What would have happened to Simon...?
POSTED BY: THESOMNAMBULIST
UPDATED: Thursday, September 26, 2013 14:15
VIEWED: 14594
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In my view, the Alliance is about Control. It's purpose is to
expand indefinitely, to own all the land and space as well, to the
extent this is possible. Even more important perhaps is to have
millions of citizens, mostly serfs, and control all of them.
That's my take on empires.
Empires, if business-like, do not perpetrate atrocities needlessly.
In my view, the wise king uses the iron fist sparingly. Power does
corrupt, yes, and some in power will be atrocious for the fun of it.
In literature, atrocities tend to be more for fun and meaness
than for exerting control. In reality-history, atrocities get our
attention, and may appear to be the rule. But if we look beyond
what shocks us, we may find many decent rulers . . . Maybe not.
I seriously doubt that even THE Evil Empire (of Skywalker & Solo
fame) has a backlog of atrocities that they plan to commit as soon
as they find the time.
ETA: OTOH, the PAX experiment on Miranda was an atrocity against free will.
. . . . .The worst and most frequent consequence of paranoia is that it's self-fulfilling.
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I agree that the Alliance is about control but the movers and shakers within the Alliance may not share the same vision of control. Some may want to eliminate violence and live in that better world. Other may only be seeking control because of the power it gives them, so control by violence is a high for them.
As for more atrocities I doubt there are any hidden near as big as Miranda. Now there maybe some that are hidden in plane sight, Shadow comes to mind.
I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.
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Pretty sure that Simon would have been tortured to see what, if anything, she had divulged to him. Once they had everything from him they thought they could get, he would have been killed and his body disposed of.
Holding the line since December '02!
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The Alliance also bombed a planet into slag in the backstory, its why Mal has no home (burn the land and boil the sea, and confirmed outright in other sources). It's actually not too different from the Empire in Star Wars testing the death star on Alderaan. Only Shadow wasn't a bunch of pacifists, but that still doesn't really justify it.
They also bombed a number of settlements just because a few people in those settlements had some association with the crew, and made sure to kill everyone.
And the Alliance uses slaves and encourages trafficking as a dirty open secret (see the opening conversation in Shindig), which is par for the course with empires in general.
I think by nature control schemes are destructive. It is a net-zero sum game that results in a constant escalation of effort (creating the Pax, a rather extreme solution), if not force (destruction of Shadow, the Unification War).
I see empires as inherently atrocious and exploitative, because in order to become defined as an empire, it requires conquering beyond the original voluntary involvement and representation in order to obtain resources and labour to sustain itself.
Quote:
An empire is a state with politico-military dominion of populations who are culturally and ethnically distinct from the imperial (ruling) ethnic group and its culture — unlike a federation, an extensive state voluntarily composed of autonomous states and peoples.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire
So to me, the fictional Star Wars Empire and the Firefly Alliance are both abominations by their very nature, and destroying planets and gassing populations is the inevitable result of their policies.
With Operatives and dangerous contractors and bounty hunters that are known to be dispensed to kill people who know too much or to retrieve human experimentation projects (or both), I think Simon will be disappeared in one way or another when they catch up with him. Again, par for the course.
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Quote Oonjerah: "the Alliance is about Control"
I kinda wanna apologize for my remarks above. This thread is,
after all, about the 'Verse, not about empirical policies on
Earth according to me.
More specifically, it's about What would have happened to Simon...?
Personally, I hope he'd become a skillful inhabitant of "under-
ground communities," such as Serenity. He would have slipped
thru their net by playing dead for a bit.
My theory is, if they caught the Tams, they'd want River back
for whatever their original intent was. If so, they'd want her
compliant (tho I see no way she would be). Since she is psychic,
they cannot abuse/kill Simon without her knowing of it.
That'd be a conundrum. Wouldn't it?
. . . . .The worst and most frequent consequence of paranoia is that it's self-fulfilling.
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Quote:
I kinda wanna apologize for my remarks above. This thread is,
after all, about the 'Verse, not about empirical policies on
Earth according to me.
Yeah, I kind of went off on a rant there. Whoops.
Just... Kinda don't like empires...
Quote:
Since she is psychic,
they cannot abuse/kill Simon without her knowing of it.
That'd be a conundrum. Wouldn't it?
That's kind of why I think it would be another form of persuasion they'd use. River could try to be rebellious in response to them mistreating Simon, but they'd mistreat SImon more until she broke and gave in.
Bad side of being an empath: you feel everything. Knowing it's her brother and the only person who was brave enough and cared enough to try to save her, and that he was captured and suffering because of his caring about her would just make it worse. Which would then make it more persuasive. She'd cooperate out of both fear and guilt, and begin to develop a complex about blaming herself and self-loathing that would make her even more pliable.
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Even though River knows some things that will happen, she doesn't seem to know it all, so its possible that Simon could be killed and her not know it, after all they'd keep him far away from her, on another planet etc. if they don't want her to know. Its still possible she could know, since she has in incling about Wash and Book going to die in a short story in Still Flying, but just because she knows some things doesn't mean she knows all.
I assume you're my pal until you let me know otherwise.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya.
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I am all for Simon & River remaining free as when we last saw them.
(Simon and Kaylee would have kids.)
But River's come a long way since her captivity. I think she is twice
as lethal and twice as smart about the ways of the Alliance. She'd
outsmart the bastards. Maybe she'd free up most of the other "students"
on her way out.
Also, in the psychic world, physical distance tends to be irrelevant.
She would know what's happening with Simon if it's intense and concerns
her. Their connection is strong.
ETA: I wonder if Joss had plans to graduate any of River's classmates?
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Interesting turn of events with this question.
Clearly the consensus is he'd be killed. Which I think is hard to argue, but there's a part of me that's wondering if the Alliance wouldn't be better served by using Simon and River for some much needed propaganda.
Having lost a certain amount of face with the Pax fiasco I shouldn't wonder if the Alliance would hold a big public trial, and use the coverage to 'twist' events to curry favour with the masses.
So, you know, hold the event on a wealthy Alliance bias planet and bring out certain truths that would 'damage' or 'fracture' the credibility of Simon and River's plight. Even go so far as to offer Simon his old position back.
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It's Obvious!
As soon as the existence of Reavers became a known fact,
the Alliance wiped them out, saving core planets from them.
The Alliance is good and great!
It's just as obvious that the hysterical report broadcasted
anonymously from Mr. Universe's renegade station has no basis.
It could be anything ... an outtake from an old movie, even.
Reaver origin remains a mystery.
Most of the foolishness about Reavers should fade quickly ...
as soon as a newer, interesting story comes along.
. . . . .The worst and most frequent consequence of paranoia is that it's self-fulfilling.
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