Then prove yourself, Auriga Menkalinan! What are you, coward or killer?
I feel it is high time Security of some form is restored the Mordus force that remains shows little sign of activity and has previously seen itself stand back and allow plunder of Intaki Prime.
At this rate several generations will of passed on to the next cycle before a decision is made.
How long has this Intaki stuff been going on for now? I think itās proven beneficial for all groups involved (bar the Intaki and Intaki special interest groups) to just kick the can down the road and avoid poking any bears in an Empire that might get a tad upset about, you know, people being able to determine their own fate.
I donāt know how I can help - if at all - to get any kind of resolution off the ground but let me know if there is anything to be done.
I support the ISP security bid quite emphatically, but at the current rate of continued resistance, Iām almost inclined to make a bid of my own for the Franchise, to see how the Federal Administration would react given the circumstances.
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I agree with you that it is a disgrace. The lack of action clearly speaks to routine Federation hypocrisy and veiled malice. Intakiās sovereignty will never be respected so long as she remains entangled in this complicated democratic shell game. Her security needs will never be addressed so long as the Federation wishes to keep her dependent.
I do hope that the issue surrounding the security franchise is resolved to a satisfactorily conclusion that both the Federal Government and the citizens of Intaki can find agreement on. Whilst my own objections to the Intaki Space Police being appointed as protectors of the Intaki Federal District are quite vocal, if this is the unfettered will of the people, it will be respected as such. I am sure that you are very well familiar with the dangers of rushing to implement a decision without first considering the potential outcomes, as is the Federation.
I am sure that you can understand the reason for the constant delaying of their approval as the Shipping and Security Contractor for one of the most important Federal Districts in the Union. That the Assembly still has not been brought to account for their quite frankly dishonest and corrupt actions during the Intaki Crisis is a crime in itself, a monstrous betrayal of their oath to their countrymen, and any decision they make can be considered suspect until such time as a purge is carried out of any disloyal elements within that august body.
It is unfortunate that it is that security concerns across the Federal Defence Cordon remain a cause for concern after the pillaging of the Intaki and Eugales systems by Lai Dai and their associates. The ongoing occupation of the majority of the Defence Cordon by State-aligned forces, in particular their āasset security unitsā, generate an atmosphere of fear and a climate of uncertainty for all member states there, not just in the Intaki Federal District. That certain State-loyal organisations have decided to make constituent Federal systems their business to intrude upon by meddling in security affairs only adds to the fraught circumstances the Cordon finds itself in. It is an unenviable state of affairs which I hope can be rectified, although I fear it will not be any time soon.
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Two years, and four months, give or take.
One of my staff suggested, partly in jest, that we should start a clock to count the days since the Intaki Space Police delegation first met with the Intaki Assembly at Navyii Akat, to see just how long the Federation will continue with this farce.
Consider for a moment, that the length of the previous Security franchise agreement was ten years. A decade.
Here, the Federation have delayed and stymied the process in Intaki for almost a quarter of that time.
Youāre right, I do understand.
Itās referred to by some as the āGallente Paradoxā. Where the lauded freedoms and functions of the Federation become inconvenient for political reasons, and so must be frustrated and undermined by the very organisations whose purpose it is to uphold them.
As I commented in my previous response, the Intaki Assembly rightfully asserted its sovereignty under the Federal Constitution regarding this matter, at the start of YC122.
It appears that the Federation has now acknowledged that fact, as it is also reported that they have reached a new agreement with the State on the matter.
But Federal words and Federal deeds are two very different things.
Itās unfortunate that they seem so determined to so publically undermine one with the other.
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As President of the Federation, I promise to initiate an initiative granting every Intaki system a vote on whether to remain in the Federation or leave it entirely. Every system which votes to leave shall immediately be granted Sovereignty, which Iām told tastes delicious (though I am not sure of its nutritional value).
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You have my vote.
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And who exactly will beā¦ voting for it, may I ask?
I mean, I will vote for every system to leave Federation as well!
Well, I hesitate to say this next part out loud Diana, sweetie, because I fear for the safety of anyone in your immediate vicinity, butā¦ you would have to be a citizen of the Federation to vote to leave the Federationā¦
Nowā¦ nowā¦ release the fingers from the nice ensignās throat, darlingā¦
Easy there, put him back on the groundā¦ gentlyā¦
I wasnāt saying that you were a citizen of the Federation sweetie, just that only federal citizens would be voting in a federal election.
Of course, the freedom of speech is deeply entrenchedā¦
nowā¦ nowā¦ no, no, donāt break his neckā¦
I know freedom is an ugly word, but if you will, freedom of speech is deeply entrenched, sacrosanct even, and money is speech, yes, and ISK is money, and so you could, if you desired, āspeakā to Intaki voters on the merits of Leave by doing things such as paying for holographic billboards on the sides of public transportation making claims, truthy, perhaps, about the merits of independenceā¦ for as long as it lasted.
