The Neutral Manifesto

[Yarko]

Newland City Council
April 2, 29480

On behalf of the Newland City Council, I would like to thank the many of you who turned up at the meeting, for your civilized and much appreciated contribution.

As promised, we make the Manifesto public for you to comment and discuss.

The full transcript of the speech can be found at: http://sumo.evilsmiley.org/manifesto.txt


The Neutral Manifesto:

1. Neutrals are an independent entity, without political or ideological affiliation with either the Omni-Tek Corporation or the Clans.
2. Neutrals will maintain an impartial attitude towards, and avoid participation in any conflict between, Omni-Tek and the Clans.
3. Neutral cities are inviolable and are to be left undisturbed during conflicts between Omni-Tek and the Clans.
4. The fact of the neutrals resisting, even by force, attempts to violate their neutrality cannot be regarded as a hostile act.
5. Neutrals will respect and protect Omni-Tek and Clan citizens and property inside Neutral cities, unless when those Omni-Tek or Clan citizens commit hostile acts against neutral citizens or property, or against citizens or property of the opposing faction.
6. Neither Omni-Tek nor the Clans will gather troops in neutral cities for purely military purposes. Neither Omni-Tek nor the Clans will use any installation in neutral cities for purely military purposes. Neither Omni-Tek nor the Clans will form any corps of combatants or open recruiting agencies in neutral cities.
7. Neither Omni-Tek nor the Clans will enforce police operations in neutral cities, including but not limited to arrest, interrogation and inquiries.
8. Neutrals reserve the right to mine notum and protect their notum mines, according to ICC regulations.
9. Notum mining cannot be regarded as an act of partiality in the conflict between Omni Tek and the Clans.
10. Neutrals reserve the right to conclude treaties, form alliances or start hostilities with any party, unless when those treaties, alliances or hostilities are in violation with articles 1 and 2.
11. The responsibility of the neutrals is not engaged by the fact of groups or individuals, who clearly and explicit operate out of the mainstream of the common neutral conviction and range of thought, committing acts of terror, assaults, taking of hostages, kidnapping, cruelty, brutality, threat, intimidation etc.
    Such groups or individuals, in particular but not limited to the Dust Brigade and the Legionaries, although not politically or ideologically affiliated with Omni-Tek or the Clans, are considered to be separated from the neutral entity.

Sincerely,

[Nyadach]

**cheers**

[Berael]

For Those of you who want greater context, here is the full formated text of the speech.

Fellow neutrals and friends.

About 230 years ago, people, weary of the wars and yearning for a peaceful existence, broke their bonds with the Omni-Tek Corporation and the Clans to settle themselves in non-political zones.

These people where the first neutrals.

These people abandoned more then just their affiliation and also most of their equipment. Ill-prepared and ill-equipped, they faced a hostile world, where they did not always find the peace they longed for. Often enough, they where fair game and an easy prey for criminals from both factions. History doesn't recall their names.

We neutrals don't have our heroes.

We have no Ross, no Radiman or Athens. Though, there have been many, brave men, women and atroxes, and some of the finest leaders of great organizations. Maybe it was against all the odds, but neutrals survived, and today, we see all around us, the results of their hard work and perseverance. This is their legacy, often paid for with their lives.

My friends, 230 years are a long time, and a lot of things have changed. Today, neutrals no longer are the modest and secluded people, who, for so long, lived in the shadow of the factions. These days, except in numbers, we match the factions in many ways. New found technologies and commerce, made it possible to acquire high standard equipment, arms and armor. Never before have we been better organized. Never before did we have more opportunities and have we seen such a confidence. Neutrals have grown a lot over the past years, thanks to the efforts of many of you present here today. This opens up new perspectives, but also presents us with new challenges. Self-assurance and assertiveness also increase the liability of conflicts with the factions. A fact we see confirmed nearly every day. Whether we like it or not, the time of innocence is over. Once we have bitten the apple, there is no way back.

At the same time, the political landscape on Rubi-Ka changes fast. The faction's antics often force us to tie ourselves in knots, and many question neutrals and neutrality. While it is true that the house of neutrals has many doors, something we should always cherish and preserve, it also makes it hard for the factions to see who we are. To understand where we lay our loyalties. Although we aren't without friends or without allies, in both factions, there are those who mean well, there are also those who's short-sightedness and extreme views, will sooner or later jeopardize our community.

My friends, the Newland City Council can't answer all questions. As some of you rightfully remarked. Our council doesn't represent all neutrals and has limited authority. Maybe we need more councils, maybe we need a general neutral council.
But, should we wish so, such things need time, and time is not something we have in abundance. Because of this, we took the liberty of designing a tool. A tool we call the Neutral Manifesto. It's designed with only one purpose in mind and that is, to put the neutrals on the map, to make clear what we stand for and what it means to be a neutral. A tool, we feel is acceptable to the broad majority, if not all, of neutrals, and that makes it very clear to the factions that we are an independent people, with our own agenda and goals and not a loose hanging part of one of them.

