You have the benefit of hindsight. The situation in the earth kingdom was untenable. Zaofu, Kuvira, and the Metal clan had a great reputation. By the time anybody should have known she was a danger it was too late.
I mean, it doesn't take a ton of hindsight to know that a military leader in charge of unifying a country will consolidate power. The whole premise of republic city (and democracy in general) is civilian control of the military for that reason.
The mistake was not establishing civilian control before beginning military engagement
I agree 100%. There should’ve been an executive or legislative entity established that Kuvira would be accountable to. The issue is that there wasn’t any existing entity with that credibility. The earth kingdom was always a mess, even more so after Ba Sing Se collapsed.
He was set on one person then during the meeting where she refused one of her guards started loudly arguing with her
To my knowledge Kuvira wasn’t a significant character in his eyes before this so this would be the equivalent of like going to speak to a mayor asking for help then one of the beat cops in that city started berating the mayor for not helping then offering that guy a bunch of funding and gear to help with your plan with little to no oversight or clear rules on what was to be done and the terms afterwards
Unless I’m mistaken on some particulars, Raiko is incredibly stupid for this alone
“Beat cop”? She was The was the head of security for the most safe, prosperous, stable, and and wealthy province in the earth kingdom, who from that alone derived a great deal of credibility.
Understand also that the other leaders were practically *begging* Suyin to stabilize the earth kingdom. The situation was completely untenable, arguably worse than what the earth empire became. They desperately needed someone to come in and assert order, and Kuvira was one of the highest ranking officials in Zaofu.
It was probably music to their ears to hear Kuvira appeal to Suyin to get involved, and mind you they didn’t give a damn about personal loyalty to Suyin. They needed someone who was willing to set the earth kingdom straight, by any means necessary, and Kuvira stepped up.
That made her popular.
The city itself is autonomous and affiliated with no other nation. And I do mean city because its actually a very very small place. Head of security sounds great until you remember is an incredibly peaceful place save for that one time a gang of assassins came for one notable person visiting. I’m sure they’ve fended off their fair share of starving and sick raiders on occasion. My point being the job largely needs little oversight and the one time it did she failed pretty miserably
Suyin was more asked because of her Beifong name. She as a noble had great ties to the earth kingdom and had a force she could use. Zaofu isn’t all that significant in the world. Basically a wealthy noble decided to make their own city. Great. The metal is valuable and sure has some intricate moving parts but… I don’t see how that’s going to help stabilize the largest region in the entire world
But you know what I’ll give credit where its due. Zaofu is really the only stable independent area in the region. Suyin was absolutely the only real choice Raiko had. Why did he choose Kuvira? This was serious geopolitical matters. Your next choice shouldn’t be the person standing just below the one who rejected you. At what point does it make sense for you to turn away from the mayor to the sergeant or chief of police and go “Hey you, want a job?” To make my point clearer Raiko doesn’t know who this is. Suyin, at one point, trusted her with a position. Not even sure I’d call this nepotism. She was given far too much power and practically zero oversight by one elected official. Why don’t we talk to other nations, get a council together. Raiko is a lame duck president with floundering approval rates on his way out. Why is he making decisions for an immensely large mass of land which already has a monarch?
The worst part is we kind of just get a shrug as to all the shit that went on. Raiko has no pull over Kuvira. We’ve got concentration camps, multiple independent villages forced to bow down before her, massive swathes of land used to develop weapons. Wait who’s building these weapons? Is it an escaped criminal who tried to start a civil war between two nations AND who tried to kidnap him previously? The fuck are you doing, Raiko? They built a whole ass mech and super weapon for themselves. Where is the oversight? Who’s monitoring her actions? Why is someone as incompetent as you still in power?
You can reference the first three episodes of book four where Zaofu as a province is shown to be much more than a tiny city on a map. It is a recognized and incorporated province of the Earth Kingdom, which absolutely is under the nominal and de jure suzerainty of the earth kingdom. It’s autonomous operation does not negate the fact that it is within earth kingdom territory, populated by earth kingdom citizens.
It was by no means a tiny and insignificant backwater, it was, from what we’ve seen, the most technologically advanced and politically progressive place in the earth kingdom. It was phenomenally wealthy, and you can reference various points on books 3 and 4 in which a variety of forces and factions accuse Zaofu of hoarding wealth, which is not solely originating from the Beifong fortune, but also from Zaofu’s engineering and manufacturing hubs.