Wait wait wait, did I get you right, every Federal citizen who will want will vote for some system to leave them?
I would imagine only those to which the proposed secession would apply. The Intaki are to decide if they desire their independance or not.
You knowā¦ for all of Ms. Nohās blusterā¦ thatās probably one of the most reasonable takes Iāve seen them give.
Whether itād work in practice or not is another matter, but still.
Yes, Remilia has the right of it. All Intaki citizens eligible to vote would decide whether their system of residence would leave the Federation. They would not have to be in that system at the immediate time of the vote, but it would have to be the system for which their votes were typically counted in the ordinary course of things such as senatorial elections.
The practicalities of performing the separation for any system which elected to leave would have to be worked out. Star gates would continue to function etc etc. It is perfectly feasible or an advanced interstellar civilization to adapt to even a checkerboard of in, out, in, out, in, out. There would be some grace period for transitioning from federal administration to local rule, some process for shifting agricultural subsidies to local funding sources, some temporary accommodation of vital services such as healthcare, blah blah blah.
The Intaki could then negotiate agreements with their neighbors, particularly the State, Federation, and Empire. Iām confident each neighbor would be sufficiently honored by the prospect of doing business with such an exceptional people, terms would be favorable. Certainly as president, I would consider it my great privilege to offer the Intaki low tariff arrangements on any goods lacking political constituencies inside the Federation.
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Are you saying that ALL Intaki citizens are eligible? Does it mean also that their votes will have same weight?
Do you realize that you will give MINERS, FARMERS, COOKS, JANITORS, etc, responsibility to decide fate of the whole SYSTEM?!
People who know, for example, only how to assemble planetary vehicles will be deciding on management of several PLANETS and colonies!! Their experience would be only about putting bolts into right holes, and about Federation they might have only ideas that they could be like āhave some funny holo show that I like, so Iāll vote for them!ā
What in the Makerās name is thatā¦ a catastrophe!
How would you get what people really need if you put that question into hands of people who canāt think rationally about what they need!!
To decide such questions you need to put it into hands of Military commanders, of the Business owners, give their votes weight depending, for example, on how many people are working under that business, so the corporation elite will make a decision for all the people who are working for them! That would be fair! Because corporation elites think in terms of their corporation need, and not in terms of who has better holo show!
Giving that power into hands of workers is just amoral and inhuman, itās like giving a live grenade to one year old baby to play with!
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Yes.
Well, more accurately, all citizens eligible to vote, and whose primary system of residence falls within what is broadly referred to as āIntaki space.ā I would not go down the rat hole of requiring proof of Intaki ethnicity in excess of some arbitrary amount. That would both be constitutionally abhorrent and wholly impractical.
Yes.
Yes.
Initiatives such as this qualify as rare examples of ādirect democracy.ā Yes, simulations show there is a risk of catastrophic self-mutilation. However, that is largely due toā¦
Now, donāt take this the wrong way, darling, but I believe the word āfreedomā earlier prevented you from appreciating the full ramifications of āfreedom to speak cannot be abridgedā paired with āmoney is speech.ā It is a lesson in political efficiency the State could derive substantial returns from studying. Similarly, the Empire would do well to wrap its head around the true implications of consumer finance.
As president, I remain studiously neutral with respect to what decision the miners, cooks, farmers, janitors, war heroes, and traveling salesmen reach with respect to Leave or Remain. My suspicion is slightly more than half would elect to Leave due to an unshakable belief Mannar were taking all the good jobs, but it is more difficult to predict how distribution of the Leave population would determine which systems Actually Left. Systems which did Leave would be accorded all privileges and considerations shown other fully independent spatial bodies of comparable economic significance.
I anticipate my Intaki initiative would engender agitation in the Mandate for something similar. As a president, a patron of arts, a celebrant of freedom, the clusterās foremost cyber geneticist, and most of all, a humanitarian, I would direct my administration to provide all assistance requested with respect to that issue.
I would even provide special space lanes in my White Feather Sniper Enforced AbsoluteSafetyā¢ Federal Star Drone Dome (Jin-Mei kunyomi: Ben Ren Ten Bon Ban Go Soku Doh Ryoh) to facilitate Intaki and Mandate trade. When their respective economies reached a certain level of development, who knows, I might even offer them the opportunity to Rejoin.
All The People will say: āthe magnanimity of President Noh knows no bounds!ā
Bad time to raise this (again)?
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Probably. ISP warships in the system is an infinitely better option than what is going on right now though.
Well Mordus legion do appear to be gone of that I have no doubt.
Intaki is now truly occupied beyond all measure with Federation Dreadnoughts and Carriers visible throughout the system.
Any hope of the ISP taking that position seems unlikely to me at this point.