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They try to use diplomatic methods BEFORE they bring out the guns. Of course, their diplomats are very manipulative and slippery, so basically they try trickery before guns.

They're still plenty happy to use guns, though.

Okay everyone, I'm back. I will be posting the full paragraphs of the FFG rpg books about the Tau as well as quotes from Redscare, who has been kind enough too put forward quotes for everyone to read and judge for themselves, 1 or 2 days from now.

Anyway I want to respond to some posters in this thread especially you- KrootHawk. Lets begin:

To TMonkeyGuru:

Finally, someone sane among the Tau players. I thank you for at reading the entire thread and looking at the evidence presented and acknowledging the fact that the Tau do invade and conquer other races. It seems that other Tau players seem to be under the delusion that the everyone in 40k wants to live under the Tau empire and will not have to be forced into it. What you said about the Tau being a lesser evil is what I have been saying all along since I created this thread, but people can't seem to get it and keep saying that I'm accusing that the Tau are evil when in truth(their blinding by Tau propaganda), this is what they claim, the Tau are 'pure whitey goodness'.

To Sephyr:

I do not deny that. I simply wanted to stop a nonsense that has been spreading since WH40k became more popular to the masses; they say that the Imperium exterminatuses its own planets because of bad tax returns or something like that. Which is pure nonsense, nothing more; no empire could last no matter how brutal or high living standards it has if it keeps burning planets for not paying taxes since this is something that happens for nearly all planets

Now for the issue of Armageddon. That is something that never sat right with me because it contradicts other fluff seeing as their are Imperial guardsmen and other people that know about Chaos and daemons and fight against them and yet they are not all mind wiped or killed. Those are what the Imperium did all the time 95%(cadians are the remaining 5%) that faced chaos and its daemons in earlier fluff. But this has been shown not to be completely true seeing as their are daemons and chaos forces now raiding everywhere so much that it couldn't be covered up the fact that Chaos exists anymore even if only to its own armies and not the population. This has changed, yet again due to another crappy codex with more inconsistent and contradictory fluff; the Grey knight codex were they kill or mind wipe everyone they come into contact with.

So I don't know anymore, its all GW's fault.

To G00fySmiley:

How naive are you? I have already said countless times that their are races in the galaxy who's best interest is to take over the galaxy or kill everyone in their path. Their own society's don't oppress them in any way. Infact, living under the Tau would be oppressive to them but of course you ignore this. The Tau don't fight for the best interests of everyone; they fight for what "they believe" is the best interest of everyone, even if everyone disagrees. How is this any different from the Imperium who conquer independent human planets to bring them into the fold for their own 'good'?

Here are some races who will certainly care nothing for the greater good:

Hrud- waiting for the races of the galaxy to pretty much wipe each other and than they will rise up from their warrens and kill the survivors. Imperium tried to exterminate them but failed.

Thyruss or however its spelled- who make war to please their gods by giving them some nice war series to watch.

Slaught- A race who have been implied to have been playing with the human race since before the age of strife. They like to manipulate humans into causing massive wars with each other or hell anyone else. Then they move in and eat the bodies.

Yu'Vath- An alien empire of slavering warp worshiping sorcerers who built an empire on the back of enslaved humans for well slavery and daemon fodder fuel seeing as the Yu'Vath are sorcerers after all. Their entire tech base is basically sorcery. Its been said that they have been exterminated by the Imperium. But rumors state that their could be survivors.

These races will have to be exterminated by the Tau which means Xenocide. Something all Tau players seem to disparage the Imperium for but when the Tau empire will have to do it themselves if they want to be successful, but of course you guys will ignore the evil of xenocide and just sprout "Its for the Greater Good" like good little Tau workers. Just fail.

To KrootHawk:

You are viewing the scene in the wrong way! The narrator is saying that the human Malcontents, which is a surprise in of itself seeing as you Tau players think Tau are like the second coming of Jesus and that all humans are perfectly content in the Tau empire, call that place Lacuna and that they believe or their rumors state that it is a place the Tau use to conduct experiments, but they can't be sure since they can't get in there. But people who do say such things conveniently disappear.

The Narrator can't be an Imperial as he knows things that an Imperial scholar can't possibly know.

