From: tkim@sdcc3.ucsd.edu (Tonghyun Kim)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: Re: Gundam 0083
Date: 6 Oct 92 08:58:16 GMT
Article-I.D.: sdcc12.39072
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <1992Oct5.221825.7592@vicstoy.UUCP> jstepp@vicstoy.UUCP (John Stepp) writes:
>
>Just a few questions:
>
>Could you explain the "second-class" citizen bit?  The bits of Gundam
>I've seen haven't really shown too much of this.

It's essentially the same thing as the racial prejudices that still
exists in many countries. Some people just want to believe that they
are "superior" to other people and in Gundam Universe, whether you
live on Earth or not is the dividing line. See below.

>In what way do the colonies "serve the Earth's needs"?

By the time of One Year War, most of agricultural products were
supplied from the colonies, due to the pollution on Earth.

>Wouldn't it be much cheaper for the "privileged classes" to move into
>orbital habitats than to move all the "others"?

The life in the colony is not that comfortable and the population
density is very high. Would you move to downtown LA when you can
comfortably live in suburb LA?

>Since the alleged goal of the various Jion incarnations is to break from
>Earth, why should they be concerned with planet-side pollution?  (Also,
>why did the Jion relief fleet from Axis in 0083 have such an emotional
>response to viewing Earth?  After all, they call themselves
>spacenoids...)

Almost everyone wants to live on Earth by nature. But because the Earth's
environment couldn't take the population, the Federation began to
enforce the immigration law around the beginning of UC. It would
have been OK if everybody moved to the space but those with power &
money found the way to beat the system (as usual). The Federation
stopped enforcing the immigaration when they felt that they got rid
of excess population, leaving only "privileged" ones on earth. This
was the beginning of all tragedy.

Those people who migrated to the colonies felt that they're cheated
but they were FORBIDDEN to go back to the earth. The colonies were
managed to fit the needs of the Federation and the people on Earth.
And interests of spacenoids were hardly reflected on the government
policies.   

On the other hand, the environmental situation on the earth began to
get worse again but the Federation government were NOT interested in
resuming the immigration, obviously due to the strong lobby activity
of the Earthnoids.

So when Jion Zum Daikun came out with his philosophy "Jionism" 
(the mankind should move to the space in order to preserve the
earth, the cradle of life), most spacenoids embraced it with open
arms. To the followers of Jionism, the earth is a sanctuary that
must be preserved at all cost. In a way, the fact that they can
NEVER live on Earth makes their love for the mother earth even
stronger.

Those Axis people have been away from the Earth Sphere for more than
three years in an out-of-way place between Mars and Jupiter. Just
imagine that you were not able to see your mother for 4 years and
then met her. Wouldn't you be emotional? 
 
>Can you differentiate between bad government and "savage colonial rule"
>in Gundam for me?

1. Spacenoids are NOT allowed to move back to the Earth. 
2. The Federation just take things away from the colonies while
   they care very little about the welfare of those who live
   inside the colonies.
3. The interests of Spacenoids are NOT reflected on the government
   policy.
4. The Earthnoids have strong prejudices against the spacenoids.

Don't these sound like what an empire (and her citizens) would do to 
their colonies and the people living there?

>Hmmm.  I got the impression from Z Gundam that the Federation was
>suffering from Hyman's conspiricy, not that it was actually being
>villainous.

Jamitov is just an example of the evil inside the Federation. Other
generals and government officials aren't much better. If the
Federation was such a nice government, the One Year War would never
have broke out, nor there would be endless anti-federation
movements.

Let's put an end to this thread. I think most people are sick and
tired of this thread already. If you want to discuss more about this
subject, please take it to e-mail.


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*                       Tonghyn "Vajra" Kim                       *
*                      Operation X/UC HERALD                      *
*                                                                 *
*  A. Delaz Dead (UC0048-0083). But the spirit of Jion lives on.  *
*                            SIEG JION!                           *
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