[Sal Paradise]

There's a saying, I'm sure you've all heard, that when God gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Now, I loathe to use such a cliche, but I love extended metaphors. You see, good people of Planet Bob, from the founding of my nation I was thrown a particularly sour lemon. I was born in a time when freedom was a distant memory, when once proud men lay broken and groveling before a witless man-child with a cow fetish, who heaped praise upon them for their timely payments of tribute. It was a sick, repugnant age, the darkest age this world has ever seen.


Like many of you I found solace and purpose in the resistance: the fight against EZI, secret terms, tech extortion, viceroys, perpetual war, the rewriting of history, member censorship. There were many living under the tyranny of the Hegemony that couldn't speak and fight for themselves. We fought for them. There were many that didn't even know their oppression and argued vociferously against us. We fought for them too. And even among us, there were some that were freer than others. We looked to the freest of us for inspiration. I joined the Greenland Republic after exchanging messages with Virillus and being told that GR wasn't afraid to fight and die for a cause. And indeed, their long and rich history is endearingly rife with examples. We were among the freer ones, and our relations with some of our allies sometimes suffered for it.

As the hegemony began to slowly unravel before us, we wondered what to do. Would we join a Continuum civil war? And on whose side? Few were interested in being either side's meatshield. In fact, I can't recall anyone that was. Fortunately though, the choice was made for us. Twisted and sadistic, the hegemony refused to implode and destroy itself. It had to be destroyed, perhaps fittingly, with a last ditch attempt at tyranny.

The Karma War was seen by many as an opportunity to write all the wrongs of the ancien regime. In those first weeks we were euphoric. A new age was dawning on Planet Bob. Just as we had done during the resistance, we fought for everybody. We fought for the oppressed, and the unknowingly oppressed. But there was one new group we fought for. A small but powerful, and respected, enclave of rulers turned their noses at us in cynical judgment. Karma, according to them, was tainted by the past of some of its members, its disorganization, and its ambiguous goals. We fought for these people as well, the people that knew a Karma victory would benefit them but for whom Karma wasn't good enough. And as tyranny gave way to liberty, you could see it manifest in their words.

I felt the same way as the cynics though. I knew Karma wasn't what so many thought it was, but I believed it was a necessary evil, and the only chance we had at saving this world. I, like others I'm sure, held our noses and fought for that better world.

But I was wrong and the cynics that did nothing but complain were right. It wasn't "Just-As-Bad", pre-terms or supposedly harsh surrender terms that they were right about though. They were right about the virtue of being self-righteous do-nothing prigs. I should have expected moral perfection from Karma and haughtily rejected them for the slightest blemish. Working hard in the muck with others looking down on me, is not the path of a dignified man such as myself. Unflinching principle resulting in practical inaction is the correct position. I've realized this now and taken steps to act accordingly. Now that I am removed from this war, I can confidently look down on you all and feel the great self-satisfaction the cynics must have felt.

I'm so much better than you now.

Thank you Karma.

This post has been edited by Sal Paradise: 20 June 2009 - 03:22 AM

[Teriethien]

Nicely written. Very interesting read.

[Star Gazing]

o/

Good read.

[Azhrarn]

No, thank you. This line, in particular, is :

Sal Paradise said:

Unflinching principle resulting in practical inaction is the correct position.

This post has been edited by Azhrarn: 20 June 2009 - 03:51 AM

[Geopet]

There were many that didn't even know their oppression and argued vociferously against us. We fought for them too.

And again. As some might see the world now turned upside down or right side up, it is neither.

[HalfEmpty]

Well you've certainly been writing all the wrongs recently.

[Sal Paradise]

Geopet, on Jun 20 2009, 03:30 AM, said:

There were many that didn't even know their oppression and argued vociferously against us. We fought for them too.

And again. As some might see the world now turned upside down or right side up, it is neither.

*takes a long drag from his cigarette*

Mmm... groovy.

HalfEmpty, on Jun 20 2009, 04:00 AM, said:

Well you've certainly been writing all the wrongs recently.

YOUR MASTERY OF WORDPLAY HAS PUT ME TO SHAME GOOD SIR.

[BringMeTheHorizon]

[ooc]People still dont realize this is a game...

Do what you do in this land, my views are not of yours.

This post has been edited by BringMeTheHorizon: 20 June 2009 - 05:26 PM

[Sal Paradise]

BringMeTheHorizon, on Jun 20 2009, 12:58 PM, said:

People still dont realize this is a game...

OOC: most topics like this are in Open World RP, an OOC forum. I put this here, in an IC forum, specifically because I realize this is a game, and I couldn't seriously say any of the things I said without it being IC.

