A Waltz in Orange and Green (part 4)
Mr Zoat
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10th September 2012
11:23 GMT
"…briefly studied Hobbes, but I certainly don't share his take on human nature."
I take a sip of the water Wallace fetched for me when I said that I didn't drink alcohol on duty. Naturally, Leviathan was the one book on political philosophy that Lord Malvolio brought with him from Earth. It perfectly reflects the politics of the era he's from and… It explains certain things about his Sector.
"No? Mine own experiences bear out the brutal barbarity of his beliefs. I reign as autocrat, and when banished, existence in mine empire became nasty, brutish and short."
"That's a product of the lack of direction. You had no heir, had made no succession arrangements and left them being ruled by a structure that couldn't operate without you. They had no way to resolve their differences without changing the system that you set in place, and their ideology wouldn't allow them to do that. So it became more and more dysfunctional until it broke down completely."
"And your suggested remedy is that I should beget an heir?"
"The succession doesn't need to be to a biological descendant. Roman Emperors designated their successors. Greek City-States would elect them. The important thing is that there's a process generally seen as legitimate that can put someone into office. If your followers had a mechanism for selecting a regent… You know them better than me. Would that have worked?"
"How could I trust a regent to remain virtuous?"
"Indoctrination. European history contains any number of wealthy men who chose to give up their worldly goods and join monasteries rather than live lives of self indulgence. Your followers were willing to kill and die for what they believed to be your will, even without you there to enforce it. Do you really believe that none of them could be relied upon to remain honest?"
"Is that how manners are managed in the Orange Lantern Corps?"
"No. That wouldn't work for us. An Orange Lantern is motivated by their desires. Instilling formal discipline at the age at which we recruit them wouldn't really work. Rather, we recruit not merely people with strong desires, but who genuinely desire to perform pro-social actions with them. Ideally, we'll get to a point where I don't need to keep an eye on everyone, I'll be able to trust them to do what I want by doing what they want."
"But for now?"
"We select people whose sense of self-worth is tied to their martial achievements or people who want to destroy our enemies. Our leader is a man whose strongest desire is to display his genius as an administrator and strategist."
"You do not lead?"
"I wouldn't do as good a job. My ego isn't tied up in having people follow my orders. I want to teach and guide, so that's what I do. If Dox dropped dead tomorrow it would be my job to find a replacement, but I just don't have the right desire set or skills to take it on in the longer term myself."
"And if your own self suffered a mortal injury?"
"Ah… The last couple of times that happened, it didn't stick. But if it did, then Dox would have to find someone similar to me to replace me. There would be a loss of skill in the role -I'm very good at what I do- but I'm not essential to the Orange Lantern Corps. And neither's he, and… If all of the senior Orange Lanterns died, Controller Hinon could take over. If every Orange Lantern died tomorrow, the Controllers would remake the Corps based on what we have built. It wouldn't be ideal, but it would work. We're not unified by a hierarchy of power and punishment, but by shared ideals."
"Is that at odds with how the Green Lanterns who serve the Guardians conduct their affairs?"
"Yes. The Guardians rule the Green Lantern Corps. For the most part they set only broad objectives, but their authority is unquestioned and their numbers are slowly decreasing. They are either unwilling or unable to either make more Guardians or pass command authority to others."
"And thus guarantee that in time they will suffer their own crisis of succession."
"Something like that. I imagine that if they vanished their Clarissi would take over with the support of their Honour Guard, but there would still be fairly major problems because they don't train Lanterns to do the things that they do."
"To what things do you refer?"
"Diplomacy. Green Lanterns don't get training in interstellar relations, and wouldn't have the authority of the Guardians even if they did. The pacts that grant Green Lanterns lawful authority across the galaxy would not be maintained or expanded. Green Lanterns also can't forge their own rings or personal lanterns."
"Not one of them?"
"It's a very rare ability, requiring total focus over a prolonged period of time. And then you don't necessarily get a particularly good one; forging is a difficult skill to learn. In the Orange Lantern Corps we have one man who can reliably do it, and he earnestly wants to destroy the entire universe. I can create orange personal lanterns, but so far only ones of very low quality."
A frown.
