Global Supremacy: Episode 5.5: Workers Unite!

[Jeremiah]

Welcome to the fifth issue of Global Supremacy! Happy Labor day for all of my American readers. This week as we celebrate the achievements of worker unions in the United States, I thought it would be fitting to cover the strife of workers in World of Warcraft lore.

You may be wondering, what is Global Supremacy?

Global Supremacy is an MMOwned news feature about the influence of philosophy and the empirical social sciences on World of Warcraft and its storyline. Here, we'll be talking about WoW's lore and storyline, and how it relates to political and philosophical concepts in the real world.

The other half of Global Supremacy is lore speculation and debate. Readers can get involved any time by posting a comment on the article of the week. I will select a pool of readers from the comments each week, and will end each post with a question for my readers. You are also free to make suggestions in the comments, and I will try to read as many as I can at once.

But let's be done with all of the boring technicalities, and dive right in!

Once upon a time, there was a great, orcish plague that wiped out the noble kingdom of Azeroth. The humans stood resolute against constant skirmishes that rattled the sanctity of their kingdom. In the end, they could not hold off against the mighty orcish forces as Stormwind was ravaged, utterly destroyed in a firestorm.

Several major wars later, the people of Stormwind trickled down from the devastated nation of Lordaeron. Stormwind had begun to rebuild, and it would be the last major bastion of hope for the human spirit.

Masons and nobles alike united in a classless cause to rebuild the foundations of their former kingdom. Stone walls that would have otherwise taken years to erect were finished in months, and the will of the people of Stormwind held fast.

The massive Cathedral of Light was formed of the very mountains surrounding the nation of Stormwind itself. The proud miners and masons of Edwin VanCleef's band of workers known as the "Freemasons" created a marvelous cathedral as a testament to the retribution of the Light. Marble floors were hand-crafted and polished, reflecting the flames of a candlelit hall.

When the Freeemasons had finished Stormwind, they expected fair compensation for their works. Suddenly, the nobles refused to support the workers, and went back on their promise to pay the Freemasons fairly.

As a result, the Freemasons formed a new political body, today known as the Defias Brotherhood. Branding their fists with the cog, the symbol of the Brotherhood, they pillaged and murdered farming families throughout Elwynn Forest, taking back the resources they believed afforded to them.

While the movement was originally a purely political one, thugs and gangsters hid under the disguise of concerned citizens, and carried out their murder haplessly for feigned political ends.

VanCleef grew frustrated with the fact that his movement was corroded. It had transformed from a gang of vengeful workers to a criminal syndicate of killers, thieves, and con men.

As the heroes of the Alliance stormed the Deadmines, VanCleef was killed in a brief firefight that extinguished the highest council of the Defias. Moments later, his daughter emerged from the shadows to find his corpse, but fled as the Stormwind Army charged the Deadmines to take credit for the adventurers' hard work.

Stormwind has shown a long history of corruption. The nobles refuse to place any of their armies in Westfall or Duskwood because of the cost and a lack of resources, and one can really sympathize with the Defias. At the same time, should the Defias be using these means to achieve a powerful voice in regional politics? There isn't an easy answer to this question.

As we find out in Cataclysm, Varian Wrynn has the homeless rounded up and sent to Westfall. This gives the renewed Defias a new flow of resources. The proletariat unites in Westfall after frustration with the nobles. While you see the Stormwind Guard marching Defias through the city to the stockades, you never see them giving any credit to the group of adventurers who did the real take-down.

The lack of support given to the outlying regions should be a tell-tale cause of Defias activity springing up in the area. The nobles shouldn't expect their people to be loyal when they can't even protect them from trivial threats. While there is a new military base in Westfall during the Cataclysm, they are more concerned with oppressing and punishing the poor than protecting them.

It seems like Stormwind's nobles are the main problem. While Varian Wrynn has great power in Stormwind, the resources, money, and men commanded by his nobles puts him in a stranglehold. It should also be noted that Varian Wrynn has no tolerance for traitors.

This is a very thick issue with a lot of good answers. My question to my readers this week is as follows:

"Are the Defias justified in rebelling so violently against Stormwind? Should Stormwind offer the money to the Stonemasons again, or ruthlessly slaughter traitors? Any other comments on the matter?"

Thanks for reading!


aphel - News Chief