KrootHawk wrote:If Tau find the ruins new, puzzling and want to explore them, they can't be commonly found on every Tau planet, can they

Meaning the Tau are stupid naive imbeciles playing with stuff best left alone. Even the medieval Imperials know better than to screw around with alien stuff. Any Imperials that do is something they do on their own initiative.
And no their is no so called madness that affects everyone like a plague only a few people and on specific planets. Look at the stupidity and sheer stubbornness of the Tau in trying to assimilate a crystal-spirit creature that don't care for anything into their empire.

KrootHawk wrote:Yes, and the creators made it clear that Tau don't want to subjugate.

It doesn't matter what the creators intended any more because the fluff has changed. Also, are you now saying that Merriam-Webster.com is wrong in their definition of subjugation? Redscare gave quotes that the Tau do subjugate but of course you are ignoring it because you're a Tau fanboy.

Mellisia, someone who I see as a fellow kin in the fight against Tau in this thread, can you hold the line while I prepare all the quotes and paragraphs?

Monarchy? Kind of, but very loosely. Kroothawk, do you actually think they are 'good guys' or are you of the opinion that they are more towards being 'good' than any other race?

Corporal_Reznov wrote:Okay everyone, I'm back. (...)
To TMonkeyGuru: Finally, someone sane among the Tau players.(...)
Tau players seem to be under the delusion(...)
people can't seem to get it(...)
pure nonsense, nothing more(...)
How naive are you? (...)
of course you ignore this.(...)
of course you guys will ignore the evil of xenocide and just sprout "Its for the Greater Good" like good little Tau workers.(...)
you're a Tau fanboy.(...)
Melissia (...) a fellow kin in the fight against Tau

Okay, we prepare ourselves for the next batch of rude insults.

Kroothawk wrote:The discussion on the "Greater Good" can be better understood, if you look at the end of World War 2 in Europe:

In Western Europe, two major ideologies clashed: German and Italian fascism and French/British/American ideas of freedom, human rights and democracy. The allies won the war and the Western allies forced their ideology on Germany, with imprisonment of their opponents (anyone who fights freedom, human rights and democracy), massive reeducation and social manipulation with the effect that the German population finally adopted the other ideology. According to the argumentation in this thread, this makes the Western Allies evil and another subjugating empire trying to force their ideology on defeated enemies (implying that the support for freedom/humanrights/democracy is just another ideology on the same level as fascism).

The Western Allies were no saints, but they certainly were not as evil and on the same level as the Nazi regime.

So in 40k, fighting for the genocide of all Xeno scum and rule of the human master race (IoM) or trying to establish a peaceful union of Xeno races exchanging goods and knowledge for mutual benefit (Tau Empire) is not the same. Trying to convert a racist, aggressive and undemocratic society to a tolerant, peaceful and democratic one by reeducation and social manipulation is not something evil. Trying to imprison terrorists, racists and fascists is not a bad thing. Think about it.

No it isn't, the Tau fight for empire with everyone under the leadership of the Tau for the greater good. The Tau are aggressive seeing as they want to conquer the galaxy. The human race is not alone in being xenocidal, look at Eldar especially Biel-tan. The Imperium wants to genocide all races because they are paranoid that was born of the age of strife and most aliens being monsters. So they took that as the standard and then decide kill them all. Tau don't have democracy of human rights or are you saying that if humanity goes into space and runs into a hive mind society that has been at peace and prosperity for thousands of years, we should conquer them because they are not democratic *raises eyebrow*.

The Tau were butting their noses into Imperium of man business as stated by that big post about the damocles crusade that is sourced from warhammer 40k wiki.

KingDeath wrote:

nomotog wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:The discussion on the "Greater Good" can be better understood, if you look at the end of World War 2 in Europe:

In Western Europe, two major ideologies clashed: German and Italian fascism and French/British/American ideas of freedom, human rights and democracy. The allies won the war and the Western allies forced their ideology on Germany, with imprisonment of their opponents (anyone who fights freedom, human rights and democracy), massive reeducation and social manipulation with the effect that the German population finally adopted the other ideology. According to the argumentation in this thread, this makes the Western Allies evil and another subjugating empire trying to force their ideology on defeated enemies (implying that the support for freedom/humanrights/democracy is just another ideology on the same level as fascism).

