Re: [FT] UNSC (emotional rant)

My take on the UNSC:

The UN are the good guys, in a universe without good guys. I don't care
what
the UN is like now, or what anyone else has to say about them, no sane
person can deny that the fundamental principles of the UN are 100%
laudable.
Forgetting the bureaucracy and inefficiency, the UN has done a lot of
good
in the world. I like to think of the UNSC as being the fighting arm of
the
one true representation of a UNITED humanity. Forget how unlikely it may
or
may not be, as far as I am concerned, by 2183 the UN works and works
well.
Throughout the timeline of the First Xeno War, they have acted as the
force
that has gelled humanity together in the face of a greater threat. They
have
also done a large amount of the fighting. Even before then, they were
the
guys who prevented the Second and Third solar wars spreading into the
core
systems - an act that doubtless saved countless millions of lives.

With regard to the UNSC themselves - I have to agree with those who said
the
UNSC is an independant, non-national force. If you look on one of the
great
starmaps you can find on the net (I forget the page), you will see a
largish
area marked "core systems". This area has a UN logo next to it. This is
the
area in which the UNSC train. As for money, the UN can make cash through
taxation on space travel in the core systems, occasionally through
sanctions
on major powers, through commercial means (they probably mine asteroids
for
metals and suchlike). I also believe that the UNSC is a very powerful
force.
As mentioned above, I'm sure that they actually take on the brunt of the
fighting against the Kra'Vak, and have the power to oppose all the other
nations. Their ships LOOK high-tech. Their marines use the latest
technology
(hardsuits and IPWs for everyone).

I don't know if I'm just whimsically minded, but I like the idea of a
human
force that is genuinely in it for the whole of mankind, not merely
allied to
some small fraction of it. Jon Tuffley is very explicit when he says
that
his universe has no good guys. But I hope he can make one exception.