Re: [NetEpic ML] Re: On Imperial armies and original fluff

From: Thomas Wildman <tnrw00_at_...>
Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 06:10:55 -0500

> > No. Because your only answer is "no, that's not possible". How do
> you, or
> > anyone, know what's possible?
>
> First of all, the possible/impossible duality is the whole point of
> the argument.
>
> Second, anything which happens must have self-coeherency. The
> situation as described by GW is not.
>
> The Imperium as described is extremely unstable. It's subject to
> massive internal and external pressures, and is unable to cope with
> either of those, because is described as being BOTH socially and
> militarly unefficient. This situation CAN happen , but it CANNOT last
> for any length of time, much less 10000 years. I refuse to admit the
> possibility for the very simple fact that this possibility is highly
> unlogical. No, it's TOTALLY unlogical. It would take a whole galaxy
> inhabited by MORONS for 10000 years to have any chance of actually
> happening, and the chance would be extremely small even in such a
> case.
>
> Now, if you can succesfully argue and convince me of the contrary,
> great. OTOH, if all you can do is to throw adjectives at me, well...
>
> Peter, I'm waiting for you. I'm actually enjoying this A LOT :-)
 Does anyone remember the USSR? It was a nation in a similar situation with
the Imperium. A small ruling class, with BMWs and mansions and running
water and servants, etc. The majority of the population lived in squallor;
food lines, no personal transportation, jobs picked for them, anyone showing
unusual ability(mental or physical) instantly whisked away into the KGB or
Olympic teams or other government organization. How long did this last?
How long could it last?
Well, the only thing that stopped this stagnant system was the struggle to
keep up with the USA technologically. If China had been the only other
superpower, would there have been an arms race? Certainly, but the weapons
wouldn't have changed all that much, just more of the same. The science
community in the USSR was only advancing due to the pressure of competition,
and China's technological level would not have been much competition.
The Imperium is in a similar position. Ever since the Heresy, there has
been no single enemy that current technology couldn't deal with. The orks
are extremely numerous and some of their "invenshuns" are truly 43K
technology, but the orks never seem to get organized, and their weapons
designers don't understand how their weapons work, just that they do(why do
red ones go fasta?). Chaos is powerful, but locked away in warp space. The
small incursions that wipe out planets or systems are dealt with by small
allocation of resources, by Imperial standards.
The only force that poses a threat to the Imperium as a whole is the
Tyranids. They are a relatively new threat(200-300 years). The Imperium is
only now starting to realize how big a threat they, and continued pressure
by the Hive fleets will eventually either destroy the Imperium, ie. USSR, or
force it to change the way it functions. Without this outside stimulus
forcing some kind of change, the Imperium could continue to along its course
indefinitely.
Humans are basically a lazy race. No advance in any field has ever occured
without having some need to fulfil. Individual inventors have made advances
on their own, but if the society did not embrace this new technology,
essentially it did not exist. How long did it take the telescope to be
widely used after Galileo invented it? The Wright brothers would have been
treated as wackos, and were, for their airplane, but only until it was
proved useful to society, first as a weapon and then as transportation.
In Imperial society, technology is a thing to be worshipped, not learned,
and there has been no true need to change that outlook for 10.000 years.
Having a technology and understanding it are two vastly different things. I
own a car. I change the oil, spark plugs, even the temerature sending unit
when the computer in the car tells me to. Does that mean I should be able
to invent the next step in my car's evolution? Should I be able to even
build a new one from scratch? I have the template right there, but I don't
have the ability. I also don't have the need to learn, because my car works
fine, and my neighbor's car is roughly the same as mine. If it became life
threatening to me to not know everything about car design and construction,
I damn sure would learn about cars, and quick.
The Imperial technology works fine for now, there is no incentive to
advance(in fact punishment is usually in order), and the AM truly benefits
from a stagnant situation. If technological innovations started popping up
everywhere, how long would the AM be the ruling party? There wouldn't even
be a need for the AM, maybe not even a need for the Emperor.
The Tyranids are the ultimate enemy for the Imperium. They evolve every
century or so, and "modern" technology can't keep up. Humans might survive
the Tyranids, but the Imperium won't. They are the USA to the Imperium's
USSR, and the Imperium will have to change, or become extinct.
Sorry, I rambled a bit, but I think I got my point across. Man in general
has to have a reason to change or advance, and the Imperium hasn't had a
need, until now.

Tom
Received on Sat May 27 2000 - 11:10:55 UTC