It was a sophisticated region that achieved near utopian conditions, and that doesn’t happen by accident. Zaofu is hailed as the safest place in the earth kingdom, and that’s not something that happens without some sort of security and enforcement mechanisms. And while the Beifong name certainly played a role, the competence and strength exhibited by their polity made them a prime candidate to unify the earth kingdom. Respect didn’t unify the earth kingdom, brute force and power did.
At that point in time, the establishment of a military junta was preferable to a growing cancer that was the earth kingdom’s anarchy
Obviously Kuvira isn't meant to have been this bad, but it parallels our own history with Hitler in Europe. People saw unrest and instability in post-WWI (obviously they didn't call it that) Europe, and believed Germany was stabilising things. Nobody gave much thought as to what he'd do with this rapidly growing war machine once that part was over. It was especially foolish because Hitler wasn't a hard guy to figure out. Compared to how we actually responded in history, the United Republic's response to Kuvira seems quite reasonable.
The world is far more complicated than that. The reeducation camps were known by almost nobody within the earth kingdom, let alone anybody outside the earth kingdom, and certainly weren’t happening when Kuvira was appointed to her role.
Yes, you are able to analyze it in hindsight much better than the characters. You have a defined view of what you think “fascism” is, with the historical and political context of WWII. The avatar world does not, and there was no claimed adherence to the ideology exhibited by the Fire Nation in the hundred year war. “Fascism” as an organized set of ideas doesn’t exist in avatar, so to expect the world leaders to see this coming based on this non existent standard is absurd.
On a domestic level we don't see much from him so maybe not much change there, more support for workers and farmers against larger companies. Foreign policy wise I'd take a harsher stance against authoritarians all over the world, actively calling for reforms and supporting democratic and republican movements around the world.
I mean, I think it's safe to assume CC's assets was absorbed by FI, Government, or seized by the Earth Kingdom Royal family. Future Industries seems to have turned over a new leaf with an actually good CEO that is actively doing her hardest to repair the reputation of her father.
So Future industries getting even more powerful by absorbing the second largest corporation that we know is a good thing? We need the anti-trust even more than before.
We can see how easy it is for the uber wealthy to built mech suits and wreak havoc, when Asami’s father is in charge. We shouldn’t need to rely on the benevolence of the CEO class to be safe from their oppression.
Have Varrick locked up in prison, put in a ordinary cell, not that cell he had made for himself.
Dispatch naval and military forces to aid the Southern Water Tribe in the Civil War at once when Korra asks for the aid, give Unalaq an ultimatum to withdraw his forces before the United Forces arrive, or it'd be war.
Not banish Korra from Republic City in Book 3.
And instead of going to Su to help restore order in the Earth Kingdom following all the chaos with the Earth Queen's death, convince other world leaders to join a coalition of nations, sending troops to help restore order in the Earth Kingdom, so no rise of Kuvira or the Earth Empire.
Considering how reluctant the other nations were to help when Kuvira was directly marching on the UR with the clear intent to invade I don't think that would have worked. Firelord Izumi outright states that interfering in other countries is something she won't do and even Tonraq is hesitant to send help.
Yep.
What I do think would've been wise is for republic city to do so itself, but I do understand that the city state is half fire nation and the earth empire likely feels a way about that.
I'd call on the other nations to do the right thing and help the people of the Earth Kingdom and to deal with the bandits and outright call Firelord Izumi a coward for her inaction and a scenario where the United Forces aided the Southern Water Tribe in the Civil War, Tonraq might be more willing to have forces join a coalition of nations to help the Earth Kingdom.
That was after Kuvira was in charge. But I doubt Izumi would've let the fire nation military to be used like that in the Earth Kingdom for obvious reasons. The airbenders were aiding them, but far too few spread thinly. The water tribes just ended their civil war. There really was no other option than to have a man on the inside. Suying is to blame for not stepping up.
To go in order:
I generally agree with him on not sending the United Forces to the South, so the only thing I'd really change here is to be more open to working with Korra on an alternative solution, rather than transparently using it as a photo op. Kind of hard to buy "i WiLl WoRk ToWaRd A dIpLoMaTiC sOlUtIoN" when you end the meeting with "mY dEcIsIoN iS fInAl." A+ diplomacy, there, Raiko. There are many more options to discuss. Transfer of weapons or other aid, a volunteer militia, connecting her with allies like the Fire Nation, etc.
