Source:New York System, Derelict Pirate Freighter, Grid Coords F6
Citizens of Liberty, wake up!
Our corrupt politicians have stomped all over our constitutional rights. The very ideals that our house was founded upon has been swept aside by our lawmakers for the benefit of the few.
Our once-fine house has become a fascist police state on par with Rheinland. Every day we see freedom of speech suppressed. "Inciting Violence" they call it. The way the law is written is so broad that it could be used to silence any kind of political opposition or peaceful protest.
Our lawmakers have gone so far as to eliminate ALL legal protection for those who commit ANY crime. The peaceful protester speaking out against the government, the old lady caught jaywalking? Our government can do whatever they want to these relatively innocent individuals, up to and including lifetime imprisonment and execution. This simultaneously goes against over half of our bill of rights.
Our media portrays pirates, terrorists and other political dissidence as criminal scumbags who deserve nothing better then prison time. While it is true that every society has a few bad eggs, a lot of honest, hardworking people have also been forced into this because they dared to speak out against the government. Who can say how many of these 'pirates and terrorists' are actually functioning members of society as opposed to criminal scum?
The letter of the law clearly states that the law is not to be interpreted in any way. What, then, is the purpose of our court system? Blind adherence to the letter of the law is not obeying the intent of the people who wrote the law.
To the honorable men and women serving in our armed forces: You have a duty to protect the Liberty citizen above all else. Not protecting the politicians, or the rich, or the corporations, but the Liberty citizen. A few of the 'criminal scumbags' you so despise have managed to position themselves within positions of power in the Liberty Armed Forces, and indeed, the Liberty Government.
Remember as a soldier, you have not only the right to, but a duty to question and refuse any orders given to you that you feel is suspect. The rights and lives of the common citizen is more important then your performance bonuses.
The political situation within Liberty is so bad that I cannot even disagree with the government without fear of being arrested on terrorism charges. Is this the kind of society we want to live in? A society where the average citizen lives in fear and tyranny?? Or one where the average citizen lives in freedom and liberty?
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
It's always good to see one more people opening his eyes and seeing behind the veil that the corporate oligarchy weaves to obscure the minds of the common libertonian. Couldn't been said better.
But the transmission lacks a conclusion, and a way readers can follow to fasten the end of the sorry state our beloved space dwells in. Let me provide that.
From: Colonel Aloysius Rhade
To: The People
Priority: LOW
[Message Begins]
Ah, it's always refreshing to find that the citizens of the houses are discovering for themselves the very things Coalition fights for and against. We fight for those who have no voice and no way to fight against your oppressors. We fight for equality, fairness and for the rights of the people.
I offer the bravest, most determined of you another option, an option that will allow you to fight these things, not just for your family, but for the families of others as well. Fight for those who do not have any way to fight.
I will not lie to you however, our recruitment is not easy. If we ever hope to liberate the houses, there can be no halfheartedness within the Fighter Corps. There can be no doubt, there can only be Dedication, Loyalty and Strength. However, if you think you have these attributes, and are willing to fight for what's right then the Fighter Corps may be the place for you. Make your decision carefully, make sure you know what you're getting yourself into as there is no going back.
If you are less inclined to use violence, and that's understandable as we realize you do not wish to put your families at risk, then you can rise up in other ways. Convince others around you that the way your government operates is not the right way, speak to your friends and co-workers, enlighten them and teach them. In this way, you can promote change by rallying support.
I have high hopes that every citizen will come to the same realization, and that change can occur.
No doubt there are those oppressed by the Navy, either by mistake, intention or affiliation.
I know this, for in my time as a lawyer I have represented many of them.
But that is what the legal system is for.
Having rights does not mean you can resist arrest.
Having rights does not mean you can associate with pirates and expect to remain unblemished.
There are dark enemies gathered around Liberty who wish many things; vengeance for a forgotten wrong, credits and cargo cheap to the hand, dangerous drugs allowed to be peddled on the streets to our children, foreigners whom seek to invade Liberty, and those who's beliefs in corruption corrupt us all.
And against the dark stands a bulwark; the proud men and women of the Liberty Navy, who daily risk their lives to make safe commerce, to make safe your homes, to make safe your wives and children and husbands.
My brother....my brother was a navyman. And it destroyed him inside, to see the depravity some have fallen to; to see the needless waste and destruction of life by those who prey upon others; to see death on such a scale among the fallen wreckage of Rheinland and Liberty ships alike.
But he did his job, and did it well; for it is only upon the blood and lives of men and women like him that we stand free, upon the backs of rough men ready to do violence on our behalf.
It is the Navy and your government whom has kept, to the best of their ability, drugs from Manhattan; whom has kept Rheinlanders out of Texas; whom has kept pirates from infesting every trade lane in your fair House.
It will always sadden me to see those who wish nothing more than to destroy commerce claim freedom; to see those who take life for profit claim their rights have been violated; to see those whose piracy have put people out of jobs, have murdered and schemed their way into success in the criminal world with bloodshed and brutality, claim they fight for Liberty. Good night, and may you be safe.
gone four years, first day back: Zoners still getting shot in Theta :|
Let me give it to you straight. I'm a patriot. I have precisely zero interest in the drug trade, or making millions, or fighting off xenos, or sabotaging the Liberty Navy, or blowing up corporate shipping. My only interests lie in freeing the people of Liberty, and doing what is necessary to achieve this goal.
This can be accomplished merely by eliminating the root cause of the problem - the bankers - and nothing more. Any action that does not directly or indirectly lead itself to that goal ceases to be patriotic and instead becomes criminal.
