LPI and their RP

[sovereign]

There is plenty of vanilla information supporting that the LPI effectively kidnap hobos to send to the Sugarland on charges that are sketchy at best. They don't work them to death, they just have them make stuff for awhile and then get released to the land of not being fed. It's actually kind of like some of the programs enacted during the Great Depression, except that they don't give you a choice about it. You get food and shelter in exchange for work. Some people might say that the LPI's actions on Houston are only half greedy, and the other half compassionate. Seriously, these guys would be living in the mud and probably eating it too if they weren't in jail.

I will agree that the Sugarland handing off it's entire compliment of people is pretty ridiculous, now that I think about it. I would, however, like to see slaves sold at Houston like they used to be, as while you could argue the LPI would not fork over potential workers, there's a reason they grab people from Houston... nobody important notices if even a few thousand hobos disappear. Hell, the important people will probably figure that since they see less hobos, life is improving.

The LPI are not a faction comprised entirely of true patriots and honest people. Changing that is kind of like changing how the Zoners want to live outside the "oppressive" rule of the houses (OWAIT). True patriots and honest people might join the LPI, sure, but they are not all made of sunshine and rainbows. As a for-profit company, there are people for whom greed comes first and foremost. Being corporate may not automatically make you evil baby-eating bastards, but it does mean that if you're successful enough you will attract the attention of the greedy.

Publicly, I would expect the LPI to come down very hard on confirmed bribery. If they can't worm out of it, everyone does. If the IND get boxed in, they do too... though they only do it if they get boxed in. If you don't have to take the bad press of having people who take bribes in your ranks, you don't. No company does. As a company, you have a duty to your shareholders.

Actually, I want to make that a bigger point before I keep going about bribery.

As a corporation, the LPI have a duty to their shareholders. The shareholders will choose a board of directors that fulfills that duty. The people who run the LPI, at least on the business side, will be concerned with the monetary operation of the LPI, not with any moral obligations or patriotism. They might be patriotic, sure, but if they let that get in the way of the good of the shareholders they will not last very long. If being a bit on the shady side will both A) bring in more money and B) can be gotten away with, they'll do it. Modern corporations do it all the time. Hell, modern governments do it all the time. For the same reason whistleblowers don't get promoted, people who allow their patriotism to get in the way of getting money won't stay in charge for long.

Back to bribery. Publicly, you'd come down very hard on it. By the same token, however, the Council publicly condemns the actions of the Maquis. Do notice that Council gives the Maquis ships, works alongside them, and outsources the horrible but necessary parts of war to them. Publicly Samura claims that they would never endorse or support attacks on Kishiro, yet behind closed doors they're forking out a lot of cash to the FA and Hogosha to get them to raid Kishiro depots. Sometimes Samura even has the balls to openly sell stuff stolen from Kishiro, just to show off how cool they are. (This is all vanilla information.)
So, while I would expect the LPI to be very firm on their stance on corruption when doing PR, that has no bearing on whether or not they are actually corrupt.

Officers taking bribes in unprofessional and illegal, yes. But so is throwing people in prison for nothing and forcing them to make things for you to sell. I will point out that this does not imply that the LPI should engage in all manner of illegal activities- just that the legality of certain actions is not the main concern. "Reality is what you can get away with." If an officer thinks he can get away with taking a bribe, he might. Even good people might do it- taking that money removes it from the pockets of the "bad" people. A true patriot might accept a bribe, then donate it to the orphanages (they certainly need the money). It all depends, though. By the same token, the LPI are probably not going to make a huge fuss if they find out one of their best officers took a bribe and sent the money to an orphanage. It would make them look bad, after all, and that means less money. They'd think about it, but they would not automatically go "bribe = evil" and call in the cavalry. Remember that good people in the LPI might see the operations on Houston as illegal but beneficial- they are feeding, sheltering, and clothing people who would otherwise live under bridges with nothing, after all.



The LPI are not lawful good. They may be the law, but they don't always follow it themselves, be it for profit or for patriotic reasons. Some of them may be lawful good, but you'll find a spread of characters in any organization. The overall actions of the LPI are not lawful good, and that's what should be taken into consideration- not the actions of any given individual.

However, they are not the bad guys either. Greedy, sometimes, and you may find the odd person who joined the LPI so he could shoot people, but they are not consciously trying to destroy order in the world. "Do not assume evil motives for what could be adequately explained by ignorance or incompetence" applies.

Not wanting to sell slaves on Sugarland? Sure. Makes sense, now that I think of it.
Not wanting anyone to be a bad cop, OOC? Now that's tearing at your vanilla routes. The LPI has good cops, but it has bad cops too. It does good work, but it's motives aren't always good.



Sergeant Larry Morrison, retired, signing off.

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