Kristoph replies...
>Yeah, sure... Come on, Gian, that's bullshit ! Was Alexander the Great
>greedy ? Were Julius Caesar, William the Conqueror, Napoleon, Lenin, Hitler
>& Stalin greedy ?!? I doubt it, especially the last three who led ascetic
>lifes.
>"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. All great men were evil
>men." Lord Acton
>What more is there to say ? Nothing.
>Christoph Kohring
Kristoph,
According to my dictionary, greed means excessive desire. It is often
excessive desire for wealth, but one can have excessive desire for
power as well. I believe that greed is the common thread that binds
most, if not all of the historical figures that you mentioned. So, to
answer your question, Julius Caesar, William the Conqueror, Napoleon,
Lenin, Hitler and Stalin were greedy. Not all of them expressed their
greed in the same way, but I believe that they were greedy.
While I'm not sure if I agree with Gian in his statement that the real engine for war was never religion, I'm not able to cite any examples that disagree with his statement.
There has been some discussion as to why the Lunar Empire is so dead set on oppressing those freedom loving Orlanthi hill tribes. I thought that I'd revisit the question in an attempt to bring this thread back to a Gloranthan topic.
Why are they invading?
a) Is the red menace invading Dragon Pass and Heortland because
Orlanth is the enemy of the Red Goddess?
b) They're invading in order to spread the benevolent enlightenment of the Red Goddess to those poor ignorant Orlanthi.
c) Are the imperial traders pushing for the war in order to gain access to better trade routes with the rest of Genertela?
d) Are the low land dwelling Dara Happans so tired of the raids and invasions that come sweeping down out of the Orlanthi occupied hills every few generations that they're going to go stomp the hill tribes to prevent any future invasions?
e) Does a senior Lunar official desire a chance to become better acquainted with the Demivierge of Rhigos?
Personally, I think that Lunar propaganda stresses a), and mentions b) as well. However, I think that c), d), and e) are probably among the more important reasons.
And, if you couldn't tell, I am a fervent believer in the idea that the Lunars are Glorantha's Evil Empire. Ooze dripping chaos spawns, everyone of 'em. And them that don't detect as chaos are probably illuminated. I guess it comes from playing an Orlanthi as my very first character back in the early '80's.
No offense intended to those Lunar fanatics out there...
Free Winds!
- -Matt Thale
Powered by hypermail