Jump to content

Reflections on the Karma War

Archon

By Archon
in World Affairs (IC)

 Share

Recommended Posts

Archon Newbie

Archon

Posted
Posted

Preface

This is long. Very, very long. I know this, and admit it, but all the same I implore you to read it in its entirety before responding. Thank you.

To you all, I am many things. I am King of the Mushroom Kingdom, I am the Voice of Karma, I am friend, foe, ally, enemy. I am and have been many things to many people, but today I set pen to paper (or, rather, finger to keyboard) to speak my mind with the one voice I have always held - that of someone who is simply a citizen of Planet Bob. I am not a man of many illusions. I've spent far too much time in this world to entertain any. I've had far too much vitriol aimed at me. I've been the victim of blind, ignorant hatred. I have been PZIed, I have been both victorious and defeated in global warfare, I have seen my alliance burn to the ground, and I have built from the ashes a mighty force. I am here to speak on the idea of illusions, of party lines, of propaganda, and I profess to you that I am doing little more than speaking my mind. I do not seek to author a rock-solid dissertation, and maintain that there may be factual inaccuracies or logical errors in my thoughts. But they are what make my thoughts my own, and I hold no delusions that they are flawless. I just like to tell it how it is, in my own eyes. So at times I will be blunt. I hope you enjoy it.

As I peruse the various threads that litter these forums, I note that the same basic debates arise. People who presume to know the goals of an ill-defined wartime coalition, who operate with the normal short term memory, and who, most of all, conduct themselves with a narrow, self-centered purpose that is offensive to this individual are a common sight. There are a number of flaws, fallacies, and general hypocricies that I wish to give my views upon, and I will attempt to do so with some semblance of coherent organization.

On the Mistaken Belief of a Central Karmic Goal

I should like to begin by discussing the alleged purpose of the Karma Coalition that stands on the brink of victory in this latest global calamity. For those whose memories struggle to reach back more than a few weeks, I seek to remind you all as to the initial status of this war. It began as all others did - a curbstomp. 95 score versus 3.5, or 25,000,000 strength arrayed against 850,000. 1001 nations against 56. Those allies of the 56 in question decided this was the moment to finally stand up and say no to the repeated "curbings" and ruthless beatdowns that have littered the history of this great planet in recent years. As they were attacked and called in their allies to defend, the goal of the coalition never changed. A wartime coalition's goal is victory. It may be driven by a myriad of ideologies, yes, but given the lack of a distinct power structure or overarching governing body, it can stand for nothing more than victory. Never, at any point, did Karma declare that her goal was to define the standards of surrender terms or to usher in an era of peace, happiness, and love. It did not do this because it quite simply cannot.

Karma has no legal power over its constituent alliances - they are bound only by the common fronts they face. And even then such bonds are weak, arbitrary, and quick to fade once the guns are set aside. To maintain that Karma will change the world in any way beyond weakening the member alliances of the Hegemony is to subscribe to a pipe dream. This may yet be done, yes, but by individual alliances setting precedents, and not by a wartime coalition.

To lay the onus of change on an indefinite, ephemeral construct is little more than a base propaganda game. It makes tactical sense, of course, as an effort to gather better surrender terms for one's alliance as well as a belated attempt to win a propaganda war. Don't get me wrong - I firmly believe there are those on both sides who believe that Karma can and should/will enact such a change...but I am also quite aware of the "realpolitik" tactic in play. It is in the best interests of those on the receiving end of these terms to suddenly have a change of heart and embrace the idea of light surrender terms, despite having rarely if ever indulged in such a path in their previous acts. So is it also in the best interests of their allies to argue most vehemently for them. The rationale here should be obvious, and thus I will not seek to explain this further.

On the Sins of the Past

So too is it equally silly to complain that Karma has offered weak terms to too many alliances, allowing the likes of Valhalla (recalling a recent, titanic-sized topic) to escape without more than a limp slap on the wrist. While at first there was an attempt to make it appear Karma had a say in terms, it is the truth that the alliances involved in fighting on any particular front were responsible for the terms proffered on that front. It was, and will be, their responsibility. To complain that Karma has failed is wrong for Karma had no ability to enforce much of anything. And to be honest, those on the side of the Hegemony know and knew all too well that, despite all claims to the contrary, people do indeed worry about their pixels. Quite a bit, actually. They will whine and and complain to the ends of the earth about a lack of support, or the damage they took. This is, in part, why they exited. But it was also out of concern of looking like the devil they faced. It was a simple failing to recognize a basic propaganda ploy. Instead they fell into the hands of those executing it. They, like many others, dance to the tune of those who know how to affect the trends of human thought.

