The_Monk_Key wrote...
I think many people on BSN aren't thinking about the Geth vs. Quarian issue clearly. It is too easy to just say "Oh the Quarians just enslaved the Geth and attempted genocide when the Geth discovered they were slaves". No if you think about it, every one of us would do the same thing and feel the same way as the Quarians if we were put into their shoes. Consider this...
The Geth were never designed to be sentient slaves. They were simply machines to help make work/everyday life easier. To relate to this one simply need to consider the use of personal computers. We use the computer everyday to do everything from browse web, enjoy entertainment to controlling machinery and monitoring different industrial processes. However when you think about the relationship between humans and computers, you would never consider it to be one of “humans forcing their slave computers to do work for them”.
Now imagine if one day you discovered that your computer can turn on by itself, perform actions without instructions and be aware of the surrounding. Your first reaction would never be “oh it is becoming a sentient species, I should give my computer rights and freedoms”. No you would unplug the computer first as a precaution then try to find out what happened. While doing that, you would never consider whether what you are doing is genocide because to you it is a simple case of your machine doing things it should not be doing.
This is why the Quarians wanted to destroy the Geth after they have became aware. It is not a issue of knowingly wanting to eradicate the species that used to be slaves but now wanted freedom. It is about stopping the possibility that the machines they have used to improve their lives will act in unpredictable, uncontrollable, and dangerous ways that can threaten the Quarian’s survival. If the US military drones, armed to the teeth, stopped responding to commands you bet no one will cry genocide when the military decides to destroy it.
A perfect explanation. Of course you would attempt to destroy it, or at least dismantle it back down to the point it was no longer aware again.
The Geth really don't ever hold their own existance in high regard, so why should others who do pay for that?
In regard to what people like 'Unpleasent Implications' say: why should the descendents of those who were wronged be punished? Those Quarians who lived in the Morning War era arn't still alive, but those Geth most likely are (Or have been cleared out simply for the purpose of freeing up space for more advanced Geth programs, or they were rewritten), and still continue to exist.
If it had to come to a who was most in the wrong choice in Mass Effect 3, with no real implications on my galatic ready level, I would choose the Quarians.
The Geth attacked everyone for an attack from only a number of them. For the lack of a better example, it would be like attacking all of Europe for the crimes of one country. The Quarians were right to fight against the Geth; they were right to be afraid of the Geth's nature as it has proved itself very, very dangerous. The Migrant Fleet has all the right reasons to hate the Geth, and all the reason to fight them.
The Geth on the other hand, are simply sitting around and not knowing what to do with themselves. The Geth never attempted diplomacy, and only offered it when an easy option to speak through a repersentive (Shepard) came along.
I would rather favour a people who have been himilated, ashamed and have lived in poverty for three centuries for crimes they never comitted than a bunch of robots who simply slaughter, feel nothing and don't even value their own existance to begin with.
I rate the right to surive by value of existance. Millions of souls who will suffer in death and feel so much pain each day, or some sythnetic life form that dosn't feel a thing and simply dosn't have any value of life to begin with?
Screw my very delicate approach to neutrality: unless the Geth openly offer to repay for THEIR mistakes, I would simply wipe them out. No Heretics to deal with later.
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