"What manner of man wishes to destroy creation?"
"A Qwardian Weaponer. Their culture was founded by… I don't think it's technically a god, but a being who wanted to destroy all creation, convert it into energy and absorb it. The Weaponers consider creating weapons and destroying things to be a sacred duty. I arranged for him to be employed because he'll do less harm working for us where we can see him rather than leaving him to his own devices."
"You could slay him."
"Then who would make our rings if the Controllers decide not to work with us? As I said, it's an uncommon skill. And now that I've accepted him, I don't think it would be right to kill him without evidence that he's fallen back on bad habits."
He nods.
"An inconsistent sovereign's word counts for little. Tell me, are there rings of avarice outside of your control?"
"Probably. Due to one of the actions I look against the first Orange Lantern, rings were scattered across the galaxy. There's almost no way for me to know whether or not we managed to recover them all, and there have been a couple of occasions in which I've been called in to deal with their recipients."
"And how did you treat with them?"
"Some were bandits, and I dealt with them as I would with any other bandit. Some were driven mad by their ring, and I dealt with them as I would any other madman. And some had mastered their ring. Those I offered a position in our Corps."
"Did those in the latter group all accept?"
"So far, but it's not a large sample."
"What would you do if they declined?"
"Depends. Are they doing anything I strongly disapprove of?"
"Let us say that you do disapprove, but not strongly."
"I'd have a discussion with them and sound them out, give them advice on how to remain sane while using an orange ring, but I wouldn't take the ring by force in that situation."
"You would not impress them?"
"I don't own the orange light. It's a part of every purposive being in the universe. I have no claim to it in its entirety."
"Do you believe that the Guardians of Oa feel as you do?"
"No, but they do think very long term. They were content to ignore Alan Scott for decades. May I ask why you're asking?"
"I have affirmed my intent to resolve my troubles in one; both to anoint an heir and secure my Sector. I shall do so by seeking men capable of wielding will, and by my own skill strike rings to make their authority."
"Good luck with that, but I think that the Guardians did something to make that impossible?"
"Is a thing already achieved impossible?"
11:23 GMT
"…briefly studied Hobbes, but I certainly don't share his take on human nature."
I take a sip of the water Wallace fetched for me when I said that I didn't drink alcohol on duty. Naturally, Leviathan was the one book on political philosophy that Lord Malvolio brought with him from Earth. It perfectly reflects the politics of the era he's from and… It explains certain things about his Sector.
"No? Mine own experiences bear out the brutal barbarity of his beliefs. I reign as autocrat, and when banished, existence in mine empire became nasty, brutish and short."
"That's a product of the lack of direction. You had no heir, had made no succession arrangements and left them being ruled by a structure that couldn't operate without you. They had no way to resolve their differences without changing the system that you set in place, and their ideology wouldn't allow them to do that. So it became more and more dysfunctional until it broke down completely."
"And your suggested remedy is that I should beget an heir?"
"The succession doesn't need to be to a biological descendant. Roman Emperors designated their successors. Greek City-States would elect them. The important thing is that there's a process generally seen as legitimate that can put someone into office. If your followers had a mechanism for selecting a regent… You know them better than me. Would that have worked?"
"How could I trust a regent to remain virtuous?"
"Indoctrination. European history contains any number of wealthy men who chose to give up their worldly goods and join monasteries rather than live lives of self indulgence. Your followers were willing to kill and die for what they believed to be your will, even without you there to enforce it. Do you really believe that none of them could be relied upon to remain honest?"
"Is that how manners are managed in the Orange Lantern Corps?"
"No. That wouldn't work for us. An Orange Lantern is motivated by their desires. Instilling formal discipline at the age at which we recruit them wouldn't really work. Rather, we recruit not merely people with strong desires, but who genuinely desire to perform pro-social actions with them. Ideally, we'll get to a point where I don't need to keep an eye on everyone, I'll be able to trust them to do what I want by doing what they want."
"But for now?"
"We select people whose sense of self-worth is tied to their martial achievements or people who want to destroy our enemies. Our leader is a man whose strongest desire is to display his genius as an administrator and strategist."
"You do not lead?"
