Semi-OT: Regards to my Game Story

[Starhawk]

Hello all I have noticed a decline in the reads on my story since it has hit a more "controversial" point in it's telling and a lot more people have made comments on how it is getting more dicey well I'd like to explain.

I beleive some of you may be backing away because several of you have noted that you beleive Icara to be a future version of Nazi Germany and that since none of us like Nazi's none of us would like to read a story about them now would we?

Please let me say that if I have caused offense I am sorry as I meant none and now please let me explain why Icara is the way it is and how they actually are in my view.


As many of you who have been reading from the begining know Icara is from a parallel history, one that could have happened if our own history had taken only a rather slight turn of events, because I did not want to offend any specific ethnic group or make any specific group sound hostile I chose to make up a nation.
Icara was once upon a time a small city state in Greece at the dawn of history they were poets, priests and philosophers unfortunately they were also located in Lacedonia (where Sparta called home) and were invaded by Sparta.

Icara's first government was actually a true monarchy ruled over by two kings, and was extremely patriarchal, women were property who were not allowed to be shown in public unless it was to be bought, sold or married off.

When Sparta invaded the Icaran military was swept aside like flies yet the two kings continued to send out their forces foolishly until half the Icaran populace was gone, unfortunately because of the fact that most of the losses were sustained in battles the vast majority of those dead were the male population, leaving women at a nearly two-one ratio.

One man named Alexander rose up, struck down these corrut kings and changed the face of world history forever, he drafted women into the army as archers, and light cavalry while the men made up the infantry columns.

The war ended with Sparta conquered and her male population virtually exterminated, Alexander was proclaimed Praetor as his people believed him chosen by God to rule mankind.
And so the crusades began Icara fought a seemingly endless war of conquest for the next thousand years, vowing that they would never again be the victims of others.
Read the first intro for the rest of it.

The rest is history, however even in the Imperial year 6004 (when they left their new homeworld of Icara)they were almost terrified of being turned into victims once again and so decided that they would have to rule over the all the worlds they found in order to ensure their own survival.


That is how it all started in the story, now the reason they are so harsh to Xenos is because they are also terrified of "genetic mutation" or interbreeding of any form that would corrupt the human gene pool and unleash who knows what kind of plagues, and so Xeno's were deemed less then sentient by both the Icaran state Church and the Icaran Government.

Religion:
I know that the religious aspects I have brought up may also be of some controversy as I have mentioned that Heretics are shot.

Now to specify my own religious views, I am a Christian but I have friends of many religions, i even have a wicken friend who I enjoy debating religion with a great deal because she has as much fun debating as I do.

Now the Icaran term "Heretic" is not as we think of it for indeed Icara does have several religions as I have briefly touched on, however they are all creationist religions because Icara beleives that faith and religion are the basis of stability in any society, especially one with hundreds of billions of people across hundreds of worlds.

When Icarans say "heretic" they mean people like Bin Laden who twist the words of God to be used to kill women and children for no other purpose then to destroy.
This may seem hypocritical as the Icarans themselves consider their war against the Andermanian alliance (which has thus far cost the alliance 7 billion people and Icara over a hundred thousand) a holy crusade, yet in their mind this is not a religious problem because they are doing it to unify mankind not rip it apart.

Other heretics in Icaran society would include any form of cult or satanic organization, and the reason the leaders (and in some cases all members) of these cults are exterminated is beacuse in the Icaran mind, they are all anti-government and would be a risk to the entire Empire. Athiests are also not permitted to form organizations for similar reasons.

The religions of the Icaran Empire are thus:
The Path (state church, modified Christianity and vast majority of Icaran populace)
True Islam (not these nut cases we see on TV)
Buddihsm (sp?)
Christianity
And some worlds even have a small Hindu populace

The Supreme Dominance of Man:
This ties into the religion and fear of mutation, they beleive God made man to be supreme among creation and so Mankind has the right to rule the galaxy and isolate or exterminate the Xeno populations they encounter, yes this is very un-startrek like yet in many ways it is also very human to cloak the fear of the unknown behind racist and religious excuses for isolating that fear from us.