The Western Allies were no saints, but they certainly were not as evil and on the same level as the Nazi regime.

So in 40k, fighting for the genocide of all Xeno scum and rule of the human master race (IoM) or trying to establish a peaceful union of Xeno races exchanging goods and knowledge for mutual benefit (Tau Empire) is not the same. Trying to convert a racist, aggressive and undemocratic society to a tolerant, peaceful and democratic one by reeducation and social manipulation is not something evil. Trying to imprison terrorists, racists and fascists is not a bad thing. Think about it.

I am a little confused, are you trying to say that the tau practice democracy? Because they don't. They are a monarchy.

authocratic theocracy/hierocracy ( assuming that there can be theocracies which have, for example, democratic elements, which the Tau Empire seems to lack )

I don't think the GG is a religion, more of an ideal. I said monarchy because the eternals rule by birth right. Their titles also translate as king prince and such.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Corporal_Reznov wrote:
To G00fySmiley:

How naive are you? I have already said countless times that their are races in the galaxy who's best interest is to take over the galaxy or kill everyone in their path. Their own society's don't oppress them in any way. Infact, living under the Tau would be oppressive to them but of course you ignore this. The Tau don't fight for the best interests of everyone; they fight for what "they believe" is the best interest of everyone, even if everyone disagrees. How is this any different from the Imperium who conquer independent human planets to bring them into the fold for their own 'good'?

Here are some races who will certainly care nothing for the greater good:

Hrud- waiting for the races of the galaxy to pretty much wipe each other and than they will rise up from their warrens and kill the survivors. Imperium tried to exterminate them but failed.

Thyruss or however its spelled- who make war to please their gods by giving them some nice war series to watch.

Slaught- A race who have been implied to have been playing with the human race since before the age of strife. They like to manipulate humans into causing massive wars with each other or hell anyone else. Then they move in and eat the bodies.

Yu'Vath- An alien empire of slavering warp worshiping sorcerers who built an empire on the back of enslaved humans for well slavery and daemon fodder fuel seeing as the Yu'Vath are sorcerers after all. Their entire tech base is basically sorcery. Its been said that they have been exterminated by the Imperium. But rumors state that their could be survivors.

These races will have to be exterminated by the Tau which means Xenocide. Something all Tau players seem to disparage the Imperium for but when the Tau empire will have to do it themselves if they want to be successful, but of course you guys will ignore the evil of xenocide and just sprout "Its for the Greater Good" like good little Tau workers. Just fail.

You cant really use examples of exterminations that haven't happened. Maybe it's impossible for these races to join, but you never quite know. Before the tau, the idea of any kind of kind of federation seemed impossible (Edit: Turns out I was wrong on this). Also you don't arrest people for crimes they haven't committed yet. Tom crews dose it, but ... ya.

This dose kind of lead to something I don't think we have really talked about. The dark future awaiting the tau. Assuming they grow in size, they have to start taking on the role of defending the galaxy from the real big nasty nastys and not exactly knowing how to do it. It's going to be hard for them to maintain their forward optimistic thinking when they have to sacrifice worlds to halt the hive fleets, when they have to start feeding Demiurg to the golden thrown, or how about when they run out of wars and can't feed the kroot?

So far the tau doesn't have to pull any of theses triggers, but they will. I wonder how they will manage shooting their own dog?

nomotog wrote:Before the tau, the idea of any kind of kind of federation seemed impossible.

Bull.

There have been numerous examples of non-Tau aliens allying together, even long-term, in the fluff. They just haven't gotten their own codices.

Melissia wrote:

TMonkeyGuru wrote:But I agree that they are the lesser evil, ass fluff says when tau find another race they first send their Water Caste to negotiate

Submit or die is the same thing that Darkseid says. So Tau are kinda like Darkseid, but not as cool.

No, they say submit or die please, that is much nicer.

Mr Nobody wrote:

Melissia wrote:

TMonkeyGuru wrote:But I agree that they are the lesser evil, ass fluff says when tau find another race they first send their Water Caste to negotiate

Submit or die is the same thing that Darkseid says. So Tau are kinda like Darkseid, but not as cool.

