posted June 01, 2000 07:08 PM               

For the last several months I have received numerous emails and complaints from new Army members and countless Academy trainees concerning the Vast Empire Stormtrooper Corps and its High Command as well as the Vast Empire High Council. The majority of these complaints stem from lower ranking officers criticizing superior ranking officers in public rather than private. It is these emails, along with certain posts by alarmed stormtroopers (who are irritated over the inactivity of the club like we all are), that lead me to make this post.

Firstly, I have already been haughtily told on mIRC several nights ago by an new VE member, whom I will not name, that my opinions on his behavior in the army were not needed being I am unimportant and cannot stop him. Therefore, do not make his error and consider me a mere retired Vast Empire member addressing you. I have been in the Vast Empire Army since the beginning and even before this club selected the name "Vast Empire". The Vast Empire Army Handbook, supposedly written by Moff Raptor, was ghostwritten by me. The Vast Empire Field Manual, Stormtrooper Academy website, Stormtrooper Corps website, the Army positions, ranks, medals, and the majority of everything in the army was/is designed by me. In other words, I regard the Vast Empire Stormtrooper Corps as my "baby" even though it has served under many Prefects. In a way, I feel I have grown up with it during the past two years. Therefore, you can understand why I take personal offense when anyone expresses negative opinions about this club.

Now, onto the meat of this post:

Disrespect - Criticizing other people through public emails or on a public message board posts is deemed as disrespect. Most of you fail to understand the purpose of "controlling your emotions". If many of the lower-ranking officers in the Stormtrooper Corps had controlled their emotions there would be a very large decline in negative posts on this board. Yes, I lose my emotions, but it happens mostly when one of you fail to control yours first. If one officer loses his emotions, the rest will follow. It is a chain-reaction. "When discipline is gone, everything is gone". Those were the famous words of George Rogers Clark to his rangers before he captured St. Francis from the French. Discipline and controlling your emotions means not to post your negative opinions about a specific person, especially if he is of higehr rank than you, for all others to read. I have emailed most of you asking you not to do so. I have incessantly reminded all of you that you are not an officer when you show your emotions. You are a peasant.

Perhaps I should address this from a political viewpoint concerning social classes:

Why do international socialists (communists) advocate for the common masses not to control their emotions? They push the philosophy of "just do it!". Free love. Free sex. Make crude comments. Have no morals. Do not care who you copulate with.
The United States government, controlled by a president who has openly admitted he is a communist, teaches our children that we are just animals. This exact same philosophy was taught to gullible youths in the Soviet Union. They instruct you not to care how you act or treat others. There is no right and wrong. Morals are non-existant. Why do they do this? It is because THIS is what seperates the lower-class from the higher-class. The ruling classes of nobles always controls their emotions while the unrefined peasant class do not. Once you accept their teachings, you become "equal" and they achieve power over you. That is what Communism is all about "equality".
Therefore, when you do not control your emotions . . . you are a slave. A mere piece of mud. If you will not control your emotions and behave like an officer, no one will respect you.

Upkeep - Most of you have wondered why should you respect the members of High Command and those of the Vast Empire High Council. The reason for this is simple: these people have contributed to the club in great ways.

Caramon Majere pays for the Vast Empire domain name as well as for its Message Board. This itself comes over a total of $100 dollars a month. He sacrifices his spare time into this club so that even when he goes on vacation, he still has to keep a close eye on the Vast Empire.

Kadann is a full-time college student of Colorado State University and pays the other half of the cost for the Vast Empire domain. He is considered by all of the "original" Vast Empire members as our secret weapon. Without him, the VE would never exist. He has created the VE Bank, Casino, main website, and numerous other wonders that few other online Star Wars club have. Believe it or not, Kadann has made well over 100,000 American dollars worth of webpages for the Vast Empire. Does he accept anything for his work? No. Because he feels, like all of us, that it is for the good of the club.

The rest of the High Council attend college and are trying to make a decent living in this world.

For Whom It May Concern -

On a final note, I personally am getting tired of receiving all the emailed complaints from Academy graduates and Vast Empire members. This club is suppose to be about fun. Whenever there seems to be a scuffle . . . everyone cannot wait to jump in and stab another person in the back or judge them. One of the reasons the Vast Empire left the Coalition of Galactic Fleets was because of all the hate and back-biting. Perhaps we should all start realizing that the Vast Empire was not made for negative criticism to be publicly displayed or the petty egotistical needs of certain nameless officers (such as myself), but for the sole enjoyment of its members.

I myself admit to have failed to control my emotions in the "What`s going on here?" message string and I personally apologize.

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High General Rarc Spartacus
Aide-de-camp to the Field Marshal
Advisor to the Prefect

(p.s. I am positive that someone will respond to this post pointing out flaws. If so, they will have failed to see its purpose).