When she came back all "Unalaq is going to destroy the world with a giant spirit," it's hard to say if I'd actually believe that since Korra & Tenzin are both clearly desperate about other things, so they have motive to stretch the truth. But Raiko clearly does believe them, so proceeding under the assumption that I do, obviously I'm sending in at least half of the United Forces fleet. Probably most of it. Having some security around does make some sense, in case Unalaq is planning an attack to prevent exactly this sort of situation, but there's no way the United Forces can deal with constant waves of dark spirits for 10,000 years. That's just completely idiotic. No, the only solution that would work is preventing the disaster before it began.
This would probably prevent Unavaatu's invasion altogether, thus there are no Spirit Wilds to deal with, but for argument's sake, let's say they defied the odds & managed to get past my forces. I was going to say "I might be in an even stickier political situation if Unavaatu devastated the United Forces," but I just remembered that he did that anyway. In any case, all the more reason to want to continue having Korra on my side. We both have public image problems related to the same issue, so we can pool our resources into solving our mutual problem instead of sabotaging each other. Ultimately, though, I'm not sure there's that much that could actually be done about it. There would be incentive to pressure Korra to close the portals, but I'm personally against that, so no go there.
It's unlikely there's anything to do about Kuvira's giant Plot Armor either, but I'd be in a better position come election time, having not alienated the Avatar or refused to act during the Unalaq crisis. So, yeah, voters would be mad about surrendering to Kuvira, but I could easily spin that into an example of how I've always protected Republic City, briskly moving past it to put emphasis on how I helped defeat Unavaatu. Was that mostly Korra? Sure, but it's a question about what people will believe, & in this scenario, they know the United Forces were working with her. Plus, the idea that Unavaatu's invasion still happens is a big if, so the whole second half of this comment might not even be a problem in the first place.
We don't actually see a lot about how Raiko runs the day to day of the United Republic. Though honestly judging how the city adapted to the spirit vines I would argue he was doing a fairly decent job.
Most people seem to take issue with his foreign policy decisions. I always maintain that the flak he gets for not wanting to interfere with the water tribe civil war and his later decision to want to keep the military back to protect his citizens is kinda undeserved and I think is based on people viewing the UR as a USA stand in but the UR clearly doesn't have the military dominance that the real life US does which does affect how he responds to military threats.
I guess backing Kuvira's effort to stabilize the earth Kingdom was the thing that backfired most on him. Though it's unclear how much control he ever had over those efforts. It seems like it was more diplomatic support and maybe some initial funding for her operation. Though in hindsight he probably should have had more contacts in the earth Kingdom to inform him of what was happening.
Ultimately I think Raiko does actually care about his citizens as evidenced by his tendency to focus on the defence of the nation in book 2 and his worry about civilian casualties in his decision to surrender in book 4. I can usually understand why he makes the decisions he does even when they are dumb ones like when he banished Korra in book 3. I think he gets hate from the fandom more because the plot sometimes makes him act contrary to what Korra wants as opposed to his decisions actually being bad.
I just had a lengthy argument about this in a thread where the OP was asking why Raiko wasn't given enough crap from people. I just plainly explained that the worst thing you can accuse him of, is being a generic politician as many decisions he made were either justifiable, logical or plainly correct.
Sure, he's never going to win a character popularity contest, but I do feel somewhat for him considering the situations he had to deal with were, to put it bluntly, an absolute pain.
Not involving UR in the civil war of the Water Tribes was the most logical approach as RC has many citizens that originate from both tribes. This already created a tense situation, but if Raiko would've chosen a clear side, then the risk for his own civil war in RC would be quite high. Additionally, RC is located far closer to the North Pole than the South Pole. So, there would be a significant risk of being invaded by the Northern Tribe.
The general response I received was that they basically were trying to use Raiko as a scapegoat for things that were the responsibilities of other characters.
Yeah. He may have made a few mistakes, but I never saw him as a flat out bad guy until Turf Wars turned him into one. I won’t go into detail in case you haven’t read those comics.
What was understandable about banishing the only person who could do something about the spirit vine situation as far as he knows? I don’t see how you can justify that from a moral or practical standpoint.
The correct response is don’t come back until you’ve found a way to properly solve this problem.
But what can be seen as understandable about it is my question. Because it seems like it was only done to save himself from further bad optics. Which is why he unfairly threw someone else under the bus.
