A Hearing on the Accelerated Development of Polemistians

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Though the Coalition and UPN maintain a normally friendly relationship, there is a divergence between us on a number of issues. The most recent example of this is the situation with the Polemistians:

Moderator: We will now begin the hearing of the accelerated development of the Polemistians. Councilmember Avat Durah will represent the will of the Council, and President Oliver Pierce the opposition. Is there anything that either of you wish to say before we begin?

Durah: I do not.

Pierce: No.

Moderator: Then we shall proceed. Councilmember Durah, your position?

Durah: The Council believes that the accelerated development of the Polemistians would in the end be an asset to the Coalition as a whole. Doing so will welcome a new species, and planet, into the fold of our wondrous society, and bring an otherwise underprivileged species into equal ground with the rest of the galaxy. This also prevents the current Galactic powers from misusing and taking away much of this galaxy’s resources before these people have the chance to develop beyond the boundaries of their planet on their own. A process which is estimated to take them nearly three centuries to accomplish. It is a moral responsibility of our people to accept this new species into our community, and the only logical one to follow if we wish to spread the ideals of equality and togetherness across the galaxy.

Moderator: Your response President Pierce?

Pierce: Firstly, I must state that I am not adverse to the idea of knocking on the door of the Polemistians, but I think we should only do so when they have managed to develop into a society that is both culturally and economically feasible for the Coalition to do so. The UPN may not have the final say in this, but we believe we should be allowed to air our concerns about this proposed project that the Coalition wishes to undertake. To that extent, I am grateful to the Council for allowing this discussion in the first place, though that does not mean the UPN has changed their position in the slightest. We feel that it is simply too early for this accelerated development to occur due to the fact that the Polemistians have not developed into a society that is compatible with the Coaltion as a whole, and that to force this issue now will only result in more consequences than benefits.

Durah: If I may ask, President Pierce, what makes you think it is too early for the Polemistians to be accepted into our ranks?

Pierce: It is simple, Councilman―

Moderator: Councilmember, President.

Pierce: Right… what I was refering to is the fact that culturally, the Polemistians are at a point where they would not be able to integrate into Coaliton society in a smooth and efficient manner.

Durah: Your concern is the Polemistians culture? That is a non-issue in the Council’s eyes. There is no culture that reigns supreme over the other, President, if that is what you are suggesting here.

Pierce: I am not suggesting the supremacy of any culture Durah. The existence of our own Nations would be a testament to that. But what you must realize is that, objectively, there are values held by cultures that have gone through an enlightenment phase that make them objectively more likely to be successful in the long run. Each of the nations that make up the UPN have gone through this enlightenment phase, and as a result celebrates the same core values throughout their societies, which makes them relatively compatible with one another. There is a certain amount of reform and change that a people must experience for themselves before they can truly get along with another ideology. The principles of free speech and expression that generally come from these reformations and it is something which all nations in the UPN practice. The Polemistians, however, have not come to this cultural shift in their own society, which will make their integration into the Coalition one that will be, quite frankly, impossible.

Durah: Surely you are exaggerating here Pierce. Impossible? Could we not just show them the way through our own society, to teach and empower them with the ideals and values that the Coalition wishes for them to learn? That in itself is part of the Accelerated Development Program the Coalition has thought of.

Pierce: You say teach, I say that it is indoctrination.

Durah: [Laugh] You cannot possibly be serious.

Pierce: Perhaps indoctrinate is too strong of a word, but if you think changing a culture is merely a matter of teaching and spouting off to the masses with your own ideology, then you are sorely mistaken. Using your rebellion against the Empire as an example, the Coalition’s culture is a reactionary result to remove itself from the oppressive regime of the Rezenaga. No one came in and started to teach people a different way to live. Instead, you all fought against the forces against you, striving to become something that you saw as better. You only came to this conclusion because there was an oppressive force to begin with. You can see this happening with the Polemistians themselves. Small pockets of their society are starting slowly starting to rise up against their feudal shackles, and starting on the path to a more modern society. Even then, however, they still have a long ways to go in terms of civil rights and other freedoms.

Durah: Again, why could we not just teach them these rights?

Pierce: It is more than a matter of teaching, Durah. This is a culture that is still highly religious, highly militant, and one that is prone more to radicalization than even the Sect of the Divine is capable of. These are a people that rotate their lives around religious fervor and worship. This makes them an extremely obstinate society. They will not see your ideals as the path to prosperity, but instead outright reject them due to their own cultural biases. Though you loathe to admit it, the Empire were rather smart in accelerating the development of many of the Coalition’s species because they specifically chose the species that had yet to develop any culture. Most of what the Coalition practices was developed only in relation to the Empire, and it was a society you all made for yourselves in the end. No one came in a showed you the way, you found it yourselves. What you are suggesting to do here, however, is to not uplift up some primitive species that lives in the forests and caves, but instead interfere with the of the development of another civilization.

Durah: How would you go about this then Pierce? How would you bring these people into the fold?

Pierce: The answer is simple, I wouldn't.

Durah: ...explain.

Pierce: Personally I don't find it necessary to go and accelerate the development of any species that we find. Let them stand on their own two feet, build themselves up that way, just like we did.

Durah: The problem with that, President, is by the time they managed to do so on their own most of the Galaxy will have been occupied by the galactic powers. They would have very little opportunity to develop and expand on their own, which given the nature of galactic politics, would result in them having a much smaller voice and say compared to the other powers that dominate the Galaxy.