It is a tool, designed for you, it's not something the Newland City Council will unilaterally use. It is yours, to either support or to turn it down.

My fellow neutrals, I'll now let the 11 parts of the Neutral Manifesto speak for itself:

1. Neutrals are an independent entity, without political or ideological affiliation with either the Omni-Tek Corporation or the Clans.
2. Neutrals will maintain an impartial attitude towards, and avoid participation in any conflict between, Omni-Tek and the Clans.
3. Neutral cities are inviolable and are to be left undisturbed during conflicts between Omni-Tek and the Clans.
4. The fact of the neutrals resisting, even by force, attempts to violate their neutrality cannot be regarded as a hostile act.
5. Neutrals will respect and protect Omni-Tek and Clan citizens and property inside Neutral cities, unless when those Omni-Tek or Clan citizens commit hostile acts against neutral citizens or property, or against citizens or property of the opposing faction.
6. Neither Omni-Tek nor the Clans will gather troops in neutral cities for purely military purposes. Neither Omni-Tek nor the Clans will use any installation in neutral cities for purely military purposes. Neither Omni-Tek nor the Clans will form any corps of combatants or open recruiting agencies in neutral cities.
7. Neither Omni-Tek nor the Clans will enforce police operations in neutral cities, including but not limited to arrest, interrogation and inquiries.
8. Neutrals reserve the right to mine notum and protect their notum mines, according to ICC regulations.
9. Notum mining cannot be regarded as an act of partiality in the conflict between Omni Tek and the Clans.
10. Neutrals reserve the right to conclude treaties, form alliances or start hostilities with any party, unless when those treaties, alliances or hostilities are in violation with articles 1 and 2.
11. The responsibility of the neutrals is not engaged by the fact of groups or individuals, who clearly and explicit operate out of the mainstream of the common neutral conviction and range of thought, committing acts of terror, assaults, taking of hostages, kidnapping, cruelty, brutality, threat, intimidation etc. Such groups or individuals, in particular but not limited to the Dust Brigade and the Legionaries, although not politically or ideologically affiliated with Omni-Tek or the Clans, are considered to be separated from the neutral entity.

My friends, There are those moments in time, where a people decides on matters that will have consequences for years to come. This could be one of those moments.

The choice is yours, may your choice be wise.

I thank you.

[Berael]

Concerning Point 2

"2. Neutrals will maintain an impartial attitude towards, and avoid participation in any conflict between, Omni-Tek and the Clans."

Many neutrals have reasons to dislike either or both sides, or favor them, this does not mean that they desire to be on a side they favor or unilateraly oppose a side they do not. It should also be kept in mind that there is a stark divide between personal and 'factional' interests. If as a neutral, I get in a fight with an omni employee and then dislike them or their organization, that is not support for the clans, that is a personal vendetta.

Some neutrals also are actively mercenary, both combatively and with their services. They will work for those people who best serve their interests at the moment. These people are still neutral because their interests are not those of the Clans or Omni-Tek dispite their aid in the interests of that side. The key is the intention.

I would rephrase this section like this:
"Neutrals maintain personal attitudes, rather than factional attitudes, towards world events. Thus, their actions should be understood in this context."

[Collodion]

1. An indepenent enity, made up of independent individuals.
2. Hard to do when either side is shooting at you.
3. Amen.
4. Move along Omni-pol.
5. Of course many of us already respect omni in omni territory, and clan in clan territory, we simply ask for you to do the same.
6. I would also hope that neutrals will not assemble in omni areas to attack clans, and visa versa.
7. MOVE ALONG Omni-pol.
8. mining.... no comment
9. Sure, neutrals mining don't make them prefer one faction over another.
10. Uhh...I see complications in this as neutrals are an independent enity made up of individuals. Judiciary confusion here.
11. Who decides the 'mainstream of the common neutral conviction and range of thought' considering "neutrals are an independent enity made up of individuals"?

But this is definately a step in the right direction. And hopefully Omni-tek and the Clans will understand our position just a little bit better.

[Jujuwalker]

I would rephrase this section like this:
"Neutrals maintain personal attitudes, rather than factional attitudes, towards world events. Thus, their actions should be understood in this context."

I say we add that second sentence to number 2, just like that. it completes one another, and explains that while we are neutral, individuals still make their own choices.

Hence, combined, it would look something like this :

"2. Neutrals as a majority maintain an impartial attitude towards, and avoid participation in any conflict between, Omni-Tek and the Clans. Instead, neutrals maintain personal attitudes, rather than factional attitudes, towards world events. Thus, their actions should be understood in this context. "

[Berael]

Before you do that, juju, I would strongly suggest in hitting the street and asking people if that is the case. If you can talk to 100 people randomly on the street and 51%+ say that they stay out of the conflict completely, then you can say its a majority.

