- Wolverfrog
- |
- Fabled Legendary Member
Was reading through the Reach data-pads before and thought of something pretty interesting.
I've been studying Russia's history at my sixth form recently, and of course we've learnt about how the communists seized power in 1917 from the Tsar and Dumas. At this time there were two main communist parties who'd come from one, both with the same end goal but each hoping to go about it in different ways;
One was called the Bolsheviks, the other the Mensheviks. For those who don't know, Bolshevik meant 'Majority' whilst Menshevik meant 'Minority.'
Both adhered to the works of Karl Marx, who as we know was the man who co-wrote The Communist Manifesto. Both the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks believed that there were several stages in human social development, I won't go into depth but basically; primitive communism, feudalism, capitalism, socialism and then finally the idyllic communism.
Both the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks wanted to reach that paradise of communism. However, how they would go about reaching that was where they divided.
The Mensheviks believed that they should allow human society to take its natural course, and that eventually society would evolve into communism with little outside influence.
However, the Bolsheviks believed that they could force communism into being -- skip from feudalism/capitalism (a hybrid which Russia was effectively in at the time) straight to communism.
Although they were called the Bolsheviks (Majority) and the Mensheviks (Minority,) the numerical superiority soon shifted towards the Mensheviks and stayed that way for a while and likely would have still had it not been for Lenin.
How does this relate to Halo? Well...
The Assembly of AIs from the Reach data-pads both want the same goal; to ensure the continued survival and strength of humanity. This is similar to how both the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks wanted communism. Similarly too, they divide themselves into a Majority and a Minority.
The Majority believes that they should not interfere with the natural course and only subtly influence human development. The Minority believes they should take direct action.
Although Bolshevik did mean Majority and Menshevik Minority, their means soon flipped and stayed like that for many years; so in this analogy, the Mensheviks = the Majority AIs and the Bolsheviks the Minority AIs. Like the Mensheviks, the Majority AIs believe they should allow society to take its natural course with minimal influence and the end goal with work itself out. Like the Bolsheviks, the Minority AIs believe they should take a direct hand in shaping the path leading to their end goal.
So, they Assembly discovers the Covenant. Here we go.
The Majority (here, the Mensheviks) rule against first contact, citing that it even if they were not hostile giving humanity access to such technology as the Covenant possessed would be akin to giving an ape a hand grenade. This is similar to the Menshevik's idea that giving humanity communism when they aren't ready would be disastrous.
However, one of the Minority AIs chooses to seek out the Covenant and initiates first contact. This AI is the proverbial Lenin -- the one individual who changes the world and seeks to take a shortcut to their dream by taking a mighty risk.
Of course, this eventually blows up in their faces -- just as Lenin's attempt to try and force communism gives way to the totalitarian state of the USSR (ruled by Stalin and other Soviet leaders post-Lenin) which goes against many of Marx's fundamental ideals, the Minority AI's attempt to try and further humanity by forcing them into first contact gives way to a war which nearly results in the genocide of the entire species.
Even as the USSR in Russia eventually crumbled, so did the Covenant war. But both left unimaginable destruction in their wake, on both instances due to one person trying to force their dream into reality before the world was ready.
Just an idea that struck me when I was reading about the Assembly. I believe that if I were to spend more time analysing the other data-pads (I've only really gone into depth on data-pad 8 right now) I'd find other pre-USSR communist-Russia analogies scattered throughout. I might at some point.
Maybe I'm reading into things too much, but I do think this is a valid analogy I've got here.
[Edited on 12.08.2011 3:37 PM PST]