Well, I didn’t say you were putting words in my mouth. QED.
Do you really think we don’t have people in the TC whose entire job is specifically to make sure that important discussions avoid the obvious breakdown that you are talking about here?
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Having seen no evidence of them? Yes, I’m inclined to think that.
You are taking a report of heavy involvement by the heirs and spinning that into the TC doing whatever said heirs asked against their better wisdom. The latter doesn’t follow from the former. It is also notable that the closest you can find to dissension is from the Ardishapur family, and not from the TC itself.
If the heirs hadn’t been involved they wouldn’t have been doing their jobs in what was undoubtedly a moment of grave peril for the Empire.
And yes, Amarr is a society of submission and silence. That is right and proper. But the Theology Council in particular does not operate under the same rules as I personally do and as you were supposed to have done. Their job, their very mode of submission, is to actively question the scriptural validity of proposals put before them. If they are just rubber stamping things, they are not doing their jobs.
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Have you seen anything at all about the internal workings of the council?
It’s a huge and well funded organization that has been dealing with the problems of scriptural complexity, alternate versions, and of scriptural conflicts for over a thousand years. And like all Amarr organizations, it is hierarchical, which means that there are plenty of support staff. If someone cites scriptural evidence, you can bet that an army of staff will be immediately tracking down that particular footnote to make sure it is valid.
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Nope. And while I’d like to believe it’s a well-run organization, what we have seen is things like Derp-Duke ArgleBargle get put on the Council. Which, you know, doesn’t inspire confidence.
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His getting appointed to the Council was a political decision, presumably on the part of Khanid.
His ability to actually do anything on the council requires compliance from rest of Council.
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Which demonstrates right off that the system’s fatally flawed: political appointments have no place in assembling a panel of impartial experts.
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It should be noted that the individual in question is not part of the theological decsion-making body, but is a Paladin Deacon of the Orders Militant. He seems to be an enforcer, not a lawmaker or judge.
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The problem is that he’s not fit to be a custodian.
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Holders, and especially Heirs, are exceedingly important religious figures in their own right. As such, their having a voice on the council is pretty vital to the functioning of Amarr as a cohesive religious society. They just should not be the only voices on the council.
I would also point out that almost every legal body of which I have heard includes politically appointed members. The most obvious of which would be the Gallente Supreme Court, where the justices are appointed and confirmed by elected officials through a political process.
And as Aldrith correctly points out, the Theology Council has many different jobs and specialties. Just being a part of the Theology Council does not mean that the person is being trusted to be an impartial decision maker.
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In a society as militaritarily authoritarian as the Empire is, Aldrith, I am shocked that you, of all people, don’t grasp a simple idea:
The guys with the guns are the decision-makers. Everyone else only gets a say until someone gets annoyed enough to start killing people for effect. Chakaid started by killing for effect—killing millions. Then he moved right into killing for effect on other peoples’ planets. This past year has been one long string of ‘oh, do you think you can’t be touched? Hang on, let me kill Holders in Dam Torsad. Let me attack the capital world of another nation’.
Do either of you think anyone on the Theology Council isn’t acutely aware of the barrel pressed into their temple that he represents?
Ever heard anyone accuse the Federation of being pure and sacrosanct and never ever ever prone to corruption? Cuz I haven’t.
It’s fantastic to watch the cluster burn when one is at no risk of fire.
Almost as fun as all the potential death and mayhem caused by a popular revolt instigated by a wealthy capsuleer saying, “I’m with the people” out of self interest.
My family and home town have been bombed with Deathglow. I’ve lost friends and relatives. I’ve been declared heretic and exiled, and disowned by some of the most important people in my life. Self-interest? Self-interest? I gave up everything I ever wanted because I couldn’t justify my self-interest as other people suffered. I’ve watched, and tried to stop, the massacre and torture and abuse of millions of innocent people. “Potential death and mayhem” is a ■■■■■■■■ argument when there is already death and mayhem happening. It’s not about starting a fight, it’s about fighting back against one that already started.
■■■■ you, abuser, blackmailer, murderer, seller of people to Sansha.
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Ah yes, the reach of your outspokenness can barely even extend to the ones you love, so it’s always going to be a risk practising what you preach without the inherent protections of a capsuleer. Power is never ceded by those who have it without force or violence, so the victims of such violence will not be you, protected as you are, but all those you will fail to protect in your grasping for some semblance of purpose in your life.
Trader of Gallenteans to Sansha, if one desires to be correct. The other epiphets are all true, and more besides. I’m sure it was a rather apt course to deny the nature of personal liberty so vehemently advocated by their kind.
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That protection is why I’m speaking out. Why I have a responsibility to speak out. I can’t sit still and do nothing, when I have the ability to call out abusers without suffering the same consequences others might if they chose to speak out. If that protection will save monsters like you and Nauplius from facing the consequences for your actions, then I will try to use it for something good, to speak out for the people who can’t.
And among the things I fully intend to go after, is the ridiculous power of the capsuleers. We should not be as powerful, and wealthy, and protected as we are, and I have called that out, and will continue to call it out, until we are brought down from this undeserved loft we inhabit.
I’ve already failed to protect them. I’ve already tried and failed to stop Nauplius, and the Khanid and 24IC butchers, and rogue slavers, and the corrupt Holders. It is not a fight I can win as a capsuleer, and I can’t work through the system when that system is corrupt and dismisses any calls to act. The only way we can fight, is by uniting against corrupt systems, to collectively tell them that the abuse must end.
Yes, I won’t be shot or hauled away into shackles or the Cleansing Pits when I stand up to talk about the sins in our society. Others would. That is why I have a responsibility to be the one to stand up and do it. Because I can do it. Because I can get away with it. And maybe, one day, I won’t need to, because those corrupt systems will be gone – including the corrupt, abusive, disgusting system that is the capsuleer.
… besides, if the people don’t agree with me, then they won’t act on what I say. I do not have any powers of mind control. I’m not shoving TCMCs into people’s heads. I am not forcing anyone to fight for me. This isn’t even about me. They shouldn’t be fighting for me. They should be fighting for themselves. If they will listen to what I say, if they will consider what I say, they will act on it only if they believe it is right and worthy. They have their own minds and their own wills. I can only speak, and use the powers I do have to support them and their actions.
What protects me is capitalism. The fact that I have wealth and I work with and for others with wealth. I am protected because with that wealth comes power, and the powerful protect each other. It’s just the way things are. A capsuleer by any other name is still just Executive, Banker, Entrepreneur, even Holder.
Most everything else is just ensuring effective compliance of populations to serve as a labour force whether it’s about freedom, duty, or religion.
In the end, you’re just another idealist and me, well, I’m a realist.
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Those with wealth should be using their gains to help those with less, not to enrich themselves.
With wealth comes power… and with power comes responsibility.
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Sounds to me like you’ve set yourself up for a lifetime of frustration and disappointment.
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The more traditional term for one who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing is “a cynic,” Veik.
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