the Baburite-appointed High Commissioner, Benoni Strang, announces basic social reforms;
Christa Broderick, leader of the Liberation Front, welcomes Strang's reforms;
several Libbies resign because they are "Hermetians first";
Strang ignores the Liberation Front;
censorship prevents condemnation of Strang;
however, Broderick adopts a resentful silence;
Strang's supporters among the Travers form a new party;
some guerilla resistance to the occupation begins;
the aristocracy disowns it publicly.
When it is spelt out like that, we realize that we should have been able to write the script in the first place.
10 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I would have said what Strang CALLED "basic reforms." Keep in mind what Stirling said about the law of unintended consequences and how removing the "traditional" answer to a problem will very likely bring BACK the problem.
It would have been smarter of Strang to first win over Christa Broderick and her faction. One way would have been to appoint her and her chief supporters to various high offices, to compromise and co-opt them, implicating them as adherents of the dictatorship Strang was setting up.
Sean
Sean,
Falkayn explains why he thinks Strang decided against co-opting the Libbies. Discussing this is almost like discussing a real situation.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, but my thought was co-opting Broderick and the LF would have STRENGTHENED Strang's grip on power. Unless he feared she would have become a rival.
Sean
Sean,
Yes, a rival or, at least, too independent.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
In a dictatorship to be too independent IS to be a rival of the dictator. Either actually or potentially.
Sean
The surest way to discredit any measure is to associate it with someone who's already unpopular -- who's thought of as "Not One of Us".
Studies have shown that people identify with a group first, and the things that group believes in/favors secondarily, as 'markers' of belonging to the group.
So if a hostile group espouses one of the things your group believes in, it's likely to produce a change in belief. Likewise, if the group's consensus (or the opinions of the leader/s it identifies with) changes, individuals will follow suit.
Strang should have realized that if he's seen as a hostile outsider, it will discredit anything he tries to do.
Mr Stirling,
Strang gets some support from dissatisfied Travers. PA shows very well the range of views and attitudes that would exist and emerge in such a society, especially under the pressure of alien invasion. Inevitably, the Libbies split.
Paul.
Dear Mr. Stirling and Paul,
I think you both made good points. Strang was ostensibly serving the Baburites, and that alone would have made many Hermetians resent and reject him, as being a tool of alien conquerors. And I agree Paul was right to point out Strang did have SOME local support and how some who might otherwise have backed him refused because they were "Hermetians first."
Sean
Back in the 19th century, a New Zealander pushing for Dominion status was reminded how parochial and corrupt local politicians often were.
He replied: "Better to be governed by Lucifer in Wellington, than by a committee of archangels in Westminster."
Dear Mr. Stirling,
Meaning even the devil you know is better than angels you DON'T know?
Sean
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