What hurts the most!

[Hallo]

Hallo, you seem to be missing one very important fact: It doesn't happen often.
To say that an individual is likely to act out, that it is more likely than not, is an obvious lie. Or skewing of facts, however you wish to look at it.
There is a general feeling of outrage that a player would take this path, that outrage stemming from the fact that it doesn't happen very often.
Utopia is like the military, there is a chain of command. If you don't do what the leadership tells you to do to their satisfaction, their recourse is to replace you.
You as a player in a kingdom, have an ability to suggest change, to express discontent, and come to a compromise. You are not morally entitled to defect. Yes, clearly Grime had the ability to, and in fact did defect, but the main problem is that it's simply not right. It's akin to a member of an army platoon running out to surrender and giving away his platoon's position. It's undeniably a dick move. That is all.
Your argument, if I understand, is that the mere structure of a kingdom, that element of fascism, causes people to engage in these dick behaviours.

I feel this was in good intentions... But let me explain a little.
Fascism is a social structure deprived of individuality. "The Individual" thus cannot fit within fascism, and in turn is likely to act out. I know, and understand, why people are responding as such... but a pseudo-democracy, where people feel that they have an "opinion" in how the KD is run, even if they don't, can greatly reduce these occurances.

And I'm happy you brought "the military" in... because they are, actually, fascists (well, "controlled" fascism... they're conditioned only to a certain point). But look again at how "the individual" responds when put in training... he acts out, strives to be "unique"... and is punished for that. Do note, that people who initially join the military undergo "conditioning". They're not actually being trained, they're being stripped of individuality such that they respond in accordance to protocol.

From my interpretation of KD politics, they follow a structure even more pronounced than the military, which is what causes the problem. Do you know, that fascists actually feel good about doing morally wrong actions? A reference to fictional material, but "A Few Good Men" actually was about fascism in the military. The "Code Red" actually is an example of what happens under fascism... and note how the Cadets felt that they had done right! That they were justified in their actions. I think other studies showed that even after being unconditioned, fascists actually could not understand what was wrong with their past actions, but could understand the wrong in present actions.

So you see, fascism is far more complex than a simple dictatorship, a monarchy or oligarchy... there is a level of complexity here that creates something truly fascinating. But am I wrong to proclaim that an individual will unconditionally resist becoming a fascist? No. This problem actually occurred because a KD took an "Individual" in before conditioning him to work within the KD. The same happens with military (and even transfers of "good men" [though I'm uncertain of the extent]) these transferee's undergo reconditioning to operate within the new unit.

You are wrong. It rarely happens, which is the reason for this outrage. I thank the stars that the majority of the world understands hierarchy and the need to respect the chain of command. I shudder to think what kind of world we'd live in otherwise.

One of the interesting things about fascism is there IS no "chain of command." Seriously. Fascism is very hive minded, people act in accordance to appeasing their "leader," but their leader is more a symbolic representation than an actual leader. While the leader does give orders, and the people do follow them to the letter... if the leader were to give orders that conflict with their conditioning doctrine, they would begin to question their leader and eventually denounce him as a "false leader" and one of their own would become the new leader. (notice, the change in leadership does not bring an end to the regime.)


One might make a remark that they would never disobey their monarch, or even refute my above claims of military fascism. What if the Monarch, mid war, were to give orders for every prov to release all offense? If your response isn't "Hallo you're an idiot" then you're not a fascist. But what if that were to happen? Would you do it? What if you were about to win the war, everyone knew this, and because of that order you lost? (given that your intention was to win). What if a series of equally poor decisions lead to further failures?

Or if your superior officer had turn chicken mid war, and was planning to defect. What, do you assume, would happen if his platoon were to discover this? Do you assume that they'd obey his orders to defect, that it was in their best interests? Or do you assume that they'd string him up by his entrails and leave him to be feasted upon by animals? Fascism is very hive minded, so if your CO were to order you, as an individual, to do something, it's not the same thing.

In a dictatorship, that simply would not matter. People make actions based on their fear of contesting them. You'd be terrified to disobey your superior, if he wants to defect, even if you know that its wrong, you'd defect with him... and no one would try to stop him because they don't actually realize that NO ONE except him, wants to defect.... and thus that they are all alone in their discontent.


So, drawing this minor deviation to a close... You wouldn't disobey your boss because your boss is a dictator... you fear the repercussions of your actions, and feel alone in your grievances (a.k.a why employers hate unions). But you would disobey your commanding officer, were the circumstances proper.


*that really was much longer and broader than intended*