DUST Search - The Caldari Are a Strange People

Galm Fae wrote:

Your inability to grasp the spirit of the Caldari rests on two failures. The first is that you feel there is one united Caldari State to begin with. Our nation has endured sectionalist and secessionist based warfare through the ages, and every time the banner of the Caldari has come out on top. We aren't a race of sheep. We are no flock guided by a monarchist hand. We are individuals all capable of acting towards our own ends and goals, and dispite that the spirit of the Caldari and our deep seated values of patriotism and meritocracy hold us together under one flag. That truth, while deviding us at times, makes us all the more powerful when we find an issue to unite on. That truth is what makes us incompatable with your faith. We will never become drones to a government that insists on sheparding us by force, for as long as there are spirits at our backs and a Cold Wind in our hearts we shall always fight to preserve our power as individuals who bow to no force, be it federal, empirical, or the dictatorship of Heth.

With that in mind, your second failure is in honestly believing that Heth still controls the hearts and minds of those within the State. As each day goes by more and more disenfranchized Caldari find themselves turning towards alternate solutions in government. Even without the intervention of outside merchenary groups, the corperations are not going to allow Heth to run wild much longer. It is bad for business.


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Yun Hee Ryeon Dead Six Initiative Lokun Listamenn 3	Posted - 2013.07.08 16:08:00 - [1] - Quote Sirs, respectfully, you have set yourselves up a bit of an echo chamber here. Tibus Heth's rulership was an anomaly to begin with; the State, as a rule, has no single ruler. It is, rather, divided into what you might think of as a collection of allied corporate fiefdoms. Relations and competition between these are overseen by a political body, the Chief Executive Panel, or "CEP," made up of the leadership of all of the megacorporations. The CEP is generally considered to be the "leadership" of the Caldari State. It granted great power to Tibus Heth following a series of incidents in the year YC 110. Heth's regime brought much-needed reforms, but was also unbalanced in his hatred for the Gallente, among other, more subtle factors. The Caldari retaking of their homeworld (in the Gallentean home system of Luminaire) was his signature act. When it appeared earlier this year that the Gallente might retake it, Heth ordered the Caldari Leviathan stationed in orbit to fire its "doomsday" weapon on the planet's surface, which would have produced a global extinction-level event-- a bit of "if I can't have you, no one shall." Happily, the admiral piloting the Leviathan refused, and, indeed, did all in her power to ensure that the titan's destruction would not harm the planet below more than it absolutely had to. Heth, enraged, forced her to commit ritual suicide. Any credit that Tibus Heth had earned from the Caldari people or their megacorporate rulers, he burned that day. However, the Caldari are an orderly people; his removal had to be executed properly. Unfortunately, Tibus Heth and his Templis Dragonaur terrorist allies recognized his impending fall, and made what was essentially a desperate bid to acquire war material to reconquer Caldari Prime and thereby "undo" his disgrace. (It's telling that he apparently thought that having lost the world the Caldari literally call "Home," was more disgraceful than having ordered it sterilized.) This did not work out as planned. Former Executor Heth, however, apparently escaped, and it seems likely the Dragonaurs still regard him as something of a hero (bearing in mind that they've always been the sort of people who thought bombing the domes of underwater cities and letting in the sea is a good way to make a political statement). The State, however, is moving on without him. You can still find the occasional Heth loyalist (capsuleer Diana Kim, for example), but, for the most part, his power is broken. What this will mean for the State's relations with the Gallente remains to be seen.
Yun Hee Ryeon Dead Six Initiative Lokun Listamenn 4	Posted - 2013.07.08 16:59:00 - [2] - Quote Daedric Lothar wrote: Though many of my people would disagree, all roads of faith lead to God. For He is, even if you take Him to be one of your ancestors or a spirit. A heartwarming sentiment, Mr. Lothar. It would be pleasant to see it become more popular. For my own part, I am religiously (hence culturally; the two go hand-in-hand in the State) Achura. We are a client people of the Caldari, and mostly live in isolation on our homeworld. So-- not quite so much with the ancestor worship; we're mostly about contemplation and exploration of the universe we find ourselves part of.
Yun Hee Ryeon Dead Six Initiative Lokun Listamenn 21	Posted - 2013.07.08 19:28:00 - [3] - Quote Galm Fae wrote: Your inability to grasp the spirit of the Caldari rests on two failures. The first is that you feel there is one united Caldari State to begin with. Our nation has endured sectionalist and secessionist based warfare through the ages, and every time the banner of the Caldari has come out on top. We aren't a race of sheep. We are no flock guided by a monarchist hand. We are individuals all capable of acting towards our own ends and goals, and dispite that the spirit of the Caldari and our deep seated values of patriotism and meritocracy hold us together under one flag. That truth, while deviding us at times, makes us all the more powerful when we find an issue to unite on. That truth is what makes us incompatable with your faith. We will never become drones to a government that insists on sheparding us by force, for as long as there are spirits at our backs and a Cold Wind in our hearts we shall always fight to preserve our power as individuals who bow to no force, be it federal, empirical, or the dictatorship of Heth. With that in mind, your second failure is in honestly believing that Heth still controls the hearts and minds of those within the State. As each day goes by more and more disenfranchized Caldari find themselves turning towards alternate solutions in government. Even without the intervention of outside merchenary groups, the corperations are not going to allow Heth to run wild much longer. It is bad for