Markup View

Author: goldenerasuburb

Mar 7th 2012 at 6:03:27 PM

The values by which we judge good and evil today are by no means universal over the vast span of time and space that is history. The Underground Railroad was a conspiracy to do what the slaveholders would have seen as evil, but which we now regard as good. In a work of fiction, a conspiracy can be any organization with a goal which the audience will agree is benevolent but which the setting is not ready for. So the organization actively works to mold the setting to the point where it will be ready.

The other scenario in which I can envision a good conspiracy is less "The World is not Ready" and more "The Extremist is Right". In this case the conspiracy's goal is something agreed to be good in-universe (not necessarily true for the [I]whole[I] setting), but it employs methods which are morally suspect at best in order to achieve this goal. The kicker is that given the circumstances this is exactly the right thing to be doing. Two examples are as follows:

- Section 31 from Star Trek DS9: Sought to protect the Federation at all costs, even those of which the Federation would not approve.

- Project Firewall from Eclipse Phase. It's purpose was to protect transhumanity from the myriad risks to it's survival by any means necessary.

The key is that the dangers are real and the conspiracy really is necessary in order to deal with them. Are either of these options sufficient to justify a good conspiracy?