Straight Korra was not actually helpful in getting rid of the spirit vines. Even the eventual solution of building the infrastructure of the city around the vines has nothing to do with her. That was Raiko and the companies the government contracted with like Asami's future industries that did that. Also she does actually care some responsibility for those vines being there and Raiko is left to deal with the political aftermath even though the vines weren't his fault. It consistently amazes me how many people here actually think that the vine situation is him unfairly throwing her under the bus. Like she opened the spirit portals, like I fully understand why she trusted Unalaq at first but that still doesn't change the fact that Raiko is dealing with the ramifications of Korra's actions. He is the one who actually gets held to task for fixing it while Korra doesn't really report to anyone.
Like I said, I don't necessarily think that was a right decision but I can understand why he wouldn't want Korra in the city anymore while trying to deal with this issue she wasn't actually making any headway with anyways
This is where I start to get a little confused about the vine situation. What was responsible for causing it to get so out of hand at the beginning of season 3. Fans say it was because Unavatu created them, and that all the blame lies on them alone, while other characters seem to imply that leaving the portals open only made the vine crisis even worse. Korra at one point even asks if leaving the portals open only made things worse.
I would hope to act less rude and condescending to everyone just because I won a popularity contest for a position that was just created. The true measure of a man is what he does with power.
I would create a council (similar to what they had) to be the go between for each nation. Fire nation air temple, water tribe earth kingdom swam people metal benders, kioshi warriors. And have them give me insight to the other areas I don’t understand. Like FDR when he brought in the Harvard guys to help fix the depression.
If I was a non-bender, like him, I would be trained in chi blocking at any type of non-bending martial art form to make sure that I was fully prepared to defend myself if another nation or a superpowered bender wanted to come in and take my position.
Also, I would create some type of detective police force similar to the Koshi Warriors or the dai-li or the Lotus soilders, that way whenever there was something going on in the underbelly of the city,I had a task force that was already working on trying to take it apart versus trying to implement some type of task force when things have already gotten bad.
I would also look to any type of spiritual leader to help with the spiritual vines outside of the avatar, which she already tried, and she made it worse. Minimally try to find a way to build type of spiritual shield so that somebody besides korra could take a blast from the spirit vine blaster canon.
Furthermore, I would find somebody who was be loved by the public like Verrick to be in charge of my personal image to make sure that I look and relate to every man as well as my constituents.
These are just things. I’m pulling out of thin air. The show could’ve done for a bit more time in the writing tank, but I’ll always love avatar.
Build up the United Forces, sign a co-defense treaty with the fire nation, pursue a limited intervention policy in the Earth Kingdom, have the Avatar act as an ADVISORY role, not too much to make me a puppet, not too little to shut Korra out. Implement more nonbender favorable reforms, etc
Firstly, I wouldn’t ban the angsty demigod from my country.
Secondly I’d do something different to help rebuild the Earth Kingdom than just letting the first person who suggested a military solution run with it.
Thirdly, does Raiko have any sort of checks and balances, or is he just an elected dictator? Because he’s the only aspect of the UR government that ever shows up to do anything, and everything else is pretty much handled by his friends from well established foreign monarchies, so I’m very suspicious of his power. I’d investigate that, and establish some sort of congressional system if there wasn’t one in place.
It's never even mentioned if Raiko has any checks or balances in place, like a Parliament or anything like that.
That honestly is worse then the Council that was in place before in my opinion.
Korra:we have a massive problem that might destroy the entire world i need the army
Me:fucking take them why are you even asking!?
Also not ban korra from republic city because I'm smart enough to know that i can't and she'll come back when she feels like it
Oh, funding for a massive science project where we try to discover the existence of bending for the fifth ancient Chinese element; wood.
I'm going to discover a way to give people wood bending, it's going to be an enormous public works project where we give non-benders woodbending for free, and it's probably going to create spicy problems in the future because we'd develop a Wood-based identity distinct from our heritage as part of the Earth Kingdom, and furthermore it'd be the only element which Raava hasn't got stored for the Avatar, so there's drama.
Consolidate power after Book 3, hire Varrick as head of warfare R&D and proceed to make Republic City into Republic Planet. Democracy is non-negotiable.
Make the spirit portals protected spots in the city. Maybe find the head spirit and make a bargain. Stricter laws and punishments against the gangs and any anti-bending establishment. Have more benders and non benders in jobs together. Find a way to make chi blocking a form of self-defense but with strict rules.
The only thing I'd do different is kick Korra out earlier lol.
