The Mech Touch

Chapter 5979  The First Consensus

"Professor Larkinson has made a fitting suggestion." The Armsforger said. "On the one hand, as the Mace of Retaliation has said, humans respond poorly when they are forced to abide by the rules of a single overbearing authority. On the other hand, I do not disagree with the councilors who claim that letting people to their own devices in this matter will lead to a massive drop in stability. Shifting the focus from the individual to a group organization in the form of a sect is a viable means to solve this dilemma. This way, the individual will have the ability to choose between many different sects, but still accept the necessity of accepting strict supervision."

A certain Rubarthan god pilot also expressed his support for this idea. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I support this proposal. It is a superior alternative to complete centralization. The Red Collective cannot and should not control people's lives in a direct fashion. Delegating this responsibility to private organizations will not only reduce its administrative burden, but also foster enough diversity in thought and methods that success and innovation will be rewarded. Controlled competition is the engine of growth. By imposing a controlled competitive struggle, the more successful sects will rise above the inferior ones, thereby elevating our society as a whol."

More people began to get swayed by this compromise solution.

The key phrase here was controlled competition!

To the councilors who earned the qualifications to attend this high-level session, each of them were well aware of the model that humans used to stimulate their growth and prevent themselves from backsliding.

The Societal Vitality Theory first espoused by the New Rubarth Empire before subsequently getting adopted by humanity at large was the prevailing ideology that underpinned human society!

In an environment that was characterized by a finite amount of resources and space, only the best should get to enjoy the bulk of these benefits.

States, companies, mercenary outfits and even individual professionals all had to compete against each other in different competitive environments in order to earn the right to tap into a pool of finite resources.

Many mercenary organizations and private military groups flocked to the frontlines of the Red War not because they were altruistic, but because they wanted to gain greater power and rewards.

Earning the status of linefighters allowed them to gain access to rewards derived from resources that were previously exclusive to the Big Two.

As long as they won their battles, the brave linefighters also enriched themselves by plundering phasewater and other expensive materials from their defeated alien foes.

Plenty of cases had emerged where linefighters started out with heavy debts but quickly became rich enough to afford a home in a dream location such as the Vulit Central Star Node!

The Larkinsons were no exceptions to this rule. The participants of the highly successful expeditionary fleet of the Golden Skull Alliance all converted their wealth and war merits into powerful augmentations, customized mechs, high-end training programs and more.

The most worthy groups got rewarded for their efforts and steadily rose to the top.

Yet not every mech force was successful.

The fact that a lot of mech forces end up getting mauled or outright annihilated was a tragedy, but ultimately necessary.

If these weaker forces continued to persist, they would only continue to claim an unreasonable share of resources, only to expend them in wasteful and unproductive ways.

The Societal Vitality Theory favored their removal so that more effective and productive rivals could occupy their places.

The intended outcome was to create a society where only the strongest and most worthy individuals and groups were left!

Continued competitive pressure prevented stagnation and ensured that no one became complacent.

This was why a lot of councilors did not object to his proposal. They were already familiar with this model, and could easily adapt their institutions to accommodate this change.

Master Goldstein of the Survivalist Faction was the first councilor to change his stance!

This model applied to so many other groupings in society. What Ves had done was present a proposal that already conformed to the prevailing ideology of human civilization.

This was why a lot of councilors did not object to his proposal. They were already familiar with this model, and could easily adapt their institutions to accommodate this change.

Master Goldstein of the Survivalist Faction was the first councilor to change his stance!

"Professor Larkinson's proposal has great merit." He thoughtfully said. "A high degree of control and supervision is necessary, but there are multiple strategies that we can choose from. Letting intermediary organizations handle the bulk of these responsibilities is a good alternative. The only issue with the proposal that I do not agree with is the use of the term 'sect'. It possesses a negative connotation that is only moderately better than using the word 'cult'. It would be more appropriate to our society if we utilize terms that are more familiar to the understanding of contemporary citizens. For example, we can encourage the formation of specialized cultivation schools. Fostering an academic environment is more conducive towards learning and restraint."

That was a good suggestion. Multiple councilors agreed with Master Goldstein that it was better to use a less loaded term to name the organizations in question.

"School is too generic of a term and already possesses an existing meaning. Similar terms such as academy and college suffer from the same problem. It will lead to too much confusion in our society. We must make certain that we do not confuse a cultivation organization from a traditional school."

"We can use the word 'association' instead. It fits the circumstances better than the other terms." Another councilor proposed.

"No." Master Goldstein firmly. "We will not accept any measure that will degrade the meaning of an association. I would rather settle for sects if this is the alternative."