No, they say submit or die please, that is much nicer.

It's the little things that count.

iproxtaco wrote:Monarchy? Kind of, but very loosely. Kroothawk, do you actually think they are 'good guys' or are you of the opinion that they are more towards being 'good' than any other race?

Not even close. If anything they're an Oligarchy with flavorings of Confucianism.

agnosto wrote:

iproxtaco wrote:Monarchy? Kind of, but very loosely. Kroothawk, do you actually think they are 'good guys' or are you of the opinion that they are more towards being 'good' than any other race?

Not even close. If anything they're an Oligarchy with flavorings of Confucianism.

Wasn't me who suggested it first, sorry.
They're a lose monarchy in that the ruling caste is hereditary and there is no democratic way of electing the Empires rulers, and they hold all the power. Monarchy wouldn't be the term I'd use either. Oligarchy would be the best way to describe the Ethereal Caste, you're right.

nomotog wrote:

Corporal_Reznov wrote:
To G00fySmiley:
How naive are you? (...) but of course you guys will ignore the evil of xenocide and just sprout "Its for the Greater Good" like good little Tau workers. Just fail.

You cant really use examples of exterminations that haven't happened.

Yeah, that's a classic:
"These races are anti-democratic. I would kill them if I were Tau. Therefore Tau are evil bastards committing Xenocides."

Based on the fluff, what I do know is that, if I was a generic small-time race of lightbulb-headed aliens kicking in my little planet in the 40k universe, and my sensors picked another alien fleet entering my system, I'd PRAY, so hard I'd likely achieve the super-sayan VII level of prayer, that it was a Tau fleet.

Kroothawk wrote:

nomotog wrote:

Corporal_Reznov wrote:
To G00fySmiley:
How naive are you? (...) but of course you guys will ignore the evil of xenocide and just sprout "Its for the Greater Good" like good little Tau workers. Just fail.

You cant really use examples of exterminations that haven't happened.

Yeah, that's a classic:
"These races are anti-democratic. I would kill them if I were Tau. Therefore Tau are evil bastards committing Xenocides."

Again both you and G00fySmiley are interpreting my words to suit your needs because you have nothing do defend your position with other than placing fingers in your ears and singing la la la la.............

First, the Tau are not a democracy, they are an empire. This is something even tvtropes agrees on.

Second, those races I listed can't be negotiated with because they are either xenophobic or have views that are completely incompatible with the the greater good.

You were the one who said that if it ain't democratic, its evil, not me. As for the Tau committing xenocide, I have never said that the Tau have ever committed a xenocide. I simply said that if they want to rule the galaxy which is their true goal, not some fairy tale democratic republic. They will have to commit xenocide, a lesson that races older than them such as Eldar and Humans have already learned.

Sephyr wrote:Based on the fluff, what I do know is that, if I was a generic small-time race of lightbulb-headed aliens kicking in my little planet in the 40k universe, and my sensors picked another alien fleet entering my system, I'd PRAY, so hard I'd likely achieve the super-sayan VII level of prayer, that it was a Tau fleet.

I agree with you in that I wouldn't want to meet the other factions but neither would I want to be ruled by the Tau. I would actually prefer to meet no one seeing as the Tau will eventually force us to become part of their empire.

I think being conquered by Tau wouldn't be that bad, it sounds like they eventually replace your government and you might get a Tau neighbour or two, or something subtle like that. This is how many empires in history have been successful and isn't that bad for commoners.

Corporal_Reznov wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:

nomotog wrote:

Corporal_Reznov wrote:
To G00fySmiley:
How naive are you? (...) but of course you guys will ignore the evil of xenocide and just sprout "Its for the Greater Good" like good little Tau workers. Just fail.

You cant really use examples of exterminations that haven't happened.

Yeah, that's a classic:
"These races are anti-democratic. I would kill them if I were Tau. Therefore Tau are evil bastards committing Xenocides."

Again both you and G00fySmiley are interpreting my words to suit your needs because you have nothing do defend your position with other than placing fingers in your ears and singing la la la la.............

First, the Tau are not a democracy, they are an empire. This is something even tvtropes agrees on.

Second, those races I listed can't be negotiated with because they are either xenophobic or have views that are completely incompatible with the the greater good.