Therefore I reject the ideologies of the rogues, the hackers, and the xenos. I have opened my eyes, and I do not need others to tell me what must be done.
Yes Mr. I see where you come from. Many people who I had a drink in the bar of Mactan shared your views at one point - so did I. I'd gladly get into a debate about what changes our opinions went trough upon seeing some evidence, that officially never existed. I'd also gladly explain the reasons behind some of the questionable methods we have to resort to. But doing so effectively would require me to disclose some or all of the facts that got us to this point - what I can't do in such public place due to their secretive nature. Doing so would mean us (and Liberty) more harm than good.
So all I can say is that we do understand your concerns, without expecting you to agree with our ways. I sincerely hope that whatever you want to achieve will happen. And if we ever get to the point to be allowed to vote, you (or people with similar mindsets) will be the change that we'll support.
I do -not- hope that you will ever understand why we do what we do - and how. Seriously. The more I know about Liberty, the worse I feel, and the more disillusioned I get. The best would be if the change could be done without citizens losing their beliefs and trust towards people that governs them - or towards people in general. Wish I could feel again how you do feel now.
Capitalism may be the worst economic system, except for all the others. In a free market, I have the option to pick the best plan for me, from a range of suppliers, at the price I wish to pay. As soon as you get government involved, there are mandates of what plans have to be included, thus increasing prices and consolidating supply. That is not only bad for the consumers, but it is also bad for innovation. And let's not even get started on how bad unions can be....
The ideal political system is one that heavily favors governments small enough that they are forced to answer to the people. Government on a house-wide level only needs to be strong enough to protect the population during emergencies. Any kind of strong government is a bad government.
We do not need sweeping socioeconomic changes that go against the values that our house is founded upon. All we need to do is think for ourselves and restore power to the people.
From: Colonel Aloysius Rhade
To: The People
Priority: LOW
[Message Begins]
You must not believe everything you hear about us.
The Coalition has no problems with the free market, it is when that free market revolves around wealth that is unevenly distributed or built on the backs of workers that are payed next to nothing that there is a problem. That is why we fight.
The ideal political system is one run by the people, for the people. If you have that, then everything else falls into place. The choice is yours however, I merely offer a different option. Everyone can work toward the same goal in different ways.
The rights you talk about have been long since taken away by our current government.
Indeed, there are proud patriots in the navy that fight for what they believe is right. There are also crooks within the navy who hide behind a veil of secrecy and do the bidding of the politicians and bankers.
That's right, the bankers. Your company is at the core of the problems plaguing our house.
Now where do I begin? Bank fraud, bribing politicians, immoral foreclosures on people's property. The list goes on and on. Your vile greed is ingrained into the very law of our current government. The common man or woman has no recourse except to pay and pay the rest of their lives because the debt hasn't been paid off and the interest keeps accumulating. The interest never stops. Not war, nor the gloom of night, stops the interest charges from accumulating. In fact, war is a profitable venture so banks fund that as well, at an 'acceptable interest rate'. The only way out for the common citizen is death. Ss therefore you banksters are the most evil of people.
And if ones looks even deeper, it goes far beyond socioeconomics. There are conspiracies against the common people at work as well. The banks are nothing short of a oligarchy - rule by the rich, for the rich.
The time for peaceful protest has long passed. Even overthrowing our government is not enough - we need to seize power from the corporations as well, and replace it with a just government and a free market.
A man should have the right and ability to live off his wage, and live well. But that does not excuse him from the choices he makes.
Time and time again I have seen men ruined by their own mistakes - trade captains cutting the margins one too many times, trying to shave an extra parsec off their travel times; Homeowners who took out more than they could afford so they could live in luxury; Men who purchased fast ships to impress women when they worked a labor job; women who spend more on clothing than they do to feed themselves; those who laze around and feel that they have an obligation to a job, a right to work even when they do not apply themselves; those who by lack of want or will failed to apply themselves in school; at work; in life.
A free market is a free market - for employers as well as consumers, for us as well as you.
Are there those who's greed is unnatural, who's unwavering lust for it will consume others? Of course, but it is a society's responsibility, a government's responsibility, to purge them and cast them out.
To owe debt, one must first spend what one does not have; and I will have no sympathy with those who do and do not own up to their own mistakes. I pulled myself up out of the dirty rocks of Southampton, from Junker brat, Son of a Molly to executive of Interspace Commerce and Member of Parliament in the span of twenty years; I tell you this, anyone can succeed.
But not everyone.
For every star there sits a hunk of coal, and every grand achievement of society, science, technology and culture lays on the bodies of those who made it; this is life in an unperfect world.
For every free society there lies graveyards full of patriots; so it is with Liberty.
"War", you may cry, "profits many!" but I tell you truly it profits none but those whose ideology has dictated it.
It drives down interest rates and premiums, drives up payouts and costs; it destroys and kills those who could be put to work. War is the tool of a galaxy of nations and ideologies, and we no longer live in a galaxy of nations and ideologies. The galaxy is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business. The world is a business, my good friend. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. And one day our children, or our children's children, or their children, and so on and so forth, will live, sir, to see that perfect galaxy in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock. All necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused.
You may try and stop it, sir, but what do you think the revolutionaries talk of in their councils? Karl Marx? No, they get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories, minimax solutions, and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments, just like we do.
You may not like corporations, but they are here all the same.
gone four years, first day back: Zoners still getting shot in Theta :|