Khan Volji
    |
Posted - 2008.07.10 19:24:00 -
[32]
 Originally by: Zagamesh
A truly free person would never willingly reject their freedom. Neither would those who have never known freedom, as they have none to reject.
I appreciate your passion, Pilot Zagamesh, but I cannot fully agree. Your culture must value your freedom of choice but in others this may not be the case. I have tasted this freedom of yours and I am not certain it is for me. Let me explain my culture so that you may understand more about someone who thinks much differently from yourself.
To a Jin-Mei it is inconceivable to disobey one's Sang Do. Even a Saan Go of exceptional standing would not disobey his Sang Do's wishes. Our culture demands certain sacrifices of each caste for the betterment of the whole.
A Jing Ko must sacrifice our overall freedom to choose but our clan becomes stable as a result. A stable Jing Ko caste creates a stable Jin-Mei clan. As I have mentioned before, we are the tools of the master craftsmen. All of us have different strengths like each tool as a different purpose. Our Sang Do, and to a lesser extent the Saan Go, are expected to create the best Jin-Mei society based on the strengths of the Jing Ko.
A Saan Go must sacrifice desire for personal gain. This may sound odd because most know Saan Go as government officials, corporate executives and other similar posts, which on many worlds, are able to swindle the common people while accumulating vast fortunes. While this has happened in the past and undoubtedly will happen again in the future it is rare on Lirsautton III.
The reason this is rare could be a lengthy discussion for those unfamiliar with our ways so I shall try to explain it simply and concisely. A Saan Go must be a leader of the Jing Ko and a representative of their needs to the Sang Do. As we have established earlier, a stable Jing Ko class leads to a stable Jin-Mei clan. A Saan Go who represents the Jing Ko poorly will disrupt the clan and make it a target for another, perhaps stronger Jin-Mei clan who is looking to expand their territory.
The Sang Do are mostly kind leaders who care deeply for their fellow clansmen. Because of this they sacrifice their personal security to their fellow Jin-Mei.
I have heard of very few Sang Do who were vicious to their people in our history. Our Sang Do are not impossible to locate within a society. They are protected by the Jing Ko and are given information by the Saan Go. A Sang Do who does not lead a stable Jin-Mei clan is like a blind man with no strength to stand. He will succumb to the forces of nature or to his fellow man and will die pitiful.
As you can see, Pilot Zagamesh, personal freedoms are simply not within our culture's needs. What a Jin-Mei needs is to rely on one another. As a member of the Jin-Mei military I could not simply walk away from my post because I felt I had the right or freedom to do so. Should I fail to serve as the protector of my Sang Do our entire clan could have been decimated. Were I the broken circuit in our generator, our shields could have dropped and our enemies could have struck.
I have the freedom many of my Gallentian friends cherish so much and it is quaint... but I do wish for the days when my clan was stable and my Sang Do alive. Yes my 'freedom' was restricted but we were secure and stable.
Perhaps this is another reason why I have considered the questions of allegiance over the past few days with so many others here. At one time there was no question to with whom my allegiance lay and it is sad to see those days gone and freedom in it's place.
|
BloodBird
Gallente
Federal Defence Union
|
Posted - 2008.07.10 20:59:00 -
[33]
Originally by: Khan Volji
Originally by: Zagamesh
A truly free person would never willingly reject their freedom. Neither would those who have never known freedom, as they have none to reject.
Interesting desciption about the Jin-Mei society
Freedom and liberty are, like all things, relative.
Let's take the Amarrian imperial society as an example.
The slaves are 'slaves' of all the above. Commoners could be said to be slaves of the holders and all manner or officials between them and the lords and ladies of the diffrent houses. The lords of the houses are in a way 'slaves' to the Emperor/Empress, and whoever is the supreme leader of the Empire is a 'slave' of sorts to God. ONLY god alone is the supreme master.
This is ofcourse very, very simplified but it tells, in crude ways, how the raking ladder of society works. For every level one goes below God, a new layer of 'freedom' is removed, but this is needed for society to work effectively. Again, this is the AMARRIAN society.
In popular federal culture, we have the idea that all are equal to each other. In this sense, there is no diffrent social ranking ladder like slaves, commoners, holders etc.
All is on an equal footing, but still someone must lead, someone must obey and follow. A man working as a retailer in the Federation has far more 'freedom' than a slave in the Empire, or Kingdom. Still, he is limited by his location in society. A retailer can not randomly make decitions on how the Federation at large is to be governed, as an example.
But he can go to a voting bot and cast his vote for who will be made senator, or representative, of his local region, on his local planet. Those senators from that plantet then chose who is to represent the planet and so on it goes, until you have an inner council of senators where one out of all willing, or able, particepants are elected president, out of popular demand from the people, people like the retailer back on his local planet.
In this way, the retailer has the 'freedom' to say who HE wants to see make decitions, and so on.
Similarely, Jin-Mei, Intaki, Mannar, Gallente, and all manner of minority imigrants like Minmatar, Ni-kunni, Deteis etc are all equal as human beings, but some have a more powerfull precense of culture than others.
For instance, an Intaki may find that while her own culture reigns supreme on Intaki Prime, and a Jin-Mei that his culture is followed to the letter on Lirsautton III, it is not so on, say, Gallente Prime. There, they might have to sacrifice some freedoms they take for granted simply due to location. A good example is the Amarr. An Amarrian living on Gallente Prime would be a fool to put to action the 'freedom' to own slaves that is quite common and acceptable on Amarr Prime, simply because he would be thrown into jail if he did. (And it was discovered)
He still hold the Freedom to practice his religion ofcourse, but that is another matter.
A man who was born a slave to an Amarrian master still have some freedom of a sort. He can try to flee, he can chose to obey obediantly or not, he may kill himself. He may attempt to kill is master(s). These are but few of many, but quite limited 'freedoms' he might have, and the ammount wax and wane based on many factors, including the mood or mind of his owner. If the slave belonged to, say, Veron Daerth, his list of options would be quite longer I think.
Freedom is very relative.
Sig source |