You were the one who said that if it ain't democratic, its evil, not me. As for the Tau committing xenocide, I have never said that the Tau have ever committed a xenocide. I simply said that if they want to rule the galaxy which is their true goal, not some fairy tale democratic republic. They will have to commit xenocide, a lesson that races older than them such as Eldar and Humans have already learned.

Sephyr wrote:Based on the fluff, what I do know is that, if I was a generic small-time race of lightbulb-headed aliens kicking in my little planet in the 40k universe, and my sensors picked another alien fleet entering my system, I'd PRAY, so hard I'd likely achieve the super-sayan VII level of prayer, that it was a Tau fleet.

I agree with you in that I wouldn't want to meet the other factions but neither would I want to be ruled by the Tau. I would actually prefer to meet no one seeing as the Tau will eventually force us to become part of their empire.

wait wait wait

here is my only contribution to this thread bud

"the way i read tau are the good guys, and in their own alien way they are trying to unite the galaxy in the best interest of all species... they however do not believe orks are capable of peace (and rightly so) so they so have some desire to commit xenocide none that are particularly outside the realm of justified though

i think there are excellent points being made on all sides but I think in the 40k universe if you are on the outside you see tau as a threat that may change things, once in it you are likely going to be living in the tau's idea of a free world which you may not like any better than the imperium

that said as a whole I think the tau are overall good and use violence only to spread what they believe if freedom for most species (whether they want it or not) "

somebody quoted your response to me... but it wasn’t me I can see the confusion of somebody responding to your post to me and quoting it... but I’m a pretty optimistic person... some might call that naivety, however I choose to think the tau really do want their idea of good to be pervasive around the universe, however I do believe their idea of the greater good is against to natural order of some species and contrary to their idea of a paradise in my post and even admit that ultimately I too feel they will commit xenocide against some races who will simply not be willing to follow under their idea of an ideal world.

But this is simply my opinion, and you are entitled to interpret what you read as you see fit. As more and more books are released maybe there will be vindication to one side or the other (but probably not). Until then you can keep seeing them in likely the same way the imperium looks at them, as a deceitful people who want to take over the galaxy and enslave everybody under their rule. I’ll think of them as idealist who want combined peace through the galaxy by their definition of a paradise. The truth may be on one side or in the middle only time will tell

nomotog wrote:I am a little confused, are you trying to say that the tau practice democracy? Because they don't. They are a monarchy.

I always assumed that Tau have a sort of democracy, meaning that Ethereal caste votes for its supreme leader, who holds this position until he dies. It resembles the way Catholics choose Pope.

Kallimakus wrote:

nomotog wrote:I am a little confused, are you trying to say that the tau practice democracy? Because they don't. They are a monarchy.

I always assumed that Tau have a sort of democracy, meaning that Ethereal caste votes for its supreme leader, who holds this position until he dies. It resembles the way Catholics choose Pope.

Nope. It's more an Oligarchy; rule by a small number of elite individuals or in this case the Ethereal caste. There is a council made of members from every caste (I believe or it could just be fire caste I don't recall exactly) that advises the ethereals though.

No, it's a caste system, figure! Close to a estate-based society or Feudal society, with the leading caste being spiritual leaders, not absolutistic single regents (too many people in the caste to make it an oligarchy). This system combined with the philosophy of the "Greater Good" proved to be necessary to end the civil war between the other castes and hasn't been changed since then. Interestingly, the Tau have no interest to export this caste system to other races.

Kroothawk wrote:No, it's a caste system, figure! Close to a estate-based society or Feudal society, with the leading caste being spiritual leaders, not absolutistic single regents (too many people in the caste to make it an oligarchy). This system combined with the philosophy of the "Greater Good" proved to be necessary to end the civil war between the other castes and hasn't been changed since then. Interestingly, the Tau have no interest to export this caste system to other races.

Gotta differ with you there because a caste system is a social construct while we're talking about a politics. As far as how many people makes an Oligarchy, it's all relative; I've never seen anything that indicates that Ethereals make up more than a minute part of the overall Tau race which leads towards the Oligarchy since they are in control while receiving "advice" from the council. The only other system of governance that I can think of that might fit is a Unitary State form of government but that's stretching it.

