[Confederacy] Heroes of Lorek to be Honored

Heroes of Lorek to be Honored

Cross-Posted from The Confederate News Service

LOREK - Lorek’s governing council today voted overwhelmingly in favor of a proposal to establish a monument to those who fell fighting in the battle of Jalnor.

Sponsored by the local chapter of the Crimson Chains, former slavers who played a pivotal role in the defense of the planet, the planned monument will be placed on the ruins of the former Governor’s Palace, which was demolished early in the fighting. The centrally-located structure will feature statues of both batarians and asari, the largest minority population on the planet, whose role in the victory was recognized in the aftermath and who, while largely a slave population before the war, now make up a substantial element of the free citizenry.

Included in the structure will be a series of memorial lists, containing the names of the dead and missing.

Reactions to the vote have been mixed, with the government of Erszbat lodging a formal protest accusing Lorek of venerating slavery and state-sponsored terrorism, with many of the listed dead being known slavers or Special Intervention Unit operatives. Local responses have been more positive, lauding the inclusion of the asari in the monument as a step towards a more balanced and open society.

Dude, what you call sympathy-driven hypocrisy, I call a judgement based on people's displayed character.

There is a difference between the public record (where bullshit is a significant threat to decision-making and our ability to write history that isn't total crap) and a public memorial, which is for crying widows and orphans. Wow, I've developed a sense of place.

Maybe the 'spirit of the truth' is "Had their boots on people's necks until the last minute, profited from keeping them alive". Or if I concede your point about the material contributions (a fair argument even if it doesn't convince me) "funded with the blood of the kidnapped and tortured".

Heroes, every last one.

By your logic, then the engraving for Commander Shepard's memorial should include "Destroying an entire system, and taking three hundred thousand lives in the process."

I see no reason why that shouldn't be included.

And I find myself wondering if the Alliance was too lenient in offering amnesty to ex-Cerberus operatives.

Some of us never accepted the offer.

But she doesn't have to answer that question, because obviously Shepard Lives! and is thus exempt.

Well. I see a difference between the Crimson Chains and Shepard here. The Crimson Chains were slavers who ended up saving lives, but they were slavers before they were 'heroes'. Shepard did blow up the Bahak system, but it's been said since that it was a cruelly necessary action to stop the Reapers entering that system and starting the war six months early. Maybe six months wasn't worth the price, but there was an increase in the military strength of the Alliance at least in that time. And if she hadn't, we (knowing CDN) could be here arguing about how she should've pulled the trigger.

I remember the conversations we had on CDN during the war, when ruthlessness, when terrible tactics were advocated so we could win. There were a lot of things done in the war that were just plain wrong out of context.

So in my eyes that's the difference. Shepard did a terrible thing, but it was in the context of the Reapers. The Crimson Chains repeatedly committed a vile crime for their own benefit.

Exactly like Nat said. To those who compare the destruction of the Balak system to being a slaver, if you had been in Shep's place, saw the reaper armada about to invade the system and from them launch a surprise attack on the galaxy, what would you have done?
I would have pressed that button too honestly.

Yup. No need for a Shepard Memorial, because the woman got plastic surgery and a new identity. Mock me at your peril, I was right before.


And evidently nobody can tell when I'm being sarcastic: the overly honest war memorial is an argument for sticking to names, not something I think is an actual good idea. Though it would be cool to see if someone would be brave enough to try.

Actually, pre-war, didn't a lot of batarians use slavery as a means to support their community? I'm not saying that's something all batarians did given that there's a noticeable divide in opinion over whether slavery was good or bad in batarian society at the moment but...

I think I'm veering dangerously close to using that stock 'cultural rights' argument but I hope you can see that I'm trying to differentiate.

Stopped clocks, Capice. Stopped clocks.

You mean broken clocks.

A stopped clock cannot move it's arms to keep up with time, and is thus broken.

You're arguing with someone who spent the majority of her career fighting slavers and seeing what they'd done to innocent people. What they did to people is not justifiable by that argument, not to me. Just because they earned money to support their families through slavery doesn't mean what they did is right.

Seems to be the best idea. It's not like the Crimson Chains were enemies of the state before the War began. Maybe slave reparations would be a good way to spend the money?


First of all, a reminder



Second, we can't ignore the fact that what they did was heroic. They don't need a monument, and we can't just forgive them for being slaving shitholes, but it's not going to do anyone any good to try to shove off some factions because they're unpleasant. After all, if we totally forget them, other people who are just as foul are that much less likely to follow good examples.

I never said what they were doing was right but I'm saying, generally, batarian culture doesn't treat slavery as nearly as heinous a crime as, say, asari or humans. If these people want to make a monument to them, let them, it's not up to us to tell them otherwise.