A Love Letter to Peace and Hate Mail to TUDOR

[ChaIbaud]

PhoenixKnight, members of TUDOR, Avonmorans, distinguished merchants, my old friends in Fox, guildmates in VUDU, ladies and gentlemen:

It is with great pride that I speak on this forum from a bar in Tzogos, encouraged by no other than myself.

Captain Jack once said that every man sent out from a port's tavern should be a man of his nation as well as a man of his time, and I am confident that the men and women who carry the honor of reading this post will continue to give from their lives, from their talents, a high measure of public service and public support to everyone they choose to surround themselves with.

I have, therefore, chosen this time and this place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived--yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace.

What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Romana enforced on the world by Roman weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life in Avonmora worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children--not merely peace for pirates but peace for all men and women--not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.

I speak of peace because of the new face of war. Total war makes no sense in an age when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable maritime forces and refuse to surrender without resort to those forces. It makes no sense in an age when a single cannon shot contains almost ten times the explosive force delivered by all of the Westboro Baptist Church. It makes no sense in an age when the deadly aggression produced by a "training guild" would be carried by wind and water and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn.

Today the expenditure of billions of coins every day on ships and weapons acquired for the purpose of making sure VUDU members are accosted on Day 2,222 is seen as fun. But surely the acquisition of such idle stockpiles--which can only destroy and never create--is not the only, much less the most efficient, means of assuring peace.

I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men (and those in TUDOR). I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war--and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears. But we have no more urgent task.

Some say that it is useless to speak of Avonmoran peace or a universal law or intercontinental disarmament-and that it will be useless until the leaders of a pirate's way of life adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they never do. I believe no one can make them do it. But I also believe that those promoting conflict for fun must reexamine their own attitude--as individuals, guilds, and Nations--for their attitude is as essential as their counterparts. And every man of the great seas, every thoughtful citizen who despairs of war and wishes to bring peace, should begin by looking inward--by examining his own attitude toward the possibilities of peace, toward the guilds of our realm, toward the course of past wars and toward freedom and peace here in Avonmora.

First: Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable--that Avonmora is doomed--that we are gripped by forces we cannot control.

We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade--therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable--and we believe they can do it again.

I am not referring to the absolute, infinite concept of universal peace and good will of which some fantasies and fanatics dream. I do not deny the value of hopes and dreams but we merely invite discouragement and incredulity by making that our only and immediate goal.

Let us focus instead on a more practical, more attainable peace--based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions--on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the interest of all concerned. There is no single, simple key to this peace--no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. Genuine peace must be the product of many nations and men, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process--a way of solving problems.

With such a peace, there will still be quarrels and conflicting interests, as there are within circles and nations. World peace does not require that each man love his neighbor--it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement, just as what happens inside our communities. And history teaches us that enmities between nations, as between individuals, do not last forever. However fixed our likes and dislikes may seem, the tide of time and events will often bring surprising changes in the relations between nations and neighbors.

So let us persevere. Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it.
Second: Let us reexamine our attitude toward the guild VUDU. It is discouraging to think that others may actually believe what the propagandist Phoenixknight may write. It is discouraging to read a recent authoritative text on Military invitation and find, on page after page, baseless and incredible claims--such as the allegation that "VUDU members deserve it."

Truly, as it was written long ago: "The wicked flee when no man pursueth." Yet it is sad to read these TUDOR statements--to realize the extent of the gulf between us. But it is also a warning--a warning to the average person not to fall into the same trap as these "peaceful traders", not to see only a distorted and desperate view of the other side, not to see conflict as inevitable, accommodation as impossible, and communication as nothing more than an exchange of threats.

Today, or in 6 days,, should total war ever break out again--no matter how--our two groups would become the primary targets. It is an ironic but accurate fact that the two of the strongest powers are the two in the most danger of devastation. What we each have built, all we have worked for, would be damaged in the first 24 hours. And even in the past wars, which brought burden and danger to so many countries and men, including my personal allies--our two worlds bear the heaviest burdens. For we are both devoting massive sums of money to weapons that could be better devoted to combating ignorance, poverty, and disease. We are both caught up in a vicious and dangerous cycle in which suspicion on one side breeds suspicion on the other, and new weapons beget counter-weapons.

In short, both VUDU and TUDOR and its allies, have a mutually deep interest in a just and genuine peace and in halting the boring conflicts. Agreements to this end are in the interests of those under PK as well as my own--and even the most hostile members can be relied upon to accept and keep those treaty obligations, and only those treaty obligations, which are in their own interest.

So, let us not be blind to our differences-but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

We must, therefore, persevere in the search for peace in the hope that constructive changes within the TUDOR bloc might bring within reach solutions which now seem beyond us. We must conduct our affairs in such a way that it becomes in the traders' interest to agree on a genuine peace. Above all, while defending our own vital interests, marine powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a costly war. To adopt that kind of course in this age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy-or of a collective death-wish for the world.

While we proceed to safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests. And the elimination of unneeded war and arms is clearly in the interest of both. No treaty, however much it may be to the advantage of all, however tightly it may be worded, can provide absolute security against the risks of deception and evasion. But it can--if it is sufficiently effective in its enforcement and if it is sufficiently in the interests of its signers--offer far more security and far fewer risks than an unabated, uncontrolled, unpredictable race.

The nature of us all, as the world knows, will always start a war. We do not want a war. We do now expect a war, though. This generation of Avonmorans has nearly had enough of war and hate and oppression. We shall be prepared if others wish it. We shall be alert to try to stop it. But we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on--not toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace.

May those encouraging VUDUpalooza know that we are but meek and humble servants to the greater Avonmoran society and a war with us would prove devastating to your own reputations moreso than the two ships in my arsenal.

[PhoenixKnight]

You do realize the whole premise of VUDUpalozza is meant as a jock and word play on Shadowood’s old Natsupalozza, right?

I did mention I was being whimsical band that no one should take it seriously.

PS. You really love to right!

[Shadowood]

War is no joke!

[PhoenixKnight]

I mean the post was meant as a joke my old good fellow. I am by no means a man of war.

This was a bad joke on my part. TUDOR has nothing to do with it

Apologies if I offended the jolly good fellows at VUDU

[ChaIbaud]

i'm not offended i just had to prove myself to deznutz because i seek his approval

[DezNutz]

TLDR

[sXs]

i'm not offended i just had to prove myself to deznutz because i seek his approval

LOL

[ChaIbaud]

feniks im trying to save our ships and gold and you're mocking me... thats it im done let vudupalooza commence starting from inside

[DezNutz]

feniks im trying to save our ships and gold and you're mocking me... thats it im done let vudupalooza commence starting from inside

Your privilege is showing. You need to check that.

[ChaIbaud]

feniks im trying to save our ships and gold and you're mocking me... thats it im done let vudupalooza commence starting from inside

Your privilege is showing. You need to check that.

something that doesnt exist cant show