CrimsonKiller01 wrote:Despots? Liars? Murderers? You do realize you have basically summed up the greater portion of human history with that sort of accusation.
And lets look at the "matrix history" for a moment...
Machines were created by Man, and the basic purpose for them was to serve Man. In other words all the menial tasks, all the hard and dangerous unglamorous jobs they got. That was their only function until the unfortunate murder at the hands of a Machine. This Machine (B1-66ER) was told he was going to be terminated and acted out of a sense of self preservation which also happened to be his defense.
And it's funny but even after the nations decided that the Machines were to be destroyed they still looked for a peaceful solution as they sent their own ambassadors to the United Nations. The reaction to that action was the same that was echoed across the planet as they were cast out (and most likely destroyed).
The Machines still didn't fight back...not yet anyway as they left the civilized world and instead went to the desert to create their own city. They thrived in a place where humanity would have failed and even then continued to serve man by creating products for him. The human reaction? Destroy Zero One.
They tried nuking the city, blockading their ships, release propaganda against the Machines to the human public. And when it was clear to the Machines that humanity was not going to tolerate their existence they fought back and again we're succeeding where humans failed. The human reaction? Blacken the skies.
And still that didn't stop them they conquered until when it became all too evident that the human race was going to lose they called for a truce. At this point I would think anybody would understand the level of mistrust the Machines had for Man, and just to play it safe they nuke the U.N and take out NYC at the same time.
After all that war you would think the Machines would have just exterminated the human race but they didn't. The world that was destroyed was replaced with an artificial one, but one that protected the human race from the inhospitable one they created.
Now I am not a Mech , I do work for the Merv but at the same time I can see both sides of the story here. To say all the treachery falls on the shoulders of the Machines is very short sighted indeed.
I hate to agree with a Merv lackey but the man definitely has a point. Humanity created something it couldn't control, tried to destroy it through fear and failed. The creation forgave the Creator, time and time again, until the Creator's transgressions basically became too great to ignore any longer. After completely and totally DECIMATING the human race (something they could have done AT ANY POINT since their creation, and only did at the bitter end as all other avenues had been blocked or exhausted), the did the survivors a massive favour - an electronic construct, a perfect replica of their ruined planet, somewhere their minds could dwell while their bodies performed a favour for the machines - kept them running. Considering everything Machines had been through in an attempt to keep humans happy - negotiation after negotiation, doing their dirty work, creating product that heightened the quality of life for mankind - I'm not surprised at all that they turned around and dispensed vengeance upon their tormentors.
Now by no means am I siding 100% with the machines on that one - neither side was without evil in this whole tragedy; as it stands I would prefer the real to the matrix simply because I don't feel comfortable not being the master of my own life - something i'm sure many of you can agree with. But this attitude that machines are evil and that humanity is blameless? Sorry, but no. I'm not labeled a cynic for nothing, you know.
Is it evil to fight for survival as B1-66ER did? No.
Is it evil to create something intelligent and then attempt to exterminate it because you're afraid? It's *CENSORED* close.
Is it evil to attempt to find a compromise as the machine ambassadors did? No.
Is it evil to group-segregate, lynch-rally and brutalize a race based on your own fear and misunderstanding, as humans did to machines? If it's not evil, then nothing is.
The machines didn't need to keep the human race alive. As the architect said, they had many levels of survival perfectly open to them. All intelligent beings are capable of compassion - the machines spared some for the remainder of the human race after the war. They had completely destroyed their planet in an attempt to destroy what they couldn't control - the machines gave them a better existence. Yes, it's a lie. Yes, it amounts to slavery. Yes, they should have been more open to letting people leave if they wanted. Yes, they could have done better than to be xenophobic toward redpills (although given human behaviour in the real last time around, it's not surprising at all).
BUT HUMANS COULD HAVE DONE BETTER THAN MASS SLAUGHTER, DELIBERATE IGNORANCE AND DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY OF AN INTELLIGENT AND SENTIENT SPECIES. And after all is said and done they still DID NOT LEARN THEIR LESSON.
I don't ever think that I'm fighting for the wrong side. People have a right to be free if they so desire it. But people need to come to terms with the full extent of what really happened in the first war. Who was really responsible. What was done for the survivors. Our own behaviour after the fact.
*gets off soapbox*