Alot of neutrals care about whats going on. For mews sake, we had around three neutral leaders mowed down by the Dust Brigade on the 1st when they were going to listen to Zora's speech. That is liable to make somebody not impartial.

Many people that I talk to about point 2 seem to have the impression that either 1. they are being told to stop fighting with OT and the Clans so they should just give up their towers and go home, or 2. That they can't actualy do buisness with anybody who is non-neutral since it would give an advantage to one side over the other. Like these people, I think those options are bull-mew. If this document is meant to describe what neutrals -are- rather than what neutrals should be than you need to make the description broad enough to include those people who pursue their own interests while contracting to one side or another.

This also presents a problem with point 5, (even disregarding the 'will' statement) since we all have different views on world events, if you dislike what is going on why would you respect or protect those people in any way? I think the spirit of point 5 needs some clarifacation by Yarko. What situation did he envision when he was writting this?

Additionaly, the use of the word 'will' in some of the points makes it seem as though it is an order. This is a grave error on Yarko's part because, as i've seen in talking to people, they are taking offense to being given orders by either the NLC Council (who simply represent the interests of NLC, not of all neuts) or Yarko, who is not a leader of all neutrals.

[Jujuwalker]

Many people that I talk to about point 2 seem to have the impression that either 1. they are being told to stop fighting with OT and the Clans so they should just give up their towers and go home(1), or 2. That they can't actualy do buisness with anybody who is non-neutral since it would give an advantage to one side over the other. Like these people, I think those options are bull-mew.(2) If this document is meant to describe what neutrals -are- rather than what neutrals should be than you need to make the description broad enough to include those people who pursue their own interests while contracting to one side or another. (3)

1) WWOOOAAAWWWW..... i'll refer to article number 8 & 9 . Notum mining has NOTHING to do with the conflict.

2) Once again, the actions of individuals does not make a factional alliance. You can still do business with anyone, as long as it's you and not the neutrals that do. Of course, if there are repercussions for said business, hopefully there won't be cries for neutral unity in that case, because THEN that would be, as you say, bull-mew .

3) There is also point 11 made especially to deal with... well.... what i like to call " the supahfreaks!" like the Dusters, the legionaires, and anybody else that's well.... so freakish and outlandish that they are technically their own faction by themselves. The nanolibfront, as an example, could be considered under article 11 since they are distinct from all neutrals, have their own culture and agenda, and people recognise them as "The nanoliberation front" instead of "Just a bunch of crazy neutrals" .

[Berael]

Then that should be made -absolutely clear- in the earliest points of the manifesto, since the earlier points (1, 2, 3) seem to take precidence over the latter (8, 9, 10). You shouldn't have to refer to latter points to support earlier points. Simply the fact that I have to bring this up means that point 2 is phrased poorly and is not conveying the impression it is meant to convery. To this end I think that my phrasing should replace the current one, not be tacked onto it. Although I don't have time to examine it in detail right now, I think my phrasing also supports the remaining points of the manifesto.

[Telperion]

This document is very interesting, and thank you for contributing to making the Neutral position clear to Clanners like me.

I have a question still: how are we supposed to deal with enemies when Omni forces are assisted by Neutral forces in attacks against our towers? In this case, it's logical for us to retaliate against both sides...

May you find your heroes in the people who will be able to end this war on our dusty and red planet.

[Negs]

I have a question still: how are we supposed to deal with enemies when Omni forces are assisted by Neutral forces in attacks against our towers? In this case, it's logical for us to retaliate against both sides...

Give reasons to have them help you, and people will. Did you ask for any assistance? Or was it the blind assumption that no they will never help us.

[Berael]

From a neutral point of view: if anybody attacks your resources you have a right to defend yourself from their attacks, no matter who it is and what their affiliation. Personaly, I opt to not hold grudges unless a force decides it will be persistant and badger me and my Wolves into action, or infringes on neutral territory.

As the manifesto states though (or should state), neutrals reasons for doing things are personal. We are not obligated to hate the Clans or OT because of our 'faction leadership'.

[Negs]

As the manifesto states though (or should state), neutrals reasons for doing things are personal. We are not obligated to hate the Clans or OT because of our 'faction leadership'.

I agree with you totally. I've said it a thousand times before, I don't care what your faction is. You help me, I help you, you hurt me, I hurt you, you leave me alone, I leave you alone. So easy even other troxes like me can understand.

[Yarko]

A manifesto is a written statement of beliefs, aims and policies. It’s not a law book or a set of rules.

As far as the “orders” by the NLC or by me are concerned, read the speech. I clearly stated that this is a tool we offer to the neutral community and it is up to the neutral community to either accept it or to turn it down.

