Discussion on question by what: Why would terrorists target terraforming?

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19:51

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Q: Why would terrorists target terraforming?

Humanity has spread through part of the galaxy, but population still grows and the need for new land is never sated. A consortium of transnational corporations has been contracted by a government to terraform a planet. Terrorists target the managers of those companies. Why? Requirements: ther...

dot_Sp0T

Terrorism is a flag that governments put onto things they do not desire; A simple reason could be that they see the act of terraforming another planet as a ruse of the 'higher powers' to ship out undesirables to other worlds -> thus they want to 'keep earth'..

user83274

@dot_Sp0T Now that is exactly the kind of comment that I so love about this community. Nowhere is there such a density of original thought as here. Thank you!

dot_Sp0T

well, thank you I guess. I don't feel like I could type up an answer that really addresses everything, so I just thought I'd add my 2 cents..

user83274

That's at least 3 cents :-)

GijsM

Silly thought: just think that an old Earth religion believes in the stars and stuff and for hundreds or years they have been praising several constellations and the planet the corporations want to terraform is a planet in one of the solar systems that form that constellation. could be a legit reason the blow people up. Seeing that people in modern day society are doing the same thing for religion

Autar

19:51

Also the terraforming could be targeted by terrorists simply because it's expensive and thus important, the motivation for the terrrorism can come from elsewhere (the company doing the terraforming can be involved into other less innocent things).

user83274

Thank you, @Autar, good ideas.

Autar

In another spin the government doing the terraforming could be oppressing large parts of the population into (near)slavery. This may be the only way to finish the project in time to save humanity (the reason for the gov doing this), but it won't prevent people from resisting, sometimes violently.

Marky

Another thought; Maybe they don't want to protest the terraforming itself, but are trying to modify the behavior of other people. An example; They believe that there is a threat of alien invasion and feel the terraforming outposts are under-guarded (and have unreasonably dismissed the threat), so they perform violent acts against the terraformers to encourage them to get a guarding and fighting force.

Lightness Races in Orbit

Ask Lieutenant Commander Worf.

user83274

@LightnessRacesinOrbit Explain. I don't see him doing terrorism over terraforming. Could you elaborate or link to some source?

Lightness Races in Orbit

19:51

@what: memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/…

user83274

@LightnessRacesinOrbit Thank you, but I still fail to see a relation to my question. There is no terraforming going on on Risa. Or are you saying that jealousy is enough of a reason to become a terrorist?

user34266

I'm not sure it counts as terrorism if you're attacking the people directly responsible for the things you don't like. I always understood it as a peer pressure thing -- attack party B so that party B forces party A to do what you want.

Thucydides

Terrorism is spreading fear and uncertainty through the population in order to pressure or force government or society to make changes desirable to the terrorists. It is the tactic of a militarily, politically or economically inferior opponent against a greater adversary. What political or social changes do the terrorists in your story desire, and why does the government or society not want to mane this change?

Lightness Races in Orbit

@what: Did you not see the episode or read the synopsis to which I linked you? What does "jealousy" have to do with it?? A huge amount of terraforming took place on Risa, and Worf's buddies sabotaged the technology that kept the weather Earth-ideal for purely political reasons. I never said this answers your question, but there is a pretty strong connection from which you may draw some inspiration.

njzk2

See Red Mars. sabotage against terraforming are perfomed to slow down the rate of immigration, and to protect the mars for exploration and scientific studies.

user83274

19:51

@Thucydides That is exaclty the question I am asking you.

user83274

@LightnessRacesinOrbit I did read the whole of the plot summary you linked to. "Worf sees Jadzia sculpting with Arandis and is jealous. He decides to help Fullerton make his point." And the resistance does not fight terraforming, as that has already been done (the planet is inhabited), rather "[t]heir aim is to fight against loosening morals in the Federation".

user83274

Thank you, @njzk2. I'm a big fan of Robinson, but that is one trilogy I have yet to read. One more reason to do it soon.