Really? Geeze people not this again about the tau government.

You can't just apply a simple word to the tau government, as it would be incorrect or not fully right in all instances, if you must know the tau government structure is the following:

A Despotic Totalitarian Collectivist Imperialistic Utilitarianist Society ruled by Theocratic Hereditary Oligarchies presiding over Meritocratic Councils.

Trying to find the link atm...

Edit: Ok sorry, it took me for hell and ever, multiple logins on many different sites to even find this, in the end I'm just copy/pasting the whole thing for safekeeping and to save everyone else time, while giving the original author credit. Minor changes were made to make it easier to read.

And yes, it is a wall of text. However it you really want to understand the tau government structure, you should give it a read.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Doombringer:

Revised Essay on the Tau Government and Communism

In response to many of the recent claims otherwise, the Tau are not a Socialist, Marxist, or Communist state.


--- Communism and Marxism ---

Put quite simply, taken directly from Wikipedia, Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production.

Tau are not classless, having a rigid Caste and Rank system that while does not impose any stigma on being of a lesser rank while preaching equality, is far from equal. A Shas'la cannot wake up one morning and decide to be a Kor'la - it is forbidden of him, thereby stripping the Shas'la of his would-be Communist/Marxist freedom of not having an exclusive sphere of activity but being able to be accomplished in any branch he wishes.

He is placed where the Empire wants him, then inconspicuously and subtly forced to submit.


--- Socialism and Democracy ---

Socialism, on the other hand, is a much broader socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community, and is often characterized by state or community ownership of the means of production.

The Tau community does not control the Empire's property or distribution of wealth, again having a rigid Caste system and government-placed jobs based on the needs of the Empire and abilities of the individual. If anyone has control of the Tau's property and wealth, it is the High Councils and the Aun who distribute it "equally" amongst the public.

In addition, full Socialism would not work without extensive implementation of Democracy - another little system of government that the Tau do not grasp. The common Tau has no say in how he lives his life; his individuality is slightly/extremely suppressed (depends on how you look at it), he serves his superiors without question, and devotes his life to the Greater Good of his nation. Only the High Councils and the Aun have any say in how the Empire progresses.


--- What are the Tau then? ---

With this in mind, you should now be able to see that while Collectivist in nature, the Socialist/Communist approach simply doesn't parallel or mesh with the Tau Empire very well.

So what are they, you ask?

I strongly believe that the Tau Empire has much more in common with the concepts of Imperialistic Utilitarianism, a rather vague but overall more fitting explanation or description for how the Tau run things (rather than an even more vague and irrelevant socio-economic system, considering the fluff still hasn't provided any information regarding a Tau economic system at all).

Imperialism, being the forceful extension of a nation's authority by territorial gain or by the establishment of economic and/or political dominance over other nations.

Utilitarianism, being the ethical doctrine that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility. Utility, being the "good to be maximized" (sound familiar?).

Originally Posted by Tau Empire Codex pg. 10
The Tau are a supremely dynamic and energetic race. The principle of the Tau'va - the Greater Good - drives them ever outwards from their homeworld, into the great unknown of space. [...] The Greater Good requires that all join together and acknowledge the guidance of the Ethereal caste, and this includes any and all races with whom the Tau come into contact. [...] Those worlds that will not willingly join the Empire are dragged to the negotiating table under threat of annihilation. Those that remain openly defiant face obliteration under the orbital guns of the Air Caste fleet.

The Tau Empire encompasses a dense yet astrographically small area of space. [...] As the Tau steadily expand the borders of their empire, they continue to encounter other races. The empire now encompasses over twenty septs - fully developed Tau systems - and a large number of vassal alien homeworlds. The populations of these worlds are fully integrated in to the empire, each striving towards the Greater Good.

--- Despots, Totalitarianism, and Oligarchies? ---

So now you may find yourself asking, doesn't this mean that the Tau Empire is run by despots if the common people really have no say in their own futures?

In a manner of speaking, yes, but don't look at it from a human perspective. Separate yourself from the idea that "all men are created equal" and forget you ever learned about the concepts of freedom and democracy, and you can see that being a despotic society isn't necessarily an "evil" thing at all when implemented in the way that the Tau implement it.