The State Education:
Due to dramatically advanced technology children in school all receive the same level of education, however it is received in a very unique way, instead of reading books or watching videos the work is transmitted directly to the memory areas of the brain and thus introduced far more efficently, in the child's mind they have spent 12 hours in school, yet in fact they have only spent 4.
Icaran public schools are nothing like their present day counterparts, everyone wears a military style uniform and classes are referred to as "squads" which are then broken down to "teams" with the students being called "cadets", school periods are called "watches" and teachers are referred to as "instructor" while the principal is called "Commendant".

The Icaran school system also emphasizes physical education and mental discipline, there are no fat school children in Icara, every school day four hours is devoted to Martial Arts, Running, Swimming, obstacles and competative games.
Every student is equal in the eyes of the school no matter their race or religion, every cadet is taught the moral principles of self sacrifice for the good of others, they are taught that their squadmates are to be treated as family and that any breach of discipline will result in harsh punishment.
Squads march to and from classes, no one runs anywhere unless it is part of class, and no one talks until they have their one hour break period every day or unless it is required by their class.

The schools of Icara are also moral institutions in that they see themselves as responsible for helping parents introducing morality into their child by making sure the school situation is as proper as possible and anyone walking down the halls to see posters reading such things as:

Promiscuity is like treason to ones self
Fighting fellow cadets sews the seeds for destruction.
Respect your squad and you can respect yourself.

This is because Icara as a whole is actually what we could consider very very out of date, teen pregnancy for example is considered unthinkable to them unless in marriage and parents have been known to commit suicide upon finding out their daughter is pregnant or their son got a girl pregnant.

As a result of all this discipline, group mentality, and moral teaching at such a young age violent crime is almost unheard of on Icaran worlds, and people can walk down the darkest street at night without fear, doors are left unlocked and communities are true communities where neighbors get to know one another and support one another.


Crime and Punishment:
Though violent crimes are extremely rare they do happen and when they do it is nearly impossible for the criminal to escape Icaran justice, as the criminal sciences are so advanced the perp is usually found in less then a day.
Violent crime is punished on the basis of how and why it happened for example the following crimes are punished by neural resocialization:
Kidnap
Neglegent Homicide
Piloting a Craft while intoxicated
Selling Drugs
Assault with a deadly weapon
Violent Burglary

This resocialization wipes out the criminal's base personality and replaces it with one that is more social minded, many of these "mind wipes" end up in the armed forces or State Security, where it is deemed best for them to make up for their crimes.
Though Icaran justice is advanced technologically it is often what we would consider barbaric in some aspects such as the fact that there are no lawyers for criminal cases as there is no real need for lawyers because the evidence is always correct, this means that the trials are extremely brief with both guilty and innocent verdicts handed out in a mater of minutes.

Another reason we would consider their legal system is their method of punishment for certain crimes, for example:
(warning this is graphic)
Rape: One hundred lashes in public, followed by chemical steralization rendering sexual anatomy useless

Multiple Rape: Punishment is castration with a slow cut laser prior to execution.

Child Molestation: Castration with a slow cut laser prior to being drawn and quartered.

First Degree Murder: Public hanging

Kidnapping resulting in the death of a minor: Public beheading.

Neglegence resulting in the death of a minor: Public hanging.

Though seen as brutal and disgusting by our current views these are seen as acceptable by Icarans because they certainly are deterants for any of the above criminals.
On the flipside Icara has no prison sentences numbering beyond a few weeks or months because they beleive in corporal punishment as both swift and in the long term merciful to a criminal, for example:

Theft: Fifteen lashes in public first offense, increased by twenty following each offense.

Use of Drugs: Fifty lashes in public followed by federal therapy.

They see it as a waste to send someone away for years over what is in effect a minor crime that is easily fixed.

Are they Nazis?:
Short answer no
Long answer, the Icaran society would consider Nazi's as having "some good ideas" but for the most part would be repulsed by the comparison as Icara does not have death camps or anything of the sort.

Are they based on Nazi's as I said to some extent yes, but this is not because I think the Nazi regime was good but instead because if Hitler had not been an evil sadistic SOB the Nazi party did have some good ideas such as physical education for the youth, other then that there is no real comparison in my mind other thn some loose terminology.

Why did i make Icara the way I did?:
I have read and seen so many sci-fi stories where it is so cut and dry who is the good guy and who is the bad guy that it bugs me.
In Star Trek the federation was always the good guy, yet if you actually ever bothered to analyse the federation it was not a place I would want to live because it's either their way or the high way.
When most sci fi bothers to humanize the bad guy they end up making them into the good guys and bringing in a truely dispicable bastard that is evil incarnate.