You could dismiss anything ever said on these forums with "hurrr it's just a game", but those of us with any real sense of what this game is only tend to do so when it's startlingly obvious that the poster is taking things too far. EZI, hunting down Nazi bogeymen, outrage over the desecration of fictitious flags being examples.

Users of the Fantasy RP forums get into heated debates of such childishness and vindictiveness as to put all of us here to shame. And yet nobody ever goes into Fantasy RP and smugly dismisses them because this is just 'a game'. It's likely that those RPers don't care what we think, and we are intelligent enough to leave them to their game. So Mr. Horizon, if you wish to play this game for its fascinating arrangement of pixels that's your decision. But next time you feel the need to be a witless boor in an in character forum, please keep it out of my thread. I don't care to know that you have nothing interesting to say.

This post has been edited by Sal Paradise: 20 June 2009 - 02:46 PM

[Velken]

Sal Paradise, on Jun 20 2009, 03:27 PM, said:

OOC: most topics like this are in Open World RP, an OOC forum. I put this here, in an IC forum, specifically because I realize this is a game, and I couldn't seriously say any of the things I said without it being IC.

You could dismiss anything ever said on these forums with "hurrr it's just a game", but those of us with any real sense of what this game is only tend to do so when it's startlingly obvious that the poster is taking things too far. EZI, hunting down Nazi bogeymen, outrage over the discretion of fictitious flags being examples.

Users of the Fantasy RP forums get into heated debates of such childishness and vindictiveness as to put all of us here to shame. And yet nobody ever goes into Fantasy RP and smugly dismisses them because this is just 'a game'. It's likely that those RPers don't care what we think, and we are intelligent enough to leave them to their game. So Mr. Horizon, if you wish to play this game for its fascinating arrangement of pixels that's your decision. But next time you feel the need to be a witless boor in an in character forum, please keep it out of my thread. I don't care to know that you have nothing interesting to say.

Well said, very well said.

[Ashen]

Nice rebuttle

[Random]

Squall(FF8) said:

Right and wrong are not what separate us and our enemies. It's our different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us. Both sides blame one another. There's no good or bad side. Just 2 sides holding different views.

My point being is morality was just the point of view of the winning side this time, was there actually any morality in war or has there ever been morality in war? No, war has no room for morality it is and always has been kill or be killed. That may not completely apply in the cyber verse but it more or less holds true up to the point of "kill or be killed" since you can't actually die on a computer game.

[Jipps]

Random, on Jun 20 2009, 02:51 PM, said:

My point being is morality was just the point of view of the winning side this time, was there actually any morality in war or has there ever been morality in war? No, war has no room for morality it is and always has been kill or be killed. That may not completely apply in the cyber verse but it more or less holds true up to the point of "kill or be killed" since you can't actually die on a computer game.

If there is no morality in war, you would say that the Karma War was strategic then?

[Random]

Jipps, on Jun 20 2009, 09:54 PM, said:

If there is no morality in war, you would say that the Karma War was strategic then?

If your asking if it was executed in a much better fashion then the noCB war then yes it is.

[Jipps]

Random, on Jun 20 2009, 02:56 PM, said:

If your asking if it was executed in a much better fashion then the noCB war then yes it is.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I meant to ask if the reasoning behind the alliances fighting in the Karma war was based on strategy? Since there is is no morality in war according to your earlier post.

[Elyat]

It is a shame that our loves are forbidden with you making such flagrant attempts to win my heart.

[Random]

Jipps, on Jun 20 2009, 10:00 PM, said:

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I meant to ask if the reasoning behind the alliances fighting in the Karma war was based on strategy? Since there is is no morality in war according to your earlier post.

As I'm not in charge of any alliance at all on either side I couldn't say it was as my earlier post reflects on myself and my own beliefs. Do I personally believe it was strategic? Yes it was as we see the results were satisfactory to most.

[DogeWilliam]

Sal Paradise, on Jun 20 2009, 03:27 PM, said:

hunting down Nazi bogeymen, outrage over the desecration of fictitious flags being examples.

I wouldn't consider either of those taking it too far.

As for your OP, I don't know whether you are just being sarcastic...or something completely different. Could you explain more clearly why exactly you are too good for Karma now?

[Jipps]

Random, on Jun 20 2009, 03:04 PM, said:

As I'm not in charge of any alliance at all on either side I couldn't say it was as my earlier post reflects on myself and my own beliefs. Do I personally believe it was strategic? Yes it was as we see the results were satisfactory to most.

I would assume then that you believe that terms should be administered according to strategy and not based on the morality of the alliances involved, correct?

It is a pleasent surprise to see members of alliances involved on the Karma side of the war aknowledging this war for what it is, and not some candy coated ultimate salvation. A tip of my hat to you.

[Vilien]

This was one of the best works I've read in quite some time.