Was Yeager justified?

Well, was he?


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So you are criticizing a power that was attacked with tons of nuclear missiles by the Third Reich for wanting to wipe it from the map?

I am criticizing a power that was attacked with tons of nuclear missiles by the Third Reich for wanting to wipe humanity from the map.

Germany would merely be another step along the way.
 
I'm going to quibble here. I don't recall seeing any signs that the Lizards planned to break the ceasefire--they extended diplomatic recognition to the "not-empires," and from the sounds of it the Emperor (theoretically an absolute ruler, correct?) had accepted the outcome. I suppose the Lizards may have been ideologically committed to the conquest, but for them, the difference between a commitment and actually doing something seems to be a few centuries. Likewise, I'm pretty sure the Nazis started their little war against the Lizards, on the grounds of being bat-shit insane. Combine this with the pace of human advancement, and I'm not sure the Lizards would ever actually have gotten around to starting the next war.

They are ideologically committed. They also have demonstrated that, when the opportunity presents itself, they will act in accordance with that ideological commitment. The fact that they are cautious, long-term thinkers should not distract you from the fact that they are, in fact, an existential danger.

Attacks on the colonization fleet and similar stupid shenanigans by the human powers are, of course, exceedingly counterproductive for the very reasons you state: all humanity has to do is make nice and stall for half a century, and the existential danger goes away. But this question was not whether Warren or Kaltenbrunner or whomever was justified. The question was whether Yeager was justified.

He was not.
 

Faeelin

Banned
I am criticizing a power that was attacked with tons of nuclear missiles by the Third Reich for wanting to wipe humanity from the map.

Germany would merely be another step along the way.

They emphatically did not want to wipe out humanity.
 
On top of that, he is directly responsible for the massacre of Indianapolis. Yeager has blood on his hands, and he is one of my least favorite characters of the series.

And potentially billions more seeing as the USSR was planning on backing the USA in event of a war, why on earth did this guy keep getting paid?
 
The emphatically did wish to wipe humanity, in the sense of sovereign human states, off the map. That was the entire point of the series.
 
That's not the same thing and I think you know it.

There is probably a nice little argument here, if I wished to pursue it. They want to wipe out human languages, cultures, folkways, etc. and essentially turn everyone into scale-less Lizards. This is their hearts' desire. In which case I say, yes, they mean to wipe out humanity, even if humans remain.

But who cares about that - let's just change what I said:
I am criticizing a power that was attacked with tons of nuclear missiles by the Third Reich for wanting to wipe all human-led sovereign states from the map.

Germany would merely be another step along the way.

Do you have any problems with this? They do not merely object to the Nazis' generally nasty ways. They object to the existence of a German state at all (or any other human-led state). It is perfectly right to criticize them for this stance.
 

Faeelin

Banned
So they're like north americans, except engaging in cultural genocide and not actual genocide.

Also, the USSR wanted to destroy capitalism and democracy; did this mean that the US would be justified in engaging in nuclear terrorism and killing civilians?

People keep thinking that "Welp, the lizards have a long term intent to conquer humanity. TIME TO DIE LIZARD BARISTA."

Wait, what?
 
For me... I can't answer that question, but at the end, I think the whole think is more complex as argue.

In the worldwar scenario, We've two sentient races(one Ape-mammalian based and other Reptilian based) living in a 'Cold War' scenario, the Race is the master in their turf and have 'reach' in the sovereing(not-empire) surviving states, thus that is not a good climate for both the 'Sovereing' Humans and the 'Colonials' Overlords, them a Nuke attack a Civilian shop of the Colonialist side, and the Overlords are furious about that, first they think in the germans... they act like dicks and were wrecked in battle, them a person reveal that his own nation(USA) was the responsible of the attack.

That is complex, but i think that would be like a native american telling about an ambush to some ranchers... complex for both side and please neither, but still was an action for good or worse

Ironically turtledove do a very moral demanding scenario here.
 
So they're like north americans, except engaging in cultural genocide and not actual genocide.

Also, the USSR wanted to destroy capitalism and democracy; did this mean that the US would be justified in engaging in nuclear terrorism and killing civilians?

People keep thinking that "Welp, the lizards have a long term intent to conquer humanity. TIME TO DIE LIZARD BARISTA."

Wait, what?

Of course! In a parallel universe, Yeager would have been just as justified to launch nuclear missiles against the Russians!

Oh, wait, Yeager didn't launch the nuclear missiles at all? That was Warren? Oh, you're arguing a different question... again.

I suppose you'll try to tie it into what I was saying about the Race's intentions and capabilities. In which case, yes, Lizard Barista is in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like American Barista and Russian Barista were in the Cold War. If push came to shove, loads of people were going to die, because it was an existential struggle. But there was no need for push to come to shove, either in the OTL Cold War or in the Worldwar standoff. That's why Warren's actions were criminal stupidity, and so were Yeager's. They ran huge risks, with desperately slim upside, in a powderkeg. They were unjustified actions.
 
Did Sam and Barbara really thing Jens Larrsen was dead? I thought it was that they weren't sure (if that's the case infidelity wasn't justified IMO).
 
Did Sam and Barbara really thing Jens Larrsen was dead? I thought it was that they weren't sure (if that's the case infidelity wasn't justified IMO).

