You can just do that?
Interesting…
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That’s some fine dabbing there, Ms Gesakaarin.
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I have no idea what “dabbing” is. The image I linked is a traditional Achuran salute.
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I’m fairly sure that’s not what it is. Besides, I thought this was the the Achuran salute?
Aria? Confirm y/n?
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It sure looks like a dab. At least, I’ve seen that move called a dab before. Maybe we’re talking about different things.
It is? Okay, perhaps I’m confused.
Yes Ms Jenneth, please help us out.
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No, it isn’t.
Veik’s [favorite/least favorite] “Caldari mistake” isn’t actually very traceable to us. Look at where media production in the State happens; it’s not rural Achura, though SuVee has maybe a little fondness for borrowing our work. Our culture isn’t allowed to bleed over into the State very much. The State’s culture, on the other hand, is well-represented in this stuff, from folklore (the kitsune is a sorcerous creature from Caldari folklore, not Achur) to typical settings (we don’t even really have cities, you understand) to implicitly jingoistic can-do attitude (something the State has a lot of use for, but mostly serves to make trouble for a client nation).
So, if you’re looking for an actual origin for this particular medium of stylized animation and the culture that’s grown up around it, you’ll find the same thing you do with most media phenomena in the State: it’s mostly NOH.
Also, please note that cultural Achura aren’t permitted, generally or at all, to become capsuleers while remaining culturally Achura. The “Doki Doki Kestrel Club” are ethnically Achur, but there’s a reason such a noisy Caldari cultural isolationist as Veikitamo Geskaarin didn’t bat an eye at being closely associated: they’re not outsiders to Caldari culture, just a very particular (and usually fictionalized) manifestation of it.
… which seems to scratch several of her itches, so, good for her I guess.
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That clears up a lot. Thank you, Ms Jenneth.
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Aren’t all the best soldiers though? One must consider that the development of the techonology that puts us in such a philosophical quandry was, itself a weapon project, not one for the betterment of industry or somesuch wholesome purpose that we’ve strayed from.
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Is the betterment of industry such an inherently wholesome thing, either?
… Leaving that aside, sir, I don’t think the best soldiers are socio- or psycho- pathic. Of course you need people to be able to pull the trigger, but, unless you want such an awful thing as war getting even more awful, you might be better served by those who are aware of the compromises they make, and make them with open eyes, than by those for whom nothing valuable is at stake when they choose to open fire-- even if it’s on lifeboats, surrendering troops, civilians, or their own people.
War may be a playground for such people. I don’t think that makes them better soldiers, though.
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I personally would argue that, as Industry allows the betterment of people’s living conditions, the expansion and improvement of it is a moral good, much like the expansion and improvement of things like law and security. But it’s a more complex issue than that, and I respect you at least pointing out the flawed comparison. Perhaps I should have suggested using Capsuleer tech for rescue missions, or for deep space exploration as a more apt “non-violent” comparison.
I recall a quote from one of my advisers here, that I think quite apt for the situation “The first casualty of war should be compassion for the enemy”, and it has served me well in my time in combat. If you’re worried about how awful it would be to starve someone to death, you’re less likely to start cutting their routes of supply or poisoning their wells. Perhaps that’s just efficiency, but I know many who would call that sociopathy.
And, beyond that, look into history, as ancient as you want - How many leaders or generals tried to do something like this, to create soldiers who would never disobey orders and take pleasure in slaughter? With the psychosurgery that capsuleer and transhuman technology affords them, it would be a tempting option to those in charge I’d wager.
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Personally I’d call ruthless tactics, “ruthless tactics,” sir. They’re often cruel; also, often effective. That last is reason enough for me to consider them worth considering, and, I’m maybe not awful at coming up with them. Happily I don’t have to very often.
There was a time when I was afraid I might really be “faking it” at empathy (even to myself), but, no, I’m not, so, I just have to run with the usual extensive set of tools humans have for getting them to do awful stuff to each other.