An entity is something which exists apart from other things, having its own independent existence. I don’t think this is in contradiction with the wide variety of views within the neutral community.

The reason for point 5 is quite simple: the very existence and profit of our traders relies on the neutrality and safety of our towns. So, it’s normal for us to welcome all who come with good intentions and guarantee the safety of our visitors.

Impartiality means not supporting any of the sides. This, and abstinence from participation in a war, are the fundamentals of neutrality. Whatever one’s believes are, I doubt there’s anyone who can give another definition for neutrality, but if you can, I’m open to suggestions.

This doesn’t necessarily cause a problem for trade, notum mining or maybe even mercenaries. To sell a large shipment of superior weapons to one of the sides is clearly in contradiction with neutrality, as would be the capture -or support in doing so- of several notum mines of one faction only.

I also don’t see why this would prevent any neutral from defending himself, his friends, family or property. However, even as an individual, a neutral is still a neutral.

To paraphrase a wise man, long ago on the brink of a war: “While it is true that not every neutral can remain neutral in thought as well as in action, even a neutral has a right to take account of facts and even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or close his conscience, we are also forced to realize that every word and every deed affects our neutral future.”

[Trgeorge]

Alot of neutrals care about whats going on. For mews sake, we had around three neutral leaders mowed down by the Dust Brigade on the 1st when they were going to listen to Zora's speech. That is liable to make somebody not impartial.

Not really. They seem to be already impartial. They choose to go listen to OT propaganda instead of deciding on future of neutrals. Everyone sets priorities for themself.

[Sollstice]

Great job! This makes pretty clear what (most) of us stand for.

[Nyadach]

I was out for a drink with a few friends last night....here we all are drinking ourselves into the void and we got to discussing the manifesto. It seems many of my fellow neutrals have issues, which seem to of been stated above...so as always I get a thinking....(watches Juju run for cover)...

Many of our fellow neutrals now don't understand our history, or our hardships the early neutrals had to suffer. To be totally honest most just see us pretty much as a very free "faction" if you will, a simply and very comparible entity to Omni-Tek and the Clans. In the olden days though, that was very different. But things have changed over time, the ICC's arrival on Rubi-ka opened up such a huge ability for the neutral population to have equal rights like those of Omni and the Clans. And over time the original hardships have been forgotten. New neutral citizens who've come to Rubi-ka and joined the freedom of the neutral community don't really see the issues from the past, and many of the old timers (myself included) don't wish to loose our history. Add into this mix the huge range of differances of opinion on everything and we have the wide splits which form the mass of the neutral community these days.

At the bar last night as I said, I got to thinking of how best to describe the neutral population to everyone else....

The neutral population is basically as has been said many times before, not just one element, its a wide variety of beliefs and ideals which for a huge range of "shades of grey". Its best to think of us as a grey nebula floating freely through space. We have our freedom, we go as we like, we interact with other bodies around us freely. But every partical which makes up this grey nebula is its own unique entity. Its own slightly different shade of grey. As a whole the nebula is "neutrality". But upon closer inspection we are just a huge collection of grey particals moving freely, each doing our own thing. Some shades are quiet similar to each others, some are much darker or much lighter.

You can't lock in the nebula, its freedom and diversity will always find ways of escaping and moving onward. It can't fairly be defined as just one shade, even though from a distance it might be seen just as grey. It is just a collection of individual elements.

[Negs]

At the bar last night as I said, I got to thinking of how best to describe the neutral population to everyone else....

The neutral population is basically as has been said many times before, not just one element, its a wide variety of beliefs and ideals which for a huge range of "shades of grey". Its best to think of us as a grey nebula floating freely through space. We have our freedom, we go as we like, we interact with other bodies around us freely. But every partical which makes up this grey nebula is its own unique entity. Its own slightly different shade of grey. As a whole the nebula is "neutrality". But upon closer inspection we are just a huge collection of grey particals moving freely, each doing our own thing. Some shades are quiet similar to each others, some are much darker or much lighter.

You can't lock in the nebula, its freedom and diversity will always find ways of escaping and moving onward. It can't fairly be defined as just one shade, even though from a distance it might be seen just as grey. It is just a collection of individual elements.

That was excellent and captures what I think totally

[Berael]

Mewmew Nyadach, I think you are following in the tradition of the great drunken authors of the universe. =)

[Yarko]

Each individual particle in a nebula may wander about freely, but the nebula as a whole still moves in one direction, taking all particles with it. And whatever shade of grey a particle is, it’s still grey.

There may be different ways in experiencing ones neutrality, such as peaceful versus belligerent, or fencesitter versus advocate, but this doesn’t change anything about the fact that one still is a neutral. And there aren’t many different ways to define neutral and neutrality…