Alliance of the Willing

I did not intend on writing or using this blog as a vehicle for personally attacking anyone, no matter how much their writing marks them as unintelligible fools without the capacity for rational thought.  It’s a pledge I intend on keeping.  To that end, I will not make any comments about how a person identifies himself as a cretin unworthy of the title “writer”.

That said, read this article.

Perhaps the author doesn’t realize that only those who make their living fanning the flames of racial unrest make comparisons to chattel slavery.  It’s a degrading comparison any time it’s made, it insults an entire group of people (Americans, not just African-Americans), and it is a mark of an intellectually bankrupt argument.  Only those who have been defeated by logic, evidence, and experience make such claims.  It’s possible he wasn’t aware of this.

Secondly, his “evidence” is circumstantial at best, and built around a narrative that he chooses to believe as a member – and donor – of Test Alliance.  Do you know why alliances were asked to leave the CFC?  Failcascades resulting in ½ of the corporations leaving, changing the nature of the alliance.  Failure to show up for CFC operations despite wanting and receiving spoils from prior campaigns.  Basically, not pulling their own weight.

No one can deny that Goonswarm is the first among equals.  Why is this?  Is it because they’ve tricked everyone else into believing their equals while they’re being flogged?  No.  It’s because the Something Awful forum and culture was one that established a number of strong personalities, personalities who were well-suited to coalition-building.  Yes, without Goons, the CFC wouldn’t exist.  They built it, they established a “coalition of equals” concept and proved the functionality over the course of years.

Note that bit…. proved the functionality.  The CFC exists because Goons said they would treat everyone as equals and…they…lived…that…promise.  The alliances of the CFC handle their own internal affairs.  They can go to war as they see fit, provided it’s not a blue (which they’ve all consensually set blue).  They can establish any internal policies they wish.  All that is required is that they provide pilots for coalition wars.

Why do they do this?  Is The Mittani some sort of Svengali who is manipulating his allies?  Of course not.  They do it for two reasons, and two reasons alone.  The first is fights.  The CFC alliances are PvP alliances, and they want to kill people.  The Mittani provides this, as well as the logistics that make sov warfare happen.  Goons offer coordination of diverse alliances, and do it well.  With the CFC, you gain victory because of coordination and organization.  That’s what they provide, in addition to their own pilots.

The second reason is territory, including moons.  When wars end, the spoils are divided based on the participation.  Alliances that contributed pilots, operations, and logistics are rewarded, and those who did not perform are not.  In this sense, spoils are divided based on merit and worth.

That is not slavery.  That’s a confederation attitude.  The Mittani gets his kicks leading this effort, but the CFC alliances follow him because he delivers on all his promises.  If he started being a space tyrant, his allies would stop showing up and his power would evaporate.  The true skill of The Mittani is that he is keenly aware of this.  Fidelity keeps the CFC together.

But Gevlon brings historical precedents into the argument, so let me give you a more apt comparison.  The CFC is the thirteen US colonies at the implementation of the Constitution in 1789.  A multitude of states gathering together for common cause, defense, and profit.  Yes, some states are more important (Virginia, New York, South Carolina, Massachusetts) and others less so (North Carolina, Georgia, New Jersey).  I’d say Goonswarm is Virginia – populous, powerful, and wealthy, providing many statesman.  But Razor is Massachusetts, a state boasting a proud history and strong foundation.  And FA is South Carolina.  On occasion, the union might lose a Georgia (who never participated in the second Continental Congress that drafted the Declaration of Independence), but those states who show up and remain – at their core – the same alliance are always welcome.

Test would be Canada – they opted out of the union and never bought into the “alliance of the willing” model.  The difference is that while Canada was saved during the Revolution by Benedict Arnold taking a bullet at the Battle of Quebec, Test had no such good fortune.

But this lengthy response already does more service than an argument that resorts to racial imagery deserves.  Nor should the Test Alliance that performed so nobly at 6VDT deserve such a ranting travesty of agirprop as racial demagoguery as appeared in that post.  They performed honorably, hardly deserving the insult of being referenced in such a shameful post.