It’s pretty effective.
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The Federation has Liberalism.
The Empire has God.
The State? The State has anime and memes.
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That’s … a bizarre statement. From you particularly. It sounds more like a State critique of the Federation: that its cultural identities and alleged diversity-- even the Gallentean culture itself-- all melt away into an empty and ultimately nihilistic “popular culture.”
What are you trying to do, Veik?
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Wars are not just fought with guns and bullets, Aria. Wars exist on a broad spectrum.
Consider:
Humans are a visual species. If it were not so, visual art would not be so prevalent in human cultures ever since the discovery of being able to daub colours on rock walls.
The Caldari State exists as a corporate society – do you know what corporations are really good at? Advertising. Do you know what is the preferred medium of advertising? The visual medium. Because like it or not, it is effective. Do you think the average baseliner reading these fora give a flying ■■■■ about reading walls of text? I submit they do not, they don’t have the time for that much critical thought. A well crafted image captivates the attention more than any amount of text, because it is succinct and appealing – which is why it is so frequently used in both advertising and propaganda.
Anime is an industry in the State, and it is an industry that serves a purpose more than simple entertainment – it also functions as a vector in the interstellar culture wars.
Just look at the basic format of the vast majority of anime in terms of tropes and storytelling: The teenager who must undergo the traditional Hero’s Journey, and along the way discover friends in order to understand the true meaning of camaraderie, duty, sacrifice, and discipline in order to overcome evil. The underlying themes in Caldari anime remain underlying themes in the Caldari cultural mileu.
People like you dismiss it all as nothing more than frivolity; the naivety of youth. Yet at the same time you balk at just how popular anime is in societies that have close parallels to, or contact with the Caldari State – the Achur; the Jin-Mei; the Khanid Kingdom.
Because you fail to realize just how effective the visual medium is as an extension of Caldari corporate soft power in the promulgation of its cultural memes abroad.
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No, they’re not. The best soldiers don’t waste the lives under their command. They don’t throw them away without concern because they’ve insulated themselves against even the awareness that those are living, breathing human beings. Yes, when necessary, they will sacrifice those lives as well as their own in the service of their cause/nation/whatever, but the important part there is ‘when necessary’. The level of disconnection she’s talking about, ‘I’ll fire you if you remind me you’re human’ is an entirely different level of sociopathy.
It engenders the idea that ‘hey, it’s just me here, and I’ll come back, right? So who cares if I get this battleship destroyed? Might as well amuse myself!’ It’s a mindset that throws lives away not out of necessity, but out of apathy. There’s no reason not to do [thing that will kill people] because you don’t think of your crew as people. So it doesn’t matter if it’s necessary, is it at least amusing?
Getting people under your command killed because it’s amusing… That’s not the behavior of ‘the best soldiers’. It’s the behavior of a callous, uncaring monster.
That is sociopathy. The first casualty of war should be comfort. Things need to be done. They are often horrible things. They are often things that make you ache and rage at the necessity of them. But if they are truly necessary, then they are necessary. That doing them makes you uncomfortable, that you will always bear the burden of knowing what you did… that’s not something you should ever want to leave behind.
A good soldier, even a general, does the terrible thing that must be done, and mourns the necessity.
The person who does the terrible thing and does not mourn… needs to be put down like the rabid beast they’ve become.
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Considering the source, I’m having trouble finding this… genuine.
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I really wish this forum would thread replies more reliably…
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Yes, but you’d feel the same if I’d said ‘the sky is blue’.
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Well yeah, it’s red. Point is, you are among those who I have personally witnessed throwing countless lives away over fuckin’ nothing. Staggering amounts of dead, for… what’s the saying, “shits and giggles”? Don’t get me wrong, I quite enjoyed it. I have my own bodycount at that, and the outer region wars are nothing if not occasionally gratifying in their levels of staggering bloodshed.
… but then to turn around and talk about sociopathy and “doing what’s necessary” as if you ever have? That’s just… weird, at best.
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