Aria Jenneth
Caldari
Ghost Festival
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Posted - 2007.03.01 20:23:00 -
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Hello, Nooey. It's good to see you well and active.
With regard to your comments above, I'd have to say that you're partially correct and partially off the mark.
The Caldari people, like my own, sought freedom from the Federation; this much is true. The ethnic Caldari (Civire and Deteis) and the Achura all sought this freedom, however, for the sake of collective self-determination rather than individual freedoms.
Individual freedom is what the Gallente Federation offered us: freedom of each individual to do, within broad limits, whatever he or she wished. The Caldari and Achura both objected to this on the same grounds: that we saw these "freedoms" as ultimately corruptive and corrosive to the fabric of society. The corporations that now make up the Caldari State were the vehicle of our rebellion, the social order we chose for ourselves to guide us into a future in which our people would be "free" to enforce our traditions and customs, to maintain our cultures without the interference of a Federation that did not share our beliefs.
Some loyalists will claim, as you've pointed out and they've gone some distance towards demonstrating, that the Caldari State demands absolute obedience and loyalty. While I am "loyal," as far as that goes, I don't believe this to be the case; the Caldari State is, ultimately, an illusion created by a great capitalist experiment that makes it look as though we have a central government. What we really have is exactly what we had when our revolt began: the corporations, standing up in a way corporations rarely do for the interests of those they employ (and thus becoming, ironically, governments).
This system is not perfect. Governments, in principle, stand for the interests of their people. Corporations, even in principle, stand only for their own profits, and despite their best intentions the Caldari megacorporations have never quite gotten out of this mode. Problems have arisen, it's true, but, even so, these are the structures in which the Caldari people placed their faith upon their departure from the Federation.
Loyalty is a part, I think, of what it means to be Caldari, but not loyalty to this megacorporate superstructure so much as to what it stands to protect: our families, our communities, our traditions, our ways of life. These inspired our revolt against the Federation and remain central to our culture, now. So long as the megacorporate State is loyal to these core Caldari values, and I believe it still is, it will remain worthy of our loyalty in turn. However, should its flaws make it a burden on our peoples, a corruptor and destroyer rather than a protector, then it will be necessary for our deeper loyalties to come to the fore.
So, yes, you are correct when you say that to be Caldari involves more than blind obedience or unquestioning faith. And it does mean struggling for independence, of a sort. The Caldari are accused, at times, of xenophobia, but this is not strictly accurate. What we are, is self-concerned.
The crux of the matter is this: the Caldari seek independence from all, save ourselves. We wish to live our lives without meddling from disapproving individualists or religious imperialists, though a meddlesome aunt is something we'll put up with much more readily. Those who enter our communities from abroad are welcome, so long as they don't attempt to change us. Those who don't appreciate who and what we are, are welcome, with regret, to leave, and some do so. We trade, certainly, with outsiders, we relate freely with those of other nations, but, at heart, our cares are directed always inward, towards our friends, families, and people.
That sense of community, more than the corporations, more than our technology, and more than the sharp interest in wealth that tends to characterize ethnic Caldari, is what defines us-- all of us, Deteis, Civire, and Achura. Mere individual "freedom" seems very poor, next to this.
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