Lightness Races in Orbit

@what: I said to read the synopsis, not just a two-sentence plot summary. That really does not tell you what happened in the episode, or what everybody's intentions were. Heck, it doesn't even touch on what Fullerton was trying to do, which is the part that should be interesting to you: it shows that "to fight against loosening morals in the Federation" could be part of a possible answer to your question. Read the whole synopsis or ideally just watch the episode. But since this conversation is rather like pulling teeth, I shall leave you to it...

user83274

@LightnessRacesinOrbit I don't understand. You linked to and I completely read from top to bottom a "summary" that is several paragraphs long. There is no two-sentence summary on that page. I am even quoting to you from that text you linked to. It contradicts what you say. Did you link to the wrong page?

Lightness Races in Orbit

@what: I quote directly from your previous comment:

I did read the whole of the plot summary you linked to. "Worf sees Jadzia sculpting with Arandis and is jealous. He decides to help Fullerton make his point."

You did not look into the detail of the motives or of the storyline. I did not share the wrong link. I just wanted to help you with a fun example but this conversation has been way more trouble than it's worth. So let's move on.

user83274

19:51

Look, @LightnessRacesinOrbit, I appreciate your help, but you started out with an obscure comment ("Ask Lieutenant Commander Worf.") that someone who has never seen a single episode of Star Trek can't possibly understand. From there I had to tickle every hint of meaning from you. Why didn't you post your third comment as an answer right away? I would have been grateful, upvoted it, and never had the slightest incling whether your summary was accurate or not. Nor would I have cared. All this would have taken you much less effort than helping me guess what you mean.

dyasny

@dot_Sp0T have you ever encountered or been a target of a terrorist attack? I bet not, because you would be singing a different song if you had.

@what I think I even read a book where it happened, one of the more recent ones by Adrian Tchaikovsky iirc. Anyhow, it can be anything, from the desire to sabotage a large and expensive project and thus make a bigger impact, to radical beliefs in "god's plan" and the untouchability of other worlds.

Mazura

Why do I hate Weyland Yutani? Let me count the ways.

user83274

@Mazura Could you spell this out for an ignorant like me, please?

Durakken

Terrorism is any action that is done to cause fear and confusion purposefully for some end, as such any reason one can think of can be used to justify any action so long as it causes fear to the people the people who are committing the act want to cause fear to. So this question is asking people to come up with something only you can come with as a world builder.

Lightness Races in Orbit

@what: Sometimes people make a deliberately obscure reference that's intended as a little laugh for those who get it. A slice of joy in a serious world. A brief moment of levity. And those who don't get it needn't worry; they may ignore it, or ask for clarification. But you take it so seriously... and this whole "look, \@LightnessRacesInOrbit..." telling-off actually comes across as really condescending. So I supremely regret bothering with this post at all now.

dot_Sp0T

19:51

@dyasny I am not sure I understand what you want to say/imply

dyasny

@dot_Sp0T I'm saying a very simple thing - while it's "cool" to say "it's all the govt trying to fool you", there are people out there who are fighting actual terrorists and who are hurt by actual terrorists. And it's people like you who give those terrorist animals legitimacy and motivation to go on. Your opinion is their goal, towards which they murder people and destroy what others built

dot_Sp0T

@dyasny I am sorry to have upset you with my wording.

user83274

@dyasny Thank you, that must be Children in Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, where eco-terrorists kill the monkeys that are meant to populate a terraformed planet (the summary says). Must read that one.

xDaizu

...because all creation (as in "created by the big bang and stuff happening to stars, not religious creation") is beautiful and has the eventual potential to become, eventually, it's own type of life,so who are we, pitiful self-centered carbon based oxygen breathing lifeforms, to alter planets in such a way, potentially destroying the chances of such a lifeform from ever developing? I don't know if this group of terrorists are right in a very high level of scope or just bonkers, but they sure use the word "potential" a lot in their speeches.

dyasny

@what yup, that's the one. Not his best book, but he's a generally brilliant writer, so it's actually very good, IMHO

user83274

19:51

@dyasny Have never read him, but will now do so. Thank you for the recommendation.

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Discussion on question by what: Why w…