I first decided to make Icara a "goody toe shoes" type government so as not to risk controversy, however after i looked at it I decided that instead of the standard sci fi gobidly gook I would create a truely unique race of people with truely unique ideals and morals.

Icara is both the ideal society and the society we all fear, by this I mean that there is almost no government corruption, no homelessness, very little crime, very little disease, two or three century long lifespans and everyone looks out for everyone else, you can get a ride from a stranger and not be afraid they are going to hurt you.
Elders are respected and never placed in "nursing homes" but instead Icaran households can have four or even five generations sitting down at the same dinner table every night.

They are the society we all fear in that they are not free by our standards, individuals have no right to vote for their leadership as the Praetor line goes back for millenia within the same familiy line, and the Nobility is all in some way related to the Praetorian family or it's many offshoots.
From the day they are born Icarans are indoctrinated with the State line the state principals an the ideology of conquest in the name of God and Empire.

In any other sci fi universe Icara would be considered evil and probobly demonized by the writers, I wanted to show why? What are they really like what do they really beleive?
Almost no one is evil or bad because they just feel like being evil and bad, Icara is no different, they beleive truely what they are doing is right and that the bloodshed and terror they are unleashing upon the galaxy will end up being a good thing for mankind as a whole and not just "the chosen few".
Icarans are human, they love their families care about their friends, Icaran boys still trip over themselves when a pretty girl walks in and Icaran girls still giggle when a handsom boy smiles at them, Icaran parents still wonder whether they raised their children right and how their future will be.
And Icarans still laugh when someone makes a joke, and still cry when they are hurting or when they lose a friend or loved one.

Icara in my mind was meant to show humanity, nothing more nothing less, there will never be a perfect society and we must in the end choose what is right and what is wrong and whether or not we will do what is right....Icara is also an optomistic view on humanity in the sense that maybe some day there will be a culture that learns how truely equal people are and learn to look at justice fairly.
And yes Icara is also a cautionary tale on how one moment of absolute tragedy can lead to many many more in the future unless we are very careful.


Now if you would all prefer I'll stop the story this way there's no worry about controversy or offending anyone on these forums. But personally I enjoy writing and would like to keep the story alive until the end.

If you have any questions or comments please post them here and I'll respond as best i can.

[El_Phil]

I'm still reading it and enjoying the story. And that's the whole point it is just a story and if it makes someone uncomfortable then they don't have to click on the link.

Keep on going.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

No, don't kill the story, please go on. It's a good read.

You know, the way you're describing the Icaran society here also reminds me of 1984 and Brave New World?

And indeed, the Nazi party did have some good ideas. The Dutch "CAO" was one of the Nazi's ideas.

[Starhawk]

Actually a reverse "Brave new World" in that drug use and promiscuity are seen as seriously disgusting issues while in Brave new World Promiscuity and drug use are encouraged.

I've never actually read 1984 but I here it's an excellent read so I probobly will some day, though I also heard some folks saying it's terrifying to think of that ever happening.

Thanks for your comments on the story I just felt that I needed to explain the Icarans more in depth then I was able to in the story to get across the "real" Icaran mindset so to speak.

[Renegade 13]

Well, I didn't quit reading your story due to any controversial part of it, I quit because I simply didn't have the time to keep up on it. However, I've been intending on catching up on it one day when I have a couple spare hours, and I sure wouldn't take offense at any rough futuristic parallels to Nazi Germany.

[Fyron]

There is probably also an element of people that were catching up on all of the old chapters having finished doing so. Most of the people that will read your story for a while probably have read most of it by now. The influx of extra page views from this would therefore be over. Certainly a possibility.

[Starhawk]

Well the reason I made this thread is because a pen pal of mine was reading my story, she told his parents the jist of it and they told her to stop reading something like that, so I was seriously worried that, it might not just be that one set of people.

[dogscoff]

I've never actually read 1984

you needn't bother. Just watch the news instead.

[El_Phil]

"she told his parents"

Funny pen pal you've got there. Hope he/she makes up his/her mind and picks a gender.

[Starhawk]

Dargh typo LOL funny one though Irish girl, definately girl

Heh two words Tom Delay or however the heck you spell that nut jobs name