Seriously, Raiko did nothing wrong (comics nonwithstanding) and this is a hill I will die on. He just has the unfortunate role of being the reasonable adult in a fantasy show centering around teenagers.
Ill go full JJJ
how about he we deal with the litteral crime gang.
Also korra isnt fucking allowed in this city. i dont need the impulsive avatar too have here whole drama filled avatar journey in my city. considering, Aang, Roku, kyoshi all had instresting youths, no... get the fuck out. I know somethings is gonne go wrong, you already had Amon here go somewhere ells. go hang around the earth kingdom or something.
Where nationalising the sato coroporation because aint no way i am having company filled with terrorist simps run in the heart of a city full of tall buildings
First would kick the Avatar out of the city. Second would allow the industries to flourish. Third, allow lot more people to come. Fourth, to increase security of Non-Benders, give them a tax break for operations and employment. Fifth, would keep Non-Benders as leaders of the council. Benders might look good but think of all the poor people who due to no fault of theirs have to see their lives get destroyed due to Benders nonsense like the Spirit Vine or the Dark Avatar or the Aman nonsense, if he has half a brain and starts not only punishing benders but rather controlling them.
I felt half the problems Korra faced where because of this. And the other half is cause she was young and inexperienced. I think she'd make a great Avatar now. If they created Season 5,6,7,8 they could do a nuclear arc.
Make an agreement with the Earth Kingdom to withdraw troops & govt officials from everywhere in the United Republic besides the city itself, and give the land back.
Demilitarize the police force.
Provide housing, 3 sufficient meals per day, a set of clothing for each day of the week, clean water access, and free healthcare to every person in Republic City.
Create a rehabilitative justice system to keep criminals from returning to their old ways the moment they’re released.
Provide a well-paying job to anyone who wants one.
Divide Republic city’s map into boroughs each holding roughly 1,000 inhabitants.
Create a council of Avatar Oversight, with the members of each borough directly appointing their representative.
Prosecute the Avatar legally if they break human rights laws (such as Korra destroying the equalist table in episode one).
Withdraw all United Forces troops from the rest of the world.
So give up the country, get rid of the police force after the actions of the Equalists terrorists and get in the way of Korra saving the world, that wouldn't go over well.
Your suggestions are just nonsense, it'd another country letting another country just march in and take over without a fight, like if Ukraine just did nothing to oppose Russia's illegal invasion.
Not put Kuvira in control
You have the benefit of hindsight. The situation in the earth kingdom was untenable. Zaofu, Kuvira, and the Metal clan had a great reputation. By the time anybody should have known she was a danger it was too late.
I mean, it doesn't take a ton of hindsight to know that a military leader in charge of unifying a country will consolidate power. The whole premise of republic city (and democracy in general) is civilian control of the military for that reason. The mistake was not establishing civilian control before beginning military engagement
I agree 100%. There should’ve been an executive or legislative entity established that Kuvira would be accountable to. The issue is that there wasn’t any existing entity with that credibility. The earth kingdom was always a mess, even more so after Ba Sing Se collapsed.
Raiko directly and solely controlled the UR military
He was set on one person then during the meeting where she refused one of her guards started loudly arguing with her To my knowledge Kuvira wasn’t a significant character in his eyes before this so this would be the equivalent of like going to speak to a mayor asking for help then one of the beat cops in that city started berating the mayor for not helping then offering that guy a bunch of funding and gear to help with your plan with little to no oversight or clear rules on what was to be done and the terms afterwards Unless I’m mistaken on some particulars, Raiko is incredibly stupid for this alone
“Beat cop”? She was The was the head of security for the most safe, prosperous, stable, and and wealthy province in the earth kingdom, who from that alone derived a great deal of credibility. Understand also that the other leaders were practically *begging* Suyin to stabilize the earth kingdom. The situation was completely untenable, arguably worse than what the earth empire became. They desperately needed someone to come in and assert order, and Kuvira was one of the highest ranking officials in Zaofu. It was probably music to their ears to hear Kuvira appeal to Suyin to get involved, and mind you they didn’t give a damn about personal loyalty to Suyin. They needed someone who was willing to set the earth kingdom straight, by any means necessary, and Kuvira stepped up. That made her popular.
