Advanced Negotiations

[padmeofnaboo.livejournal.com]

Scenario:

You are to attend a diplomatic meeting with a historically hostile party. This party has had a long history of violent confrontation with your people and has a reputation for dishonesty. Yet, the rules of conduct for this mediated meeting are that no one be armed nor display anything that could be construed as aggressive. What do you do? Explain your reasoning.

Comments

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Absolutely.

Lucky for me and my cool mind-control powers--I wouldn't have to be unarmed for long.

But if the party knew it was negotiating with Jedi and tried to double-cross? Really, they'd deserve every bit of justice I'd be meting out.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_gottahavefaith/]

Yay, superpowers, I'm not disagreeing there. But, like Echolls said, doesn't bringing in someone with superpowers count as a sort of weapon.
Not that I agree with him. Just arguing both sides.

[padmeofnaboo.livejournal.com]

That is a very good argument as to what consitutes a weapon.

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

I'd say that every being, regardless of super powers, can be thought as some sort of weapon with the proper motivation. I mean, she might not be able to lift someone off the ground using the power of her mind, or kick someone through a brick wall, but I'm betting that Rory could inflict some serious damage if she felt like she had no other choice.

You have to start out with some sort of trust, though, to even begin negotiations. Otherwise, taken to the logical extreme of paranoia, you're going to end up with two brain-dead naked toddlers in a room together and nothing will get accomplished.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_gottahavefaith/]

Okay, sure, Rory could probably hold her own in a life or death fight against basic humans. But when you've got people like you, who could use their powers to move and control things with their minds, or people like me, who could probably challenge the majority of the student body to one-on-one combat and win, she's probably not going to hold up as well.
No offence to her, I'm just saying.

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

This other party probably should've thought of that if they didn't specify "no supernatural powers," like Echolls would've in their original list of demands.

*shrugs* And if they had, you and I wouldn't be at the negotiations anyway. We'd probably be with the back-up in some other location.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_gottahavefaith/]

You're pretty much right. Yay for being backup, then.

[fh_jackass]

I think we've established that the other party can't be trusted. And if you argue that normal humans can hold their own against superpowers, then you can argue that unarmed people can hold their own against armed, so there's no reason for the weapons ban.

They're called superpowers because they're above and beyond what a normal human can do. Don't try to sneak them past by downplaying them. I'm not stupid.

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

I'm just saying that at my theoretical meeting with this historically untrustworthy crowd, if they were meeting me with me they'd know I had special powers. There aren't Jedi without special powers. If they didn't want to meet with the Jedi, they'd be negotiating with someone else, like with Senator Amidala, or you.

But in meeting with Jedi, they'd also be knowing that we don't use those powers arbitrarily. That the code we stand for, and have stood for for a thousand years, forbids such a thing. That's what makes us the group beings go to in tense situations like a negotiation of this complexity.

We're coming at this from two very different standpoints. I wouldn't even be near your negotiations, given your stipulations.

[fh_jackass]

Hm. Well, I don't know your world's traditions. But are you saying that no Jedi has ever broken their vows? I'm not inclined to trust people just out of tradition.

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

*looks slightly uncomfortable*

Not and been Jedi. They can leave the Order, if they so choose, and by doing so are no longer bound by the rules and tradition of the Jedi.

But they can no longer claim to be Jedi, or use that name as leverage in a negotiation. To do so would be unthinkable.

Plus, the Jedi would find them.

[fh_jackass]

So, that's a yes, then? There's no magical or whatsit constraints on them to keep their vows, just plain old human nature?

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Let's put it this way. In the thousand-plus generations of the Order, there have been only 20 who have left.

You make a vow to the Order when you become a Padawan learner, and to break it is unthinkable. It's a matter of honor, and taken extremely seriously.

There is no need of anything magical to constrain you. *shrugs* It's taken as given that you will obey.

*frowns*

I suppose this could be considered a weakness in the system, but it hasn't really come up in, well, ten thousand years. It's just the way things are done where I come from.

[fh_jackass]

Yeah, well, where I come from, you get screwed over whenever you trust anyone. Guess they've got you folks brainwashed pretty well. I still wouldn't trust you.