Suppose out of nowhere extraterrestrials appeared out of nowhere and broadcast their arrival on all radio, TV, and Internet networks. Their basic message is the following: They are highly advanced aliens who form one member state of a gigantic Galactic Federation that encompasses most of the Milky Way. They have recently discovered humanity and after analyzing what to do decided to make contact. They wish to make humanity advanced so as to become a member of the GF however since humans are primitive and petty they must establish a protectorate while they give advanced technology so humans will not abuse it. National governments will still exist but they will overthrow outright dictatorships (ie North Korea) and wipe off such groups as the Taliban once and for all.
The aliens are genuine in their desire and will not for instance attempt to colonize Earth or anything like and they will withdraw their protectorate once the uplift is done. The aliens are essentially invincible to human weapons and advanced beyond human comprehension although they’re still mortal (think sort of like the Yithians in Lovecraft). How would you react?
My first reaction would be to check its not some giant whoosh being done by a group of humans.
Presumably whatever happens to NK will settle the issue of whether any active resistance is possible. But the problem is you just KNOW they’re really going to be human eating bastids who are just lulling us into a false sense of security and we can really fight back using germs and home made bombs.
Don’t forget your mac. With a mac you can upload a virus that will destroy them all. Or send them goatse links. That will either insure our destruction or keep them as far away as possible.
Otherwise what is there to do? The aliens in the OP are (functionally) invincible and so far removed from us as to be inconprehensible. The new rule becomes, “Don’t piss off the aliens,” and there isn’t really anything else that can be done. The only hope is that you can figure out what will upset them before they wipe everyone out.
Nothing. I go to work, ask a girl out, take a nap, hope for the best. I act when I have reasonable expectation my actions will have positive effect. Reacting prematurely would be panic, so I do my best to keep my head down, stay about my regular business and be prepared for the worst I can reasonably prepare for while hoping for the best.
They sound like communists to me. Or at least liberals. Either way we should scapegoat an easily identified minority group for bringing this problem upon us. I’m not worried though, because they clearly aren’t Christians, and God will protect us from harm. So I’ll invest in companies that will pay politicians to pass legislation subsidizing the business of selling tainted food products to the newly freed N. Koreans.
Since the only extraterrestrial life is the Creator and His angels, and since you will see the destruction of those who oppose His chosen people very soon, I don’t think you will have any recourse but to surrender to Him, or face the Lake. That’s just my understanding of the truth.
I think that the Taliban was a bad example and detracts from the central point of your question.
The Taliban are a conservative Islamic group. Lots of muslims are conservative and even have some admiration for the Taliban for at least trying to be religious even if they disagree with their methods.
The North Korean government are a one off outfit - self contained. They don’t really have any admirers outside of themselves.
So the aliens getting rid of the North Korean regime is a different thing to them getting rid of all conservative muslims.
Also, and on a separate point, I think the OP makes it clear that the aliens are benevolent and will leave if asked. So keeping our heads down is not an option. They won’t attack us if we say something they don’t like.
Accurate with one exception-the aliens won’t leave. If the humans complain they will listen and tell or deal with them but they’re here to stay like it or not although they will use nonviolent methods (ie stopping all weaponry from working).
Aliens exist? And they’re going to give us technology? And slay my enemies? Hot damn.
I’d personally be pretty giddy, though not unconcerned. I mean, I’d consider myself a pretty progressive and freethinking in my personal attitudes and beliefs, at least by modern standards, but I’m under few illusions that in a century or two I won’t look like a femur-gnawing savage by their standards. And I’d be a little worried about how the advanced alien [del]over[/del]friendlords are going to look on things that I think are pretty good, but they might think barbaric, and how that’s going to effect my life when they decide to change it (Enforced veganism? Energy rationing? Compulsory daily prayer to Space Odin? Who the hell knows?).
I’d also be worried about the practical aspects of their protectorate. They might have honestly, genuinely good motivations, but have flawed points of ideology they’d want to impose, or have a completely perfect plan for what they want to impose, but flawed means of trying to implement it. Like a lot of colonialist governments on Earth—even the ones who weren’t following a doctrine of “plunder everything, and kill everyone who isn’t slow enough to be caught and enslaved” had their problems (to put it mildly), and post-colonial situations could be even worse.
Plus, there’s the human aspect to consider. I’m not one of those people who thinks all humans, or even most, are inherently bad. I do, however, believe that a majority of them are very good at being a panicky, shrieking rabble with the right prodding. And there are almost seven billion of us. You’d probably get horrible chaos from certain circles if the aliens just came down to give everyone a cookie.
On the other hand, maybe the aliens really have their act together, and I find their points of view intriguing and I wish to subscribe to their newsletter. Think they’ll be hiring commissars?
I’m not really sure what the scenario of the OP is. Are the aliens offering us this as an option or are they telling us this is what they are going to do? If it’s the latter, as other posts seem to suggest, then I’d follow the standard procedure.
Tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Seriously, what am I supposed to do to oppose a galactic empire?
Yeah, honestly, these particular aliens seem advanced and willing to use their advances enough that whatever my reaction might be it’s not going to affect them at all. I suppose, were I to have the option, my response to seemingly almighty aliens blowing people off the face of the Earth would be to catch a ride on the nearest spaceship out of there. New Earth, anyone?
There will always be a sizeable group of people who perceive the new alien overlords as a threat and fight against them, no matter how benevolent the extraterrestrials appear to be. Heck, we’ve still got people protesting the G8 Summit on an annual basis, fer cripe’s sake.
And who’s to say they would choose our democracy over all the other government forms? Perhaps the extraterrestrials would consider the Taliban or the NK dictatorship to be their ideal form of government, according to their own particular moral standards.
I have a question. Why would the aliens overthrow dictatorships? It seems to me that dictatorships would be the most ideal type of governmental environment because they are the most controlled and regimented. It would take very little to contain and nurture a North Korea, or a China, or even a post-soviet Russia, because the mindset of most of their populations is to be subservient to authority. If I were an alien, I don’t think I could ask for a better scenario to walk into.
If, on the other hand, they’ve been watching the planet for at least the last 50 years, the country that would send goosebumps up my squiddelyspooch is the USA. It is unpredictable, volatile, expresses colonialist tendencies, and is willing to destroy others to satisfy its need for preeminence and domination. It is truly a danger to the rest of the world, with a government guided by the nose by religious fanatics, who ostensibly have no power, but really do.
If aliens visited, I’d pack up in the dead of night and skulk over to Canada. There’s no way America survives Alien Judgment Day. No way.
Do they wipe out the Taliban because they’re Muslim, or because they’re very conservative, or because they’re extreme religionists?
In any case, I’ve ALREADY read Tepper’s The Fresco, so I’ll volunteer to be the human Pattern. Or, if my husband is dead or otherwise gone, I’ll ally myself with an alien, in order to move humanity one step closer to full membership.