business. Fae-haan, respectfully, it's odd-- I can't find any specific point of your statements to quibble with, at least very strongly, and yet, the tone.... You seem to cast the Caldari almost as libertarians. Which ... um, respectfully, you're really, really not. State society may not be made up of "sheep," but within any given corporate structure it's highly focused on unity. Take it from a citizen of a Caldari client state, Mr. Fae: what makes the Caldari incompatible with the Amarrian faith is that the Caldari are ever-so-focused on being Caldari, as opposed to Gallente, Amarrian, or even (theoretically Way of the Winds-compatible) Intaki or Achur. We cultural Achura live apart from you because you desire to remain yourselves, and for us to remain ourselves. You struggle, you compete-- and yet you compete at unity, struggle to conform the most severely to what is expected of you, needed from you, what will add the greatest value to your community. It's fascinating to watch. It's not very individualist, though.
Yun Hee Ryeon Dead Six Initiative Lokun Listamenn 21	Posted - 2013.07.08 20:32:00 - [4] - Quote Galm Fae wrote: Don't mistake our pride for xenophobia Ryeon-haani. I don't deny that Caldari insist on remaining Caldari, but that spawns from a longstanding pride in who we are as a people. Legally, I a Civire. My father fought some time ago in the Waschi Uprising as a logistical officer under Mordu. My mother, as she soon became, was an Intaki refugee from that conflict. As a result, my family has seen both sides of Caldari superiority. We have been within and without. In time however I came to understand the State and why we fight. You insist that corperate structure breeds unity, but you forget that capitalism is spawned off the right of individual liberties and expansion of power through your own means. When I stopped identifying with my Intaki heritage I was able to finally exercise my citizenship within the State. The truth is, to be Caldri is as simple as accepting yourself as Caldari and to fully embracethe culture and heiian towards your fellow citizens. Which comes the question, are we Caldari united or devided? It is a mobius strip. Just as my family, we are within and without. I don't expect an outsider to grasp the concept honestly. I suppose we Caldari are a strange race. You are correct: the Caldari are not xenophobic as such (extremists such as the Templis Dragonaurs being the exception). However, they do walk a bit of a fine line in places-- places such as treatment of persons of mixed ethnicity. What you say of what defines a Caldari is absolutely true. (I made the conversion to Caldari citizenship myself, else I would not have been able to achieve my present status. There is no separate Achur clone soldier program.) However, because the Caldari know that a blending of bloods leads to a blending of cultures.... With respect, Fae-haan, you are extremely fortunate to have received full formal Civire identification. As you suggest, Caldari unity in culture is a bit of a mobius strip-- but that, with respect, is largely at the megacorporate level. Lower down, well ... we clone soldiers, much like capsuleers, are given an unusual level of personal freedom. It's how I was able to return to the culture and faith of my mother, and her mother before her. But if you were a common megacorporate citizen attempting to open an independent, private business out from under megacorporate auspices ... ... bearing in mind that much of the nonentity "class" is composed of those who lose their corporate citizenship, and therefore their legal status ... ... respectfully, I do not think the results would have been very positive. Fae-haan, please understand: though I have chosen to revert to my original culture, I hold no animosity or distaste for the Caldari way of life. I have lived it, and done so relatively happily. I am no enemy of the State; indeed, I am grateful for the protection your people, and the Sukuuvestaa corporation in particular, grant to mine. But I try to see matters clearly. My faith demands that much of me. Some of what Caldari do in the name of protecting your culture is ruthless. I do not say that it is "wrong," only that it is sometimes harsh. Your freedom to be who you are as a culture comes at the cost of individual freedoms; that is the way it must be, if your culture is to survive. That is the trade your ancestors made. It works for you, and for us, but it is not a path of individual freedom. That is the way of the Federation, and of the Gallente in particular. When individualism infiltrates the State, the result is corruption, as seen in the selfish actions and attitudes of the Executive class in the years before Heth.
Yun Hee Ryeon Dead Six Initiative Lokun Listamenn 25	Posted - 2013.07.08 22:51:00 - [5] - Quote Kador Ouryon wrote: What I fail to understand is where you animosity towards the Amarr Empire stems from. They have ever been our steadfast allies and friends in need. We have a shared people in the Khanid who seek the unity of both empires. How could you treat out imperial friends with such mistrust and slander their good name with acidic words of mistrust hidden behind the sweeter words of Caldari pride? With respect, Mr. Ouryon, to both yourself and to Mr. Fae-- and recognizing, of course, that Mr. Fae is fully capable of speaking for himself-- it appears that it is precisely Caldari pride that inspires Mr. Fae's words. The Caldari have long resented and resisted outside attempts to influence them, however well-intentioned. Some of what the Amarr who spoke here said was, perhaps not intentionally, inconsiderate of the State's independence. To say that the Caldari are spiky about such things is a bit of an understatement. To put it another way, Mr. Fae spoke as an offended Civire-- culturally plain-spoken and aggressive-- in response to loose talk from a foreign party. Would you expect him to respond with caution?
Yun Hee Ryeon Dead Six Initiative Lokun Listamenn 26	Posted - 2013.07.08 23:24:00 - [6] - Quote Harkon Vysarii wrote: A half breed is not true Civre. Pure Blooded Caldari scoff at this ones attempts at nationalism. ... And, there's the reason why admitting to being half-blooded is maybe a bad idea. Mr. Vysarii's remarks reflect official policy throughout most or all of the State. However, with respect to all concerned, as an Achur, this is not my fight. You'll please excuse me if I bow out of this one.