I was wrong, wrong about so many things. The Empire is a lie; a place of ideas and actions gone sour and overwhelmingly wrong. It does not keep its word nor maintain its purpose. Whatever it was, it is no longer. My home, my Empire, has become some other, has lost its past to some future seeming. I cannot in good conscience continue to advance its cause. Therefore, I will not.
Nor will I abandon everything, as so many fools, when disillusioned, do. I will keep what is good and throw out the rest. I certainly won't be siding with the barbarous Republic. No, I would instead follow my Dream and my friends. I will see a world made where pacts are binding, where oaths and actions matter, where one can live upright, or be punished for lacking the faculty to do so.
The Empire is rotting, but the Nation is ready to be reborn. I will not succumb to the sickness of my home, not when I can rise instead, as if on flaming pinions. Even should the effort scour me to my very bones, I will build a world without sin. We will have Utopia, no matter how many must burn for it. No matter what, we will have Utopia.
The world demands nothing less.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Like Nothing Human
I finished moving to Minmatar space several days ago. I have done a small amount of freelance work since I have arrived and all my worldly possessions have been moved and unpacked. I am no longer a resident of the Empire I spent my entire life working for, living in and being surrounded by.
I do not like my new home. The station smells wrong, its lighting is too red and too low and everything is covered in rust. The people, they look at me when I walk by. They must be able to see it in my face and in the way I hold myself that I am Khanid, that I am a warrior, a woman of enhanced abilities. They look at me like I'm a predator in the midst of their herd. They look at me like I'm nothing human.
It must be my eyes. I am so unbalanced by these surroundings, the looks I get, the movement of the crowd around me that I forget. I forget that my eyes have been... upgraded, replaced with equipment more suiting my station. You see, my eyes can shine, they can glow with golden light. My mother and father thought it would be a good party trick, a way to highlight my title and capabilities visibly. I can control it, of course, but like a scowl or a glare, it surfaces on its own when I am frustrated or angry.
They must think I'm a monster. Like some strange beast washed ashore, I remind them of a place both alien and hostile, a place terrible and majestic and utterly without mercy. And like that strange beast, they must know that I am out of my element, fearsome but no longer indomitable. They look at me and I can feel it. I can feel my fear.
I do not like my new home. The station smells wrong, its lighting is too red and too low and everything is covered in rust. The people, they look at me when I walk by. They must be able to see it in my face and in the way I hold myself that I am Khanid, that I am a warrior, a woman of enhanced abilities. They look at me like I'm a predator in the midst of their herd. They look at me like I'm nothing human.
It must be my eyes. I am so unbalanced by these surroundings, the looks I get, the movement of the crowd around me that I forget. I forget that my eyes have been... upgraded, replaced with equipment more suiting my station. You see, my eyes can shine, they can glow with golden light. My mother and father thought it would be a good party trick, a way to highlight my title and capabilities visibly. I can control it, of course, but like a scowl or a glare, it surfaces on its own when I am frustrated or angry.
They must think I'm a monster. Like some strange beast washed ashore, I remind them of a place both alien and hostile, a place terrible and majestic and utterly without mercy. And like that strange beast, they must know that I am out of my element, fearsome but no longer indomitable. They look at me and I can feel it. I can feel my fear.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Slaves in the Garden
Several days ago, Captain Vikarion demonstrated some interesting reasoning in a discussion with Ciarente. I held my tongue during the conversation, as I find it best to think for a time before proclaiming my stance on this or that issue. Unprepared, I remained silent and mulled over his words and hers as well.
These, then, are my thoughts. Before I can discuss whether or not it is right to alter with implants a person's ability to make certain choices, I must determine whether or not people always have the right to act on the choices they make.
I say they do not. We all have the right to feel a certain way, to believe certain things, but we do not have the right to follow our beliefs in any way we may wish. We may certainly have the power, but strength alone is not virtue. We have a right to upright action, a right to be good. We may use our power of choice, of thought and action, to be evil, to uphold false action, but that is not our right. It is simply an option and not one equal to its alternative.
Indeed, the power of law has traditionally rested on the ability to constrain ones actions if the actions in question are evil. It is why there are prisons, executions and slavery. Through the power of law, we can remove entire fields of action from the realm of choice. All nations do this; they must to survive.
I conclude, then, that the right to act on ones choices is not always present. It is conditional and other actors have the right to limit the actions one may undertake. The next question is whether or not an implant that constrains behavior is an immoral method of doing so compared to the other methods that may be chosen.
I say it is not. Compared to execution, it is a great improvement. It offers freedom for people who would otherwise be imprisoned and eases concerns about the safety of those around them. In effectiveness it is supreme, as there is no method by which the person may regress. His mind can shift, of course, can retain to evil thoughts and desires, but he could not act on them.
My conclusion seems inevitable: there is nothing morally wrong with using an implant to limit a person's ability to act, so long as the behavior thus barred is an evil one. The person still retains the ability to formulate intention, which leaves them free as a moral actor. They are free to be good or evil as they will. They are not free to let their bad decisions bring wrack and ruin upon the people around them, which is as it should be.
