It is the 11th Anniversary of my Daughter’s Conception.
Senator Bellaron is the last person I’d expect to see standing up for States’ rights. Call me a cynic but his critique is probably less to do with the impracticalities that you point out than it is with seizing an opportunity to impress a significant number of local voters. Remember, every year, one fifth of the Senate is up for election.
Fastest and second fastest routes from Yulai to Poitot go through Placid. The fastest option goes through Villore itself (the capital). The second fastest goes through Viriette (now heavily militarized). Neither is a great option for diplomats worried about the Federation’s commitment to not breaching its international agreements.
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I’m just operating on the wording that they’re being transported “from” Placid and not “through” Placid. Your interpretation is equally valid.
An alternative is that this was the team in Placid negotiating the terms of the security franchise with the Intaki Assembly but they haven’t been heard of for some time now.
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Plenty of other roles to fill in that pursuit.
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Gotta ask. Do they do soapy ship cleans?
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I’m sure that can be arranged.
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Years spent in Summit have convinced me that Gallenteans aren’t well versed in questions of basic biology and anatomy.
I am surprised how they don’t confuse legs with arms.
So, Mr. Antolliere? This is something worth understanding when dealing with the Caldari: they don’t see any contradiction here.
Civire and Deteis have been close as kin (without very often actually being kin) since before the Raata Empire. There’s even a foundational myth on this subject: Cold Wind, in which fighting between the two bloodlines is stopped by literal divine intervention.
They don’t mix (or, people being people, try to discourage it as a matter of policy), but they don’t see each other as outsiders, and “divided by bloodline” is one of the only ways Caldari don’t normally compete.
(Actually the main way Caldari run into discrimination despite the meritocracy is being of mixed blood. Pretty sure I’d never have been accepted into the SWA if they hadn’t been really eager to churn out as many eggers as possible.)
This even extends to a more limited degree to the Achura; our society was still in our iron age when they found us, but they saw enough of themselves in our culture and faith to recognize us as, if you like, poor cousins.
To a degree (and ignoring the corporations) you can think of the State as a single, great manor containing two distinct families that nevertheless live together closely, plus the Achura as long-term residents of the guest house.
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Do they see enough of themselves in Intaki culture to ‘recognise’ it though? I appreciate that there is variation but also that, as a general rule, the authorities responsible for Intaki citizens who wish to retain their identity must constantly act to ensure they are not victims of persecution and Intaki immigrants usually fail to integrate and swiftly fall to the fringes of State society.
I have yet to see a Caldari commentator honestly acknowledge the challenges Intaki people (citizens or immigrants) face in the State.
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Hm. Well, really it’s pretty challenging for anybody immigrating in.
The basic structure goes like this: Caldari do not really require anybody to become Caldari unless living among the Caldari is what they’re trying to do, and if they’re trying to do that they’re expected to go all-in-- that is, full adoption of Caldari culture, including language, habits, diet, marriage customs, religion, no exceptions (unless you’re a Khanid Kingdom expat in which case you can practice the Amarrian faith in private).
That applies to basically anybody who wants to live in a Caldari community, full-stop. If you’re Intaki and you want to live among the Caldari, they’ll expect you to be Caldari and like it. You’ll have an integration officer assigned to your case, whose duty is to make sure you do it “right.” If you have private quarters, the contents of your drawers, cabinets, and refrigerator will be checked. This will continue until the authorities are satistfied that you’re Caldari in all but literal blood. Failing to integrate generally means being asked to either join another (“client”) community or leave the State.
Other communities are permitted to be “other communities,” but they’re not allowed to mingle. They also need to decide whether to accept “client” status to the State. Clients can trade with the Caldari and enjoy protections under law; they’re not supposed to be harmed or meddled with, and tend to have some autonomy and, especially, broad cultural latitude to live as they see fit as long as they keep to themselves. They’re apt to be swiftly relocated if the Caldari find a vein of something worth digging for under their community, though.
Those who don’t accept “client” status have basically declared themselves nonentities and have no standing or status within the State. It’s like deciding not to legally be a person. Outcomes vary, ranging from tolerance and trade to “just stay out of our way” to massacre.
(The Caldari concern themselves with the good of their own people and their clients; “human rights” aren’t really a thing.)
Now, most client communities are those of planetary native populations, as with Achura, but sometimes outsiders, like the Intaki, are invited in to form such communities. As the Waschii uprising showed, such communities aren’t necessarily 100% safe from extremists, but keep in mind that’s like running into U-NATs in the Federation-- not (usually) state actors, but a hateful extreme ethno-nationalist offshoot: the Templis Dragonaurs, who (as Waschii also demonstrated) will wage war against the State itself to avoid having to live next to even a very honored client community.