Pierce: That is a valid point, which is why I am not adverse to opening the door a little early, but not this early. We should only start interacting with them when they have developed into a critical and free thinking society. What you seem to fail to realize, Durah, is that culture is something you really cannot accelerate the development of.  It has to be slow and deliberate at first so that they may build a strong foundation to work from, and then from there they can develop and advance at a faster pace. The Polemistians have not developed that foundation, so if you accelerate their technological development now you’re more likely to get a far more volatile reaction from them as a whole. These people are not gonna see your technological gifts as some sort of tool of enlightenment, but instead use it as a means of pushing forward their own ideology, which, from what we know of the Polemistians, is one that subjugates and conquer people who do not believe in their god.

Durah: Which is why we have planned to accelerate the development of the more agreeable members of their society. Doing so should give the more open minded citizenry power over this theocratic rule.

Pierce: The detail you're missing here, Durah, is that even the people you have deemed “agreeable” practice a very similar system of beliefs. Perhaps they have more of an understanding of the concept of rights than the current group, but they are still just as likely to impose their will upon others using the technology you give them. And what will you do if that happens? At that point the Polemistians will know you exist, so you just can't just ignore these people if you want to be as moral as you say you are.

Durah: You are proposing a large set of hypotheticals President. What makes you think that things will go as you say they do?

Pierce: I think these things because Humanity has dealt with the consequences of unneeded intervention, and as a result it has given us far more crises than boons. Our society only came to be as it is now by allowing societies to sort themselves out without our endless intervention with one another.

Durah: Then how do you explain this “Good Neighbor” policy of yours? Is that not a form of intervention itself?

Pierce: Again, endless intervention. The “Good Neighbor” policy only applies when one of the nation's requests assistance. Once they're back in their own feet, we leave them alone to do their thing. We don't stay nor do we ever try to impose our own will on each other, we merely help each other out. It's something that doesn't happen very often anymore, but it's a good middle ground between pure isolationism and complete intervention at all times. What you're proposing here will most likely create a dependent class, since, again, you're not letting them build themselves up enough in the first place.

Durah: That is also a hypothetical, Pierce.

Pierce: I could also say that your own envisioned ideals for this accelerated development are also hypotheticals, but if you want practicality, then I say that overall this is a needlessly costly endeavor.

Durah: What do you mean?

Pierce: Why are you so concerned with uplifting this one species, this one planet, when you could be directing the funds of this project into the restoration efforts in the Fractus systems? It's been fifty years since the Treaty of Itraxy, and while I will admit you and the Empire have done a fine job of removing the radiation through the known planets in that part of the galaxy, for the most part you've done nothing beyond setting up a few military bases along the perimeter.

Durah: Establishing anything in the Fractus systems would be seen as putting pressure on Empire space, the last thing we need to do is provoking them into another war.

Pierce: Interesting, because from the reports I’ve been getting you’ve had p--

Moderator: President Pierce, if you would please focus on the subject at hand.

Pierce: ...right. All I’m saying that that you have plenty of already established planets that you could use, but you'd rather spend your time attempting to bring up some species that you may or may not be able to integrate with your society… Depending on how things go of course. Meanwhile, the Fractus systems have fallen into a state of disarray, those settlements that both you and the Empire haven established out there fallen under the rule of crime lords and gangs. Should you not help your own people out first before going off to assist someone that might not even require assistance?

Durah: How can the UPN be so certain that the Polemistians do not need any help in their development? As you have said, their structure is highly similar to the early stages of the Empire, what makes your think they will develop into a free thinking society? It is just as likely that, if left to their own devices, they will grow as a highly militant force on their own, making their integration with the Coalition even more problematic than it would be today. Through this proposed negligence of yours, we could possibly allow another oppressive, fast growing power to form. Are you certain that, if left on their own, they will develop into a culture similar to your own?

Pierce: No, we don't actually know what will happen.

Durah: Then what is the problem here? Should we not try and turn them to a more agreeable people before they have a chance to bring any harm? The uplifting of the Polemistians could very well be saving them from themselves in the end.

Pierce: What you're doing there, however, eliminates the chance of them coming to their own conclusions, to develop on their own as a people. You are essentially placing them on crutches of your own design for who knows how long. Crutches that, if ever knocked from under them, could result in them regressing back to who they once were before you intervened. We are not gods, we aren't here to dictate and decide how a species or civilization should develop, we should instead focus on building up and refining our own civilizations instead. That is how we stay strong.

Durah: Does this “we” include the Coalition President Pierce? Or is it something exclusive to the UPN?

Pierce: That, Councilmember, is something that you’ll have to decide on for yourself.

The conversation continues from here, but it mainly fell into the logistics and minuscule details of accelerated development of species. Needless to say, the humans put up far more resistance to the idea than we thought they would, as we had not expected for a hearing at all when we announced our plans to assist the Polemistians. I must admit, President Pierce’s words did make sense when looked at from a human’s perspective, but seem overly cautious from the perspective of the Council. Perhaps it was due to, as President Pierce said, many of the Coalition species being forcibly advanced by the Empire, but I am of the mind that the Empire did it with the wrong intentions. The Empire uplifted is for the sole purpose of exploiting us and to promote their own superiority. We wished to help these people, to bring them to a higher standard of living that could be shared with all of the Galaxy. It was different, it had to be different.

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