They weren't sure, and they also weren't sure they should be with each other. Then Barbara got pregnant with Yeager's kid, and that was the main point in her decision to move on with Yeager instead of taking Larssen back.
 

scholar

Banned
"Let justice be done, though the world perish"

Its easy to disagree with a move like his actions and his motivations, but if a man believes in justice and he believes that those four million deaths was a tragic abomination in terms of abuse of power, then one cannot say he was not justified in telling someone.

Further, the actions of others does not necessarily remove their fault from the equation. Even if the military fleet was sent to conquer an entire world in an unprovoked assault of nothing less than pure colonial intent, they did not attack soldiers like the Race did. They did not attack strategically located targets to try to cause the war to end quicker and force the oppositions submission like the Race did. They perpetrated the wholesale slaughter of civilians as they slept.

Its possible to justify Warren's actions, as I'm sure he did to himself in the fictitious work, but this does not mean that it is righteous by any measurable standard. Yeager's actions are more justifiable than Warren's, but you can still disagree with them because they are, by all accounts, treasonous just as much as you can agree with his objection to obvious genocide and the succeeding coverup.
 
"Let justice be done, though the world perish"

Its easy to disagree with a move like his actions and his motivations, but if a man believes in justice and he believes that those four million deaths was a tragic abomination in terms of abuse of power, then one cannot say he was not justified in telling someone.
Sure you can - I and others just did, in fact, say he was not justified in telling someone.

Further, the actions of others does not necessarily remove their fault from the equation. Even if the military fleet was sent to conquer an entire world in an unprovoked assault of nothing less than pure colonial intent, they did not attack soldiers like the Race did. They did not attack strategically located targets to try to cause the war to end quicker and force the oppositions submission like the Race did. They perpetrated the wholesale slaughter of civilians as they slept.

This is both answering the wrong question again (this is not about Warren) and also wrong on the face of it. The Lizards nuked Berlin and Washington purely as terror tactics to break humanity's will. They unleashed nuclear weapons against the population centers of Australia as a step towards depopulating the continent. The Race perpetrated the wholesale slaughter of civilians as they slept.

Its possible to justify Warren's actions, as I'm sure he did to himself in the fictitious work, but this does not mean that it is righteous by any measurable standard. Yeager's actions are more justifiable than Warren's, but you can still disagree with them because they are, by all accounts, treasonous just as much as you can agree with his objection to obvious genocide and the succeeding coverup.

Warren's actions aren't really justifiable by reasonable standards, either, but that's a whole different thread. Yeager's actions were beyond merely treasonous... one can understand his anger at Warren's actions, but the consequences of revealing it injures far, far more innocent parties than silence.
 
Yeager's actions are more justifiable than Warren's, but you can still disagree with them because they are, by all accounts, treasonous just as much as you can agree with his objection to obvious genocide and the succeeding coverup.
To be fair tho, America did have him abducted and imprisoned. ;)

You reap what you sow. If your nation has betrayed you then treason against it is justified imo.
 
To be fair tho, America did have him abducted and imprisoned. ;)

You reap what you sow. If your nation has betrayed you then treason against it is justified imo.

And tried to kill him on multiple occasions. Personally, I'd find it hard to be loyal to such a government.
 
And tried to kill him on multiple occasions. Personally, I'd find it hard to be loyal to such a government.

But on the other hand, said government afforded him the opportunity to be a dad again by giving two cute little baby lizards to raise.

The ball is in the other court now.
 

scholar

Banned
But on the other hand, said government afforded him the opportunity to be a dad again by giving two cute little baby lizards to raise.

The ball is in the other court now.
Um, no. It was a scientific and sociological experiment in regards to bringing up members of the Race inside of a human setting.

===

Sure you can - I and others just did, in fact, say he was not justified in telling someone.
If you believe what Yeager believed, you wouldn't think so. Which is what I was trying to say. Change your frame of mind, walk in another's shoes. Its easy to sit and judge comfortably in one's own perspective. When asking whether ones actions were justified, you need to see things from that perspective. It is possible to justify any action. The question of whether or not someone was right in doing so is another thing.

This is both answering the wrong question again (this is not about Warren) and also wrong on the face of it. The Lizards nuked Berlin and Washington purely as terror tactics to break humanity's will. They unleashed nuclear weapons against the population centers of Australia as a step towards depopulating the continent. The Race perpetrated the wholesale slaughter of civilians as they slept.
Australia was because of Australian resistance against them. Berlin and Washington were "retaliatory strikes" if I remember correctly. They, by and large, are hardly justifiable targets by any reasonable standard of morals, ethics, and humanity. But there is a difference between this and attacking a fully civilian population numbering in the millions who have done nothing wrong. The difference is striking. Even if one were to call the Race's acts as Genocide and terrorism, does one Genocide deserve another? Not in my book.

Warren's actions aren't really justifiable by reasonable standards, either, but that's a whole different thread. Yeager's actions were beyond merely treasonous... one can understand his anger at Warren's actions, but the consequences of revealing it injures far, far more innocent parties than silence.
If you found out tomorrow that some grand conspiracy resulted in the US/UK/German/Russian/Chinese/Japanese/Mexican/whathaveyou whole-sale slaughtering a purely civilian target of a nation that said country was at war with a few decades prior, would you expose the truth of this action even though war between the two factions could result in it? Maybe you would. Maybe you wouldn't. Either action, however, is justified. One is justified on a small scale, the other is justified in terms of seeing the big picture.
 

Faeelin

Banned
What's funny is that Yeager probably saved mankind.

As was pointed out in Homeworld Bound, suppose the Race found out once there were Tosevite starships heading towards home that the USA was responsible?

The'd sterilize the planet.
 
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