Archived-Carthian Movement Humanity

Humanity and the Carthian Movement

From Cam-Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search We all understand that freedom is at the very heart of what the Movement stands for, no matter what definition of freedom one might subscribe to individually. But in the quest for a night when all kindred live free in world of equality, sacrifice and perpetual innovation; humanity has been the greatest asset and strength of the Movement. In the last century and a half, the Movement has made incredible progress on the wave of humanity, both in the form of the mortals who populate this world, but also the moral imperative that helps us fend off the enslaving urges of the beast.

There is no other covenant that has better developed and perfected the art of taking what the mortal world has to offer and using it in new ways to reach greater heights. Even the "mighty Invictus", commanding legions of retainers, cannot hold a candle to a Carthian who has learned how to make use of his allies and contacts in the mortal world when issues of repairing the Masquerade arise. Each night the Movement reaps dividends from the fresh minds of mortal philosophers, dreamers, and inventors who give us the inspiration to seek new ways to structure our governments, our societies, and our world as a whole. Our ability to blend in and move within the mortal world is a testament to a group of kindred who found power in remembering the world in which we came from instead of rejecting it in search of occult and arcane knowledge, religious zeal, or the crushing weight of jaded age.

And so it is important to remember that in pursuing freedom we simultaneously bind ourselves into an acceptance of our mortal natures and the morality that stems from the life we were forced to leave behind. Even the youngest of us have likely already discovered the unsettling sensation of the predator's taint spilling off of a kindred who has fallen so low on the dark path of rejecting humanity. For a moment, contemplate how exponentially more frightening those same sensations must be to a mortal turned to for help in a moment of need when the Masquerade dangles by a thread. How precarious does that connection to our greatest strength become if the sole defining factor in our ability to persuade a mortal to look the other way or to say the right words is your choice to forget your humanity? In that instant, the rejection of humanity creates a divide that makes an ally or contact unwilling to lend you aid, and thereby potentially jeopardizes all of us. By turning a blind eye to the humanity inside of each of us, the Movement only shoots all potential for success in the foot.

Our humanity compels us to be something greater than what the beast would reduce us to. Cynical elders driven mad by the loss of humanity do not stop to consider the rights of other kindred when they hatch cruel schemes to hoard more power. But each time you fight the urge to steal from another for personal gain, you not only fend off the dark urge of the beast you also reaffirm your commitment to notions of property rights that help create a free society. When you make the hard decision to reject vigilante justice and instead put your faith in the law, you not only retain a piece of your humane soul but also highlight that progressive societal and governmental structures strike the crucial balance of a need for justice to both the victim and the criminal. And as difficult as either of those decisions may be, the benefit gained both by you as an individual Carthian and the Movement as a whole is something impossible to put a price on.

Being a Carthian is not an easy thing. It is the choice to take the higher road, which is almost always the road less traveled in our world. Shouting that you want freedom is easy. The hard part is accepting the duty that comes with freedom in the guise of humanity. Free speech means restraining your angered hands when your enemies speak words that make your blood boil. And understanding how important it is to hold back the urge to lash out at those who speak against us is an example of just what it is to be Carthian. In fact it is a perfect example to highlight that by choosing to take the path of humanity, rather than the path of the beast, we foster a world marked by the very freedom we hope for, we fight for, and we die for.

We started from nothing except the dream of a better world. And we have crafted that dream in ways others once scoffed at as impossible. Each night we come closer and closer to our goal until other covenants now worry that our dream won t remain a fantasy forever. But as proud and self-assured as we might be for all that we have accomplished in such a short time, we must never forget the role humanity has played in our achievements. And so, I leave you with a passage written in 1762 at a time when mortal and kindred visionaries began to entertain the first real notions of a world that could be truly called free:

"To renounce freedom is to renounce one's humanity, one's rights as a man and equally one's duties. There is no possible quid pro quo for one who renounces everything; indeed such renunciation is contrary to man's nature, for if you take away all freedom of the will, you strip a man's actions of all consequence."

-Jean-Jacques Rosseau, "The Social Contract"

Retrieved from "http://www.camarilla.org.au/wiki/index.php?title=Archived-Humanity_and_the_Carthian_Movement"