Being a Despotic society seems to be one of the only ways to make what the Tau Empire does, work. No so-called "ethical", "moral", or "free" individual in their humanly right mind would want to willingly give up that freedom or individuality to exercise the type of Utilitarianism that the Tau Empire practices daily - they'd have to be subtly forced or coerced into doing it, as we know the Ethereals do through the fear of returning to the Mont'au.

As stated by Khanaris, and extrapolated by myself, these rulers are Theocratic Hereditary Oligarchies of the Aun Caste (overseen by "Chairtau" Aun'va) and the the tight-knit Meritocratic "Lower Councils" comprised of figureheads of the Elemental Castes.

Of course, the Tau implement so many of these systems across the various Sept worlds that comprise the Empire that it is a Checks and Balances system in its own, ensuring no one Tau can ultimately control every aspect of the entire Empire, but it's speculated that Aun'va could come dangerously close to it. This is likely simply due to the fact that he is said to be the oldest and wisest Ethereal, so many Tau would believe that there wouldn't be anything wrong with his council, suggestions, or declarations and wouldn't bother to oppose him, even if they could.

In addition, this is a very Totalitarian society, in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior so that individuals are allowed certain personal freedoms, except when they are counter to the Utilitarian and Religious ideals of the "Greater Good".


--- Utilitarian Misconceptions ---

Like the Wikipedia article says, there are two common "misconceptions" about modern human Utilitarian society that seem to have to be justified by/to us humans to understand or accept for ourselves.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia - Utilitarianism
The principle of "the greatest good for the greatest number", introduced by Bentham, is often mistaken as meaning that if something hurts one person and helps many, it is always morally justified. This is not the case, however; as noted above, Bentham dropped the misleading "greatest number" part of the principle, replacing the original formulation with the more direct "greatest happiness principle." Thus, the morality of an action is not determined by the number of people made happier, but rather the quantity of happiness produced. A great loss to one individual might be outweighed by small gains for many, but it might not. Even if 1 person is hurt and 100 people are helped, the harm to the one might be so great as to outweigh the small gains for the rest of the people.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia - Utilitarianism
Second, some criticize utilitarianism for implying that individuals; interests can be sacrificed for the sake of the "society" or the nation. Modern utilitarianism however proposes that one individuals interests can only be sacrificed for the sake of the interests of other individuals. As Bentham put it, "The interest of the community is one of the most general expressions that can occur in the phraseology of morals: no wonder that the meaning of it is often lost. When it has a meaning, it is this. The community is a fictitious body, composed of the individual persons who are considered as constituting as it were its members. The interest of the community then is...the sum of the interests of the several members who compose it." [6] While it may benefit individuals to have a healthy society or a functional state, neither of these are ends in themselves.
While these criticisms are countered and justified by Jeremy Bentham to apply to modern non-dictatorial human civilization, the Tau's hereditary Ethereal leadership, otherwise suppressed freedoms and individualities, and rigid Caste system do not require such justifications for a Tau to accept.

It is perfectly acceptable in Tau society (whether the individual Tau has any say or not) to follow such an extreme form of Utilitarianism as morally justifying anything that hurts one to help many, or to sacrifice one's individual interests for the sake of the nation as a whole - which is probably why so many people find it hard to wrap their heads around this concept - because we aren't little blue aliens and so our brains work differently.

But if you want the Tau in a nutshell with as many labels as possible, then here's what you get.

The Tau Empire
Despotic Totalitarian Collectivist Imperialistic Utilitarianist Society
ruled by Theocratic Hereditary Oligarchies presiding over Meritocratic Councils

but more importantly...

The Tau Empire - NOT COMMUNIST/MARXIST/SOCIALIST SPACE RUSSIANS/CHINESE

And that's just the political side of the house. We still have very little information on how the Tau's economic system works, so we can only theorize and wait before we can start adding a Socialist/Capitalist label for that.

If you want, you can add even more defining labels to it than what I have included above, but juxtaposing specific human socio-economic systems onto an alien culture of little blue aliens (which we still don't know enough about to make a final decision on) just doesn't work.

Hope this helps.
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Original source page for those who can view it, or wish to:

http://forums.tauonline.org/tau/57762-tau-communism.html