"You mechers do not have a monopoly on the word association! As far as we are concerned, your 'Red Association' is the biggest and strongest cultivation organization of them all! After all, what are mech pilots and mech designers if not cultivators in a modern coat?"

That seemed to rile up Master Goldstein and several mechers!

"Do not compare us to more traditional cultivators! We have properly integrated ourselves into modern society. We do not need to be controlled like other cultivators. There is no need for the Red Collective to supervise us. It should be the other way around. Our high-ranking mech pilots and true mechs are well-placed to enforce the rules and suppress any misbehaving cultivators and sects!"

Clap.

The entire meeting chamber fell silent when the Evolution Witch produced an unnaturally loud clap with her hands.

Every projected figure that previously got caught up in the argument quickly regained their composure and settled down in their high-backed wooden seats.

"Let us keep this discussion on-topic." The Evolution Witch reassured order in the chamber. "The subject of enforcement is not on the agenda for today. That is reserved for a future session. Please return to debating the relationship between the Red Collective and individual cultivators."

A brief moment of silence ensued before the councilors began to speak again.

Though there were still advocates for either complete centralization or granting cultivators a high degree of autonomy, only the most radical councilors stuck to their original viewpoints.

More and more councilors became attracted to the balance promised by the compromise solution.

The Terrans, Rubarthans and other representatives of first-rate states freely abandoned their previous stances and fully placed their support behind the sect proposal.

This was because it benefited them just as much as their original stance!

The first-raters had access to a lot of wealth, resources and heritage. They were in an excellent position to create excellent sects, schools or whatever that possessed the capacity to train lots of cultivators from their respective states!

The strong culture and sense of identity from the Terrans, Rubarthans and so on ensured that the sects would start off with a high degree of cohesion. The councilors did not fear that there would be a lot of cultivators among the sects that would end up becoming mass murderers and taint the reputation of their people.

Even if the sects weren't forced to monitor their members closely, the first-raters would definitely do so anyway just to ensure that the future powerhouses of their respective states remained loyal and productive!

While the first-raters embraced the sect proposal without any hesitation, there were other councilors who recognized that their states and organizations would lose out if it got adopted.

"Letting every state and private organization found their own sects will lead to widespread segregation." A lesser councilor from a third-rate state complained. "There is already a strict separation between the classes in the mech community and elsewhere. Professor Larkinson promised that the Red Collective would serve as a vehicle that would weaken the barriers that keep the classes separate. We should not treat sects as the only way to organize cultivators. We should still allow the Red Collective to train and supervise cultivators directly. We can make it optional if that is a concern. If a cultivator does not want to join any of the available sects, he or she can always enlist in the Collective."

That was a clever idea. The lesser councilor already recognized that the sect proposal was on track of getting passed, so the statesman merely offered a supplement that would reduce the negative impact on lesser states.

Not many councilors supported this additional initiative, but not many people objected to it either. The idea needed to be fleshed out further in order to form a definite conclusion.

Fleet Admiral Amelie Jameson frowned for a moment. She also recognized that the winds had shifted in the favor of the sect proposal.

If her complete centralization proposal no longer had any chance of becoming the prevailing consensus, then she would settle for the next-best solution. She stood up and attracted the attention of the other councilors.

"If these sects or schools will become the predominant interface between humans and cultivation, then they must not be governed with a light hand. Each cultivator is a weapon of mass destruction in the making. It is of utmost importance to ensure that sects are strictly monitored and that every rule is swiftly and decisively enforced. We must form a quota that limits the amount of sects that can be founded in a territory. Only the most upright, diligent and honorable sects will be allowed to earn and keep their quotas. The organizations that have failed in their duties and allowed their cultivators to degenerate will be subject to heavy punishment. If the sanctioned sects have failed severely enough, the Red Collective must strip them of their quotas and reallocate them to more honest cultivation organizations."

A lot of councilors had little objection to the fleet admiral's addition to the sect proposal.

It was truly a good idea, and roughly fell in line with Ves' original argument.

By limiting the amount of sects, the Red Collective could raise the competitive environment while simultaneously making it easier to supervise all of the cultivation organizations.

Setting high standards on the sects and dangling the threat of depriving them of their quotas would give them a powerful incentive to play by the rules!

The Red Collective could also create other mechanisms to foster greater controlled competition between the sects. By managing their relations and forcing them to compete for limited resources, the sects would mostly be focused on overcoming their rivals as opposed to harming ordinary people!

This was a familiar model to the Red Two. The mechers and the fleeters had long used the method of dividing humans into different states in order to give them a proper channel to vent their competitive desires.

Since even a hardliner like Fleet Admiral Amelie Jameson threw her support behind the sect proposal, the outcome of the first session was no longer in doubt.

The only topics left to discuss was hammering out a number of key details.