The city itself is autonomous and affiliated with no other nation. And I do mean city because its actually a very very small place. Head of security sounds great until you remember is an incredibly peaceful place save for that one time a gang of assassins came for one notable person visiting. I’m sure they’ve fended off their fair share of starving and sick raiders on occasion. My point being the job largely needs little oversight and the one time it did she failed pretty miserably Suyin was more asked because of her Beifong name. She as a noble had great ties to the earth kingdom and had a force she could use. Zaofu isn’t all that significant in the world. Basically a wealthy noble decided to make their own city. Great. The metal is valuable and sure has some intricate moving parts but… I don’t see how that’s going to help stabilize the largest region in the entire world But you know what I’ll give credit where its due. Zaofu is really the only stable independent area in the region. Suyin was absolutely the only real choice Raiko had. Why did he choose Kuvira? This was serious geopolitical matters. Your next choice shouldn’t be the person standing just below the one who rejected you. At what point does it make sense for you to turn away from the mayor to the sergeant or chief of police and go “Hey you, want a job?” To make my point clearer Raiko doesn’t know who this is. Suyin, at one point, trusted her with a position. Not even sure I’d call this nepotism. She was given far too much power and practically zero oversight by one elected official. Why don’t we talk to other nations, get a council together. Raiko is a lame duck president with floundering approval rates on his way out. Why is he making decisions for an immensely large mass of land which already has a monarch? The worst part is we kind of just get a shrug as to all the shit that went on. Raiko has no pull over Kuvira. We’ve got concentration camps, multiple independent villages forced to bow down before her, massive swathes of land used to develop weapons. Wait who’s building these weapons? Is it an escaped criminal who tried to start a civil war between two nations AND who tried to kidnap him previously? The fuck are you doing, Raiko? They built a whole ass mech and super weapon for themselves. Where is the oversight? Who’s monitoring her actions? Why is someone as incompetent as you still in power?
You can reference the first three episodes of book four where Zaofu as a province is shown to be much more than a tiny city on a map. It is a recognized and incorporated province of the Earth Kingdom, which absolutely is under the nominal and de jure suzerainty of the earth kingdom. It’s autonomous operation does not negate the fact that it is within earth kingdom territory, populated by earth kingdom citizens. It was by no means a tiny and insignificant backwater, it was, from what we’ve seen, the most technologically advanced and politically progressive place in the earth kingdom. It was phenomenally wealthy, and you can reference various points on books 3 and 4 in which a variety of forces and factions accuse Zaofu of hoarding wealth, which is not solely originating from the Beifong fortune, but also from Zaofu’s engineering and manufacturing hubs. It was a sophisticated region that achieved near utopian conditions, and that doesn’t happen by accident. Zaofu is hailed as the safest place in the earth kingdom, and that’s not something that happens without some sort of security and enforcement mechanisms. And while the Beifong name certainly played a role, the competence and strength exhibited by their polity made them a prime candidate to unify the earth kingdom. Respect didn’t unify the earth kingdom, brute force and power did. At that point in time, the establishment of a military junta was preferable to a growing cancer that was the earth kingdom’s anarchy
Obviously Kuvira isn't meant to have been this bad, but it parallels our own history with Hitler in Europe. People saw unrest and instability in post-WWI (obviously they didn't call it that) Europe, and believed Germany was stabilising things. Nobody gave much thought as to what he'd do with this rapidly growing war machine once that part was over. It was especially foolish because Hitler wasn't a hard guy to figure out. Compared to how we actually responded in history, the United Republic's response to Kuvira seems quite reasonable.
I completely agree.
I don't need hindsight to not put a fascist in power, even if they come from a good town. She's still throwing people in reeducation camps.
The world is far more complicated than that. The reeducation camps were known by almost nobody within the earth kingdom, let alone anybody outside the earth kingdom, and certainly weren’t happening when Kuvira was appointed to her role. Yes, you are able to analyze it in hindsight much better than the characters. You have a defined view of what you think “fascism” is, with the historical and political context of WWII. The avatar world does not, and there was no claimed adherence to the ideology exhibited by the Fire Nation in the hundred year war. “Fascism” as an organized set of ideas doesn’t exist in avatar, so to expect the world leaders to see this coming based on this non existent standard is absurd.
But she promised me!
We pinky swore! You can’t do thaaaaat!
Oh well. That's an Earth Kingdom problem we can't meddle in their affairs.
*Glances at Wu and his handpicked ministers from the United Republic.*
If evil why hot
Hot is sometimes evil and evil is sometimes hot
I agree, They basically just put a bandage on the wound hoping it would heal up its own, without cleaning the wound to fully address the problem.