"I wouldn't do as good a job. My ego isn't tied up in having people follow my orders. I want to teach and guide, so that's what I do. If Dox dropped dead tomorrow it would be my job to find a replacement, but I just don't have the right desire set or skills to take it on in the longer term myself."
"And if your own self suffered a mortal injury?"
"Ah… The last couple of times that happened, it didn't stick. But if it did, then Dox would have to find someone similar to me to replace me. There would be a loss of skill in the role -I'm very good at what I do- but I'm not essential to the Orange Lantern Corps. And neither's he, and… If all of the senior Orange Lanterns died, Controller Hinon could take over. If every Orange Lantern died tomorrow, the Controllers would remake the Corps based on what we have built. It wouldn't be ideal, but it would work. We're not unified by a hierarchy of power and punishment, but by shared ideals."
"Is that at odds with how the Green Lanterns who serve the Guardians conduct their affairs?"
"Yes. The Guardians rule the Green Lantern Corps. For the most part they set only broad objectives, but their authority is unquestioned and their numbers are slowly decreasing. They are either unwilling or unable to either make more Guardians or pass command authority to others."
"And thus guarantee that in time they will suffer their own crisis of succession."
"Something like that. I imagine that if they vanished their Clarissi would take over with the support of their Honour Guard, but there would still be fairly major problems because they don't train Lanterns to do the things that they do."
"To what things do you refer?"
"Diplomacy. Green Lanterns don't get training in interstellar relations, and wouldn't have the authority of the Guardians even if they did. The pacts that grant Green Lanterns lawful authority across the galaxy would not be maintained or expanded. Green Lanterns also can't forge their own rings or personal lanterns."
"Not one of them?"
"It's a very rare ability, requiring total focus over a prolonged period of time. And then you don't necessarily get a particularly good one; forging is a difficult skill to learn. In the Orange Lantern Corps we have one man who can reliably do it, and he earnestly wants to destroy the entire universe. I can create orange personal lanterns, but so far only ones of very low quality."
A frown.
"What manner of man wishes to destroy creation?"
"A Qwardian Weaponer. Their culture was founded by… I don't think it's technically a god, but a being who wanted to destroy all creation, convert it into energy and absorb it. The Weaponers consider creating weapons and destroying things to be a sacred duty. I arranged for him to be employed because he'll do less harm working for us where we can see him rather than leaving him to his own devices."
"You could slay him."
"Then who would make our rings if the Controllers decide not to work with us? As I said, it's an uncommon skill. And now that I've accepted him, I don't think it would be right to kill him without evidence that he's fallen back on bad habits."
He nods.
"An inconsistent sovereign's word counts for little. Tell me, are there rings of avarice outside of your control?"
"Probably. Due to one of the actions I look against the first Orange Lantern, rings were scattered across the galaxy. There's almost no way for me to know whether or not we managed to recover them all, and there have been a couple of occasions in which I've been called in to deal with their recipients."
"And how did you treat with them?"
"Some were bandits, and I dealt with them as I would with any other bandit. Some were driven mad by their ring, and I dealt with them as I would any other madman. And some had mastered their ring. Those I offered a position in our Corps."
"Did those in the latter group all accept?"
"So far, but it's not a large sample."
"What would you do if they declined?"
"Depends. Are they doing anything I strongly disapprove of?"
"Let us say that you do disapprove, but not strongly."
"I'd have a discussion with them and sound them out, give them advice on how to remain sane while using an orange ring, but I wouldn't take the ring by force in that situation."
"You would not impress them?"
"I don't own the orange light. It's a part of every purposive being in the universe. I have no claim to it in its entirety."
"Do you believe that the Guardians of Oa feel as you do?"
"No, but they do think very long term. They were content to ignore Alan Scott for decades. May I ask why you're asking?"
"I have affirmed my intent to resolve my troubles in one; both to anoint an heir and secure my Sector. I shall do so by seeking men capable of wielding will, and by my own skill strike rings to make their authority."
"Good luck with that, but I think that the Guardians did something to make that impossible?"
"Is a thing already achieved impossible?"
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What does it say about the DC universe that so many of the alien races are complete and utter bastards, and the benevolent ones so rare.