This is quite offensive, of course, to those who remain embroiled in this conflict due to the fact that they face loyal allies who refuse to exit whilst their charges remain engaged. These rare few who know what honor is will continue to sap the strength and will of those they engage by limiting their growth, and pairing this with the strong PR war waged against anything other than white peace, will almost surely lead to fairly lenient terms given to the alliances remaining for the Hegemony. This is their hope, and a skeptic can easily see how this can come to pass. So quickly are the crimes of the past forgotten, a past where alliances were ground into dirt, disbanded, and threatened with PZI for entering peace mode. All of this is left in the dark recesses of one's shallow mind, shunted aside in favor of hypocritical arguments that monetary reparations are the root of all evil and must be avoided at all costs. It is deleted so that instead one can be talked into believing that it is not fighting a war but instead hiding away that is somehow honorable and reasonable now, despite it being decried by those same folks not a year prior.

We forget these actions, quite often, because it is not proper to remind those who now serve on the side of Karma of their roles in these past atrocities. They who would never speak out against the perpetrators of these deeds, though they speak out now against their allies and comrades in arms. We do not wish to speak out against the allies of those currently engaged, not wanting to remind them of their hypocricy with respect to their support of these actions when on the giving end, lest we remind our allies of their roles in the past. It is a small subset of nations who are truly innocent of such a crime. I would maintain that I am a member of this subset, and thus am qualified to speak in such a way. I will not spend time now defending this assertion, but should it be challenged know that I have a full and well-reasoned defense of this claim. I judge those I speak out against now based on their actions, for, as the tired phrase goes, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

A Rest Stop in the Midst of Chaos

This piece may seem to have meandered off onto a tangent, but I hope you can see that the tangled path corresponds to the tangled and confused reasoning often displayed in these threads. They are rife with contradictions, hypocricy, and, at times, outright lies. I have written this to show why I make this claim. I have written this to show how this PR war waged against "harsh terms" is built on pillars of sand, and how a brief stroll through the annals of history can show this. It is not the duty nor the goal of Karma to change the world. It is the goal of Karma to win the war. The disparity of terms with respect to the alliances they were offered to is aimed to help win this war, whether it is on the PR front or the conventional battlefield. The terms offered are to keep the proposed enemy down, so that the victory can be lasting, and any terms proposed or strategies followed between now and the end of the Karma War will be to win the Karma War.

On Defeat

And that leads me to my last point. If you are on the side of the Hegemony, or were on the side of the Hegemony, you lost the war. I don't care how your terms of surrender were worded, or how you want to parade around now, but you lost. You sound as dumb and blind as the NPO regularly does when they proclaim they won the First Great War. I don't give a damn what happened after, but with respect to the military conflict you lost. Please do not claim otherwise. You tucked your tail and ran. You know this, because I can point to alliances like TPF and Echelon who continue to fight a bitter battle in loyal defense of their allies. These are men who did not shrink from their duty. They have also lost this war, but they fight. You do not fight. You also lost the war. Please understand this. If you think, for some reason, that you could have won the war, then you would not have left the battle. You would have stayed in, and you would have been ground to dust. If you believe any other reality, then you need help. That's all I am going to say on this matter.

I thank you again for your time spent reading this piece, and if nothing else I hope it generates interesting thought and debate. I also hope that it encourages people to stop blindly arguing party lines, and to actually speak what they think. I think it could lead to some interesting results. And of course, if any of you take personal exception to the words I have put forward today, I invite you either to post or inform me through private channels. I would be happy to speak with you at length.

Regards,

Archon

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 139
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Roadie Newbie

Roadie

Posted
Posted (edited)

TL:DR. I request that hawk never give this man access to our forums as one post of his would double our forums entire word count and cause our hosting fees to rise.

Also, I plan on reading the OPs WOT immediately after posting this lame attempt at humor.

Good piece, Archon. Tyga posted a piece earlier aboutthe difference in surrender terms. I enjoyed both pieces and hope for more like them. These are very informative to those of us on the other side of the tracks. Especially the ones like myself who didn't pay much attention to politics before.

I have to thank Karma for getting me more interested in CN politics. Before this, I only found CN fun when dropping warheads on foreheads, but they've introduced me to a more interesting aspect of the game.

Edited by Roadie
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Haflinger Newbie

Haflinger

Posted
Posted

Happily I'm a speedreader.

Honestly I expected to lose the war very early on. Most of us did; once the mass-cancel was posted, the coffin was nailed shut for anyone who volunteered. Hegemony actually turned in a better performance than expected, at least by me.

However I also expected to be still fighting now. One night in an IRC channel and getting stunned by bk is the reason that didn't happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...