that’s not really true, now, if it ever was.
Maybe it was basically just a quirk of fate, or chance, or my own whim, that brought me to the Amarr before the Matari-- to her, before you. But the end result is that she was there for me during the darkest times of my short existence, and you weren’t.
Maybe it’s not fair that you didn’t get the chance. But does this universe seem to you like it’s overflowing with fairness?
But … maybe there’s more to it than that.
If the Amarr as a culture have a quality I’d call a significant saving grace, it’s their belief in redemption. That’s a quality that’s stronger, here, than I think anywhere else-- the idea that, however dark a person’s existence might have become, they can come back. Nobody else believes such a thing as strongly. There are countervailing principles you can point to-- “the gates of paradise open but once” and all that-- but it’s still a fundamental part of the culture and faith. It’s what the Reclaiming’s founded on, however much trouble that might itself cause.
That’s something I needed people around me to believe in, something I need to believe in, myself. It’s something I find here, that I don’t think I’d find elsewhere. Not on so deep a level.