The status of rural Achura is that of a client state acknowledged by the Caldari Wayists as kindred-in-spirit. Urban Achura have invariably adopted Caldari culture and identity, and therefore form a third Caldari bloodline nearly unique to SuVee corporate territory.
I don’t think the Intaki have such a religious … dictum, dogma, whatever … acknowledging their similarity, but many among them have been staunch allies against the Federation. So they’re honored for other reasons. Take for example Mordu’s Legion, which has such special status within the State that career Legion veterans, whatever their origins, are offered Caldari citizenship upon retirement (though I’d expect that to still come with some, er, cultural assumptions).
If I remember, to this day the majority of Mordu’s Legionnaires are Intaki.
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Thank you for being so frank and clear. It’s refreshing.
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I appreciate the clarification, I learned quite a few things.
I wasn’t disparaging the Caldari for the way in which they live, they are free to define themselves however they wish.
My point was that the original author claimed that being “Gallente” meant nothing because anyone can ‘be Gallente’ and that the Federation populous had become this amorphous blob of people indistinguishable from one another which is not true. Just as he himself identifies simultaneously as Caldari and Intaki, so too do people in the Federation keep their heritage and culture distinct even while identifying with the Gallente ideals within the Federation.
Hmmm. As you say, sir, but:
This is a meaningful distinction-- a defining distinction, to the Caldari mind. To them, “blending” is a loss of identity, a diminishing of self. Perhaps it can be that, and still also “a beautiful example of unity and solidarity,” but the Caldari can’t see it that way.
To the Caldari, this world is a crucible, where all who dwell within are tested-- not relentlessly, for where is the test if the subject is given no opportunity to grow soft and complacent? But inevitably, and without mercy.
The ultimate goal and purpose of the Caldari is to survive-- to face and withstand the test, at all cost. To them, it is their very unblended cultural identity that makes them strong, able to stand against all that comes.
They’re afraid you’ll make them and (more importantly) their descendants weak and complacent as (to their eyes) you are. And when the test (once winter and war, now gods-know-what) comes, they’ll be found wanting and die.
To put it from a slightly different angle, you are a test of their will. Your way is nothing if not attractive, but if they allow themselves to be seduced, they will perish alongside you.
The right to remain themselves, undiluted, is one they hold as precious, even sacred. It’s why they don’t require or even encourage their clients to conform: to them, every way of life should stand or fall on its own merits (or lack of same), and to require change is to rob a people of its fair opportunity to compete on its own terms.
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As an afterthought: the Federation moving actively and aggressively is a sight probably a lot of Caldari greet with relief. Subtlety, charisma, reason, and persuasive, corrosive rhetoric (not to mention a seductively relaxed, “free” lifestyle) presented during a strained-but-productive peacetime are problematic challenges because an enemy who works that way is largely outside traditional Caldari experience and difficult to effectively fight (the occasional keen-witted Deteis merchant of luxuries notwithstanding).
An actual war with fleets and armored troops and grim-yet-stirring speeches? Dead-center for the Caldari comfort zone. (Add bonus points for lethal weather; snow for preference, but armor-melting heat or hard vacuum also count.)
(Yes, the State’s experience in the Triglavian invasion was a bit of a shock. For that very reason you shouldn’t expect it to remain unaddressed.)
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Okay.
Haha-- ah, sorry sir. Wasn’t looking to overwhelm.
Cold Wind Favors the Strong.
And cold, snowy wintery days are the best.
I will say this. I know from the Gallente point of view, we are a horrible war mongering, human rights hating group of people. Maybe so. But if you work hard, you are rewarded well. As it should be. We have a strict ridged structure, and a deep heritage. We expect those that adopt into the state to adopt those values.
When I spent time in the Federation I became overwhelmed by all it had to offer with little to no direction. And worse, because the Federation is such a hodgepodge of cultures, it really doesn’t have one to call it’s own. And I never really fit In because of it. I needed direction. I needed a culture to call my own. And I couldn’t accept that freeloading is not only tolerated, but actually encouraged for political gain. Which to be honest, really pissed me off. So I never integrated. And knowing what I know now, I don’t think I ever could.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t play nice with the Feds, despite our differences.
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Yep. That’s us. A hedonistic, directionless, amorphous blob of indistinguishable freeloaders.
Nailed it.
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