Sundog

Re: Answers & Questions Q: How do you know you're ready for the Sex Olympics? A: Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, UP!

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? The Same Old Sun - The Alan Parsons Project

Re: Generation starships and their internal society structure I must entirely and unreservedly disagree. MANY dictators do resort to violence and torture to maintain their regimes - but that is hardly all, and certainly NOT the defining characteristic of dictatorship. And if your argument against Augustus is Nero, well, that is no argument at all. Augustus ruled well, benevolently, and if he was ruthless, recall that ruthlessness was a quality admired in Rome. He built; it is said that he found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble. His rule was long, and he granted the people the one thing they wanted most: stability. If you wish to contrast this with Nero, go ahead; we both know who will come out second best. More importantly, however, it will show nothing. The fact that a lesser man succumbed to temptation, and was a lesser ruler, does not change, now or ever, the accomplishments of the benevolent dictator, Augustus.

Re: Generation starships and their internal society structure Nonsense. EVERY autocratic system started out as a dictatorship, no matter what system ended up in play, and a great many of them - such as the divine Augustus - became watchwords for good and benevolent government.

Re: Generation starships and their internal society structure I don't doubt what you're saying, but the reason many "feudal" societies don't match the definition is because people misuse the term. Feudalism is a specific, not a general - many of the governments people label as "feudal" are nothing of the kind, being Absolute Monarchies or even Military Dictatorships. In fact, true feudalism is just as you say - more or less a clan-based structure, taken to an advanced level. The important, and I would say defining, aspect of feudal systems is the quality of self-direction amongst the nobility - while they may have fealty to a ruler, said ruler lacks the power to place or replace nobility as he sees fit, but must accept their accession and their wielding of power in their own rights, NOT merely as the ruler's proxies.

Re: Generation starships and their internal society structure You might want to actually read my last post. Defining Feudalism entirely separately from the period or location isn't even difficult.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

Re: Generation starships and their internal society structure No, it's not a "thing that happened". It's a governmental system, notable for it's stability, that was the dominant form in Europe for a considerable length of time, as well as being well represented in civilized societies throughout Eurasia and North Africa. It was characterized by a "power pyramid" of devolving authority and evolving wealth through means of independently held titles of nobility passed on by bloodline, which distinguishes it from absolute monarchism, wherin titles are held at the Monarch's pleasure. And I'm well aware of Hegel's concepts. Given that during each of his "levels" organisational structures radically different to that level blossomed and grew (the Roman Republic being the most glaring example), I've long since accepted they have no validity whatsoever.

Re: Generation starships and their internal society structure I certainly don't subscribe to the idea that the Black Death killed off feudalism. But it certainly gave it one good hard kick in the testicles - in EUROPE. Chinese Feudalism experienced no such event. The ultimate killer of Feudalism in Europe was a combination of long- and medium-distance trade, rise of the trading "middle class", military pressure from alternative lifestyles (notably the then-rising second islamic Renaissance) and the slow spread of education among the populace. Likewise, neither do I assume that religion is destined to keep the populace down - but I defy anyone to say that it has not been used, often, for exactly that purpose.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? The Power of Love - Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Re: Generation starships and their internal society structure Possible, but an unproven long-term strategy. Feudal systems have lasted 600+ years, and usually failed due to outside pressures. Yup. It's also useful to maintain a duopoly of power - a single incompetent leader can't take down the entire system. So, plague is a possibility. The other things that eventually killed feudalism in the West remain unlikely in the extreme, and the nobility would know such things as Germ Theory and barrier nursing, making plague less of a threat. Wouldn't expect them to. But uneducated peasants can't tame a world, or run high-tech spacecraft - and once you start educating your populace, a feudal system is doomed.

Re: Generation starships and their internal society structure I think you'd need a self-regulating, self-reinforcing society, one without high likelihoods of social mobility up or down, and where each individual sees himself as part of a larger organization. Feudalism would work as a good basic model, with educated, fully informed rulers lording it over the mass of peasants who are kept illiterate, and uninformed over what the reality of their world is - if only to allow them to avoid feeling trapped and helpless due to an ancestor's foolish decision to join this trip. You'd need a religious aspect to take the place of the church, perhaps a society of technicians (who also have the task of maintaining shipboard systems). The factors that led to the fall of feudalism in the west would be impossible here - no Plague, no growing international trade (no trade at all - no need for a currency economy, just have the nobility apportion out goods and services), no gradual improvement in literacy among the populace. Rough on the populace until they arrive, of course, but one way to improve their chances of actually doing so.

Re: 7 Sci-Fi Series Ripe for Movie Reboots I LOVED (and still do love) UFO. A good remake would be wonderful, though it would be hard to find a good replacement for the role of Straker. Oh, and sterility was just ONE of the problems the Aliens had. Their whole biology was screwed up - there was some speculation in one episode that their planet had undergone an ecological catastrophe. Now, tell me they couldn't get some mileage out of THAT today!

Re: Answers & Questions Q: Why are you stockpiling explosives? A: It's hot enough to melt water!

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Spare Me the Details - The Offspring

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Accidentally Kelly Street by Frente!

Re: Answers & Questions Q: What happened when you met George Bush Jr.? A: Tennis bombs.

Re: Answers & Questions Q: What's on this video, Marty? A: Two hundred laser scalpels and one drop of lemon juice.

Re: Sky Scorcher 1 megaton air-to-air missile (1956) You have to consider what they figured on facing. The standard Russian bomber in 1956 was slow, unmanouverable, but with a very good range - as it was a prop job. The ONLY way the Soviets were going to get some to the US via the polar route was by sending HORDES of the things. So, this was a plan for reducing the hordes. Oh and btw, the Davy Crockett was a very effective weapon, actually. It was diallable as to output, and the idea that it's Alpha Kill Zone exceeded it's range is an urban myth.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Power Play - The Lost Boys Soundtrack.

Re: Squad Level Ranking Structure For A Military SF Adventure ? Previously attained degrees would likely put you onto a specialist track, for instance engineers could easily find themselves Warrant Officers or Specialists, or part of a specialist service such as the Sappers. A WO has an effective NCO rank, but is not in the chain of command - he gets his warrant in order to be able to give orders regarding his specialty. Getting good at your MOS generally improves your pay grade, but in some cases actually hampers rank improvement; a squad's top marksman is unlikely to be put forward for sergeant, simply because it will take him away from what he's good at. Being top MOS can, however, lead to being headhunted for specialty positions - that same top marksman could easily be tapped for Sniper School.

Re: Answers & Questions Q: Why should you never date a demolitionist? A: It's a bloody axe!

Re: Squad Level Ranking Structure For A Military SF Adventure ? Military field medics go through military first-aid and emergency medicine courses - they aren't even close to being doctors, more like ambulancemen or EMTs/paramedics. Their job is to keep badly wounded soldiers alive long enough for them to be evacuated to a safe area for full treatment and medical care (a MASH unit or a hospital ship in most miltary SF). They're generally very good at what they do, but that does NOT include such things as surgery or diagnosis - they just treat what they see. Oh, and they're usually NCOs, not commissioned officers. Squads generally aren't led by an officer. Officers come in at the next level up, with a lieutenant commanding a Platoon, which can consist of two or three squads. Of course, the lieutenant has to be IN one of the squads, but his actual job is to look after the big picture and issue orders. Command of the squad is usually by a sergeant of some type, usually assisted by one or two other NCOs, lesser sergeants or corporals, which further split the squad into two or three fire teams.

Re: Answers & Questions Q: What ahppened when you cooked that big, fat Pig? A: Life isn't rare. It's more like well done.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Cancer - My Chemical Romance