If, however, you were to ask me, as Captain Vikarion seemed to, if a chip should be used to disallow a person from forming certain thoughts, my answer would be different. I would say no, it is always evil to do so. To take from the soul it's ability of moral agency, it's ability to form desires and choose among them, is the greatest of all evils. How can a man be a good one if he cannot resist temptation within his heart? Such a thing is abomination, a return to the Garden the poet Shariruent spoke of, where we lived as beasts until the great-heart souls rebelled and took up their human nature.
No, I say, we must remain as men in this world, human beings and not beasts of flesh and silicon. I will not be a slave in some Garden of hollow eyes and empty hearts. But perhaps Captain Vikarion, who has always been good to me and those around us, mispoke. Perhaps he conflated act and thought too closely for the sake of expedience. Perhaps.
These, then, are my thoughts. Before I can discuss whether or not it is right to alter with implants a person's ability to make certain choices, I must determine whether or not people always have the right to act on the choices they make.
I say they do not. We all have the right to feel a certain way, to believe certain things, but we do not have the right to follow our beliefs in any way we may wish. We may certainly have the power, but strength alone is not virtue. We have a right to upright action, a right to be good. We may use our power of choice, of thought and action, to be evil, to uphold false action, but that is not our right. It is simply an option and not one equal to its alternative.
Indeed, the power of law has traditionally rested on the ability to constrain ones actions if the actions in question are evil. It is why there are prisons, executions and slavery. Through the power of law, we can remove entire fields of action from the realm of choice. All nations do this; they must to survive.
I conclude, then, that the right to act on ones choices is not always present. It is conditional and other actors have the right to limit the actions one may undertake. The next question is whether or not an implant that constrains behavior is an immoral method of doing so compared to the other methods that may be chosen.
I say it is not. Compared to execution, it is a great improvement. It offers freedom for people who would otherwise be imprisoned and eases concerns about the safety of those around them. In effectiveness it is supreme, as there is no method by which the person may regress. His mind can shift, of course, can retain to evil thoughts and desires, but he could not act on them.
My conclusion seems inevitable: there is nothing morally wrong with using an implant to limit a person's ability to act, so long as the behavior thus barred is an evil one. The person still retains the ability to formulate intention, which leaves them free as a moral actor. They are free to be good or evil as they will. They are not free to let their bad decisions bring wrack and ruin upon the people around them, which is as it should be.
If, however, you were to ask me, as Captain Vikarion seemed to, if a chip should be used to disallow a person from forming certain thoughts, my answer would be different. I would say no, it is always evil to do so. To take from the soul it's ability of moral agency, it's ability to form desires and choose among them, is the greatest of all evils. How can a man be a good one if he cannot resist temptation within his heart? Such a thing is abomination, a return to the Garden the poet Shariruent spoke of, where we lived as beasts until the great-heart souls rebelled and took up their human nature.
No, I say, we must remain as men in this world, human beings and not beasts of flesh and silicon. I will not be a slave in some Garden of hollow eyes and empty hearts. But perhaps Captain Vikarion, who has always been good to me and those around us, mispoke. Perhaps he conflated act and thought too closely for the sake of expedience. Perhaps.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Whorls and Eddies
I will confess, now, that I am more than a little concerned about Miss Roth. Her behavior is quite odd; at first, I thought she was simply exhausted, but the more I watched her at The Last Gate, the more I realized that something had been done to her. I suspect that horrible Blood Raider, Dr. Celes Tenebrae. Supposed ally or not, she reeks of Sabik filth and is surely up to no good.
God grant me strength, but I do not know what to do with it if He does. I have no knowledge of how to deal with brain-addled Gallente girls.
...
On a seperate note, Amarrian space is beginning to become a little dangerous for me. This has little to nothing to do with my support of the Dream; rather, it is connected to my Imperial politics. I'll have to leave soon, I fear, and with so much left undone. At least I'll be able to leave an appropriate parting gift on my way out the door. Remember, future self, to thank Casi for her help again.
I should not have so rudely left the company of my Society brethen at that awful bar, but I had to. If I had stayed, so much could have been lost. Fortunately, I arrived in time to avert disaster, but I need to stay off the grid for a little while longer.
One last note, a reminder to the me that will look on these words in the near future: investigate Ms Jenneth's story.
God grant me strength, but I do not know what to do with it if He does. I have no knowledge of how to deal with brain-addled Gallente girls.
...
On a seperate note, Amarrian space is beginning to become a little dangerous for me. This has little to nothing to do with my support of the Dream; rather, it is connected to my Imperial politics. I'll have to leave soon, I fear, and with so much left undone. At least I'll be able to leave an appropriate parting gift on my way out the door. Remember, future self, to thank Casi for her help again.
I should not have so rudely left the company of my Society brethen at that awful bar, but I had to. If I had stayed, so much could have been lost. Fortunately, I arrived in time to avert disaster, but I need to stay off the grid for a little while longer.
One last note, a reminder to the me that will look on these words in the near future: investigate Ms Jenneth's story.
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