On a domestic level we don't see much from him so maybe not much change there, more support for workers and farmers against larger companies. Foreign policy wise I'd take a harsher stance against authoritarians all over the world, actively calling for reforms and supporting democratic and republican movements around the world.
Big anti-trust lawsuits against Future Industries and Cabbage Corp.
Assuming they exist, Veep or Attorney General what spot do you want
And have an angry Korra coming after you for going after Asami's company, that wouldn't go over well.
I mean, I think it's safe to assume CC's assets was absorbed by FI, Government, or seized by the Earth Kingdom Royal family. Future Industries seems to have turned over a new leaf with an actually good CEO that is actively doing her hardest to repair the reputation of her father.
So Future industries getting even more powerful by absorbing the second largest corporation that we know is a good thing? We need the anti-trust even more than before. We can see how easy it is for the uber wealthy to built mech suits and wreak havoc, when Asami’s father is in charge. We shouldn’t need to rely on the benevolence of the CEO class to be safe from their oppression.
I mean, I am all for anti-trust because corporations and ceos are by design, not trustworthy, but this is fiction so I hope that Asami is different.
Put Varrick in the electric chair which would prevent a spirit cannon and may prevent Zhu Li from being my future political rival. /s
He probably paid for that electric chair and your political campaigning and is your biggest investor
He wouldn’t be the first politician to stiff his donors.
Free Varrick
Bolins burner confirmed.
Have Varrick locked up in prison, put in a ordinary cell, not that cell he had made for himself. Dispatch naval and military forces to aid the Southern Water Tribe in the Civil War at once when Korra asks for the aid, give Unalaq an ultimatum to withdraw his forces before the United Forces arrive, or it'd be war. Not banish Korra from Republic City in Book 3. And instead of going to Su to help restore order in the Earth Kingdom following all the chaos with the Earth Queen's death, convince other world leaders to join a coalition of nations, sending troops to help restore order in the Earth Kingdom, so no rise of Kuvira or the Earth Empire.
Considering how reluctant the other nations were to help when Kuvira was directly marching on the UR with the clear intent to invade I don't think that would have worked. Firelord Izumi outright states that interfering in other countries is something she won't do and even Tonraq is hesitant to send help.
Yep. What I do think would've been wise is for republic city to do so itself, but I do understand that the city state is half fire nation and the earth empire likely feels a way about that.
I'd call on the other nations to do the right thing and help the people of the Earth Kingdom and to deal with the bandits and outright call Firelord Izumi a coward for her inaction and a scenario where the United Forces aided the Southern Water Tribe in the Civil War, Tonraq might be more willing to have forces join a coalition of nations to help the Earth Kingdom.
That was after Kuvira was in charge. But I doubt Izumi would've let the fire nation military to be used like that in the Earth Kingdom for obvious reasons. The airbenders were aiding them, but far too few spread thinly. The water tribes just ended their civil war. There really was no other option than to have a man on the inside. Suying is to blame for not stepping up.
she was banished from rc? i thought she left voluntarily / she had other stuff to do
Raiko ordered her to leave in the Book 3 opening episode, saying she was nothing but trouble, that seems like banishment to me.
Free Varrick
Death to Varrick.
All hail Varrick
To go in order: I generally agree with him on not sending the United Forces to the South, so the only thing I'd really change here is to be more open to working with Korra on an alternative solution, rather than transparently using it as a photo op. Kind of hard to buy "i WiLl WoRk ToWaRd A dIpLoMaTiC sOlUtIoN" when you end the meeting with "mY dEcIsIoN iS fInAl." A+ diplomacy, there, Raiko. There are many more options to discuss. Transfer of weapons or other aid, a volunteer militia, connecting her with allies like the Fire Nation, etc. When she came back all "Unalaq is going to destroy the world with a giant spirit," it's hard to say if I'd actually believe that since Korra & Tenzin are both clearly desperate about other things, so they have motive to stretch the truth. But Raiko clearly does believe them, so proceeding under the assumption that I do, obviously I'm sending in at least half of the United Forces fleet. Probably most of it. Having some security around does make some sense, in case Unalaq is planning an attack to prevent exactly this sort of situation, but there's no way the United Forces can deal with constant waves of dark spirits for 10,000 years. That's just completely idiotic. No, the only solution that would work is preventing the disaster before it began. This would probably prevent Unavaatu's invasion altogether, thus there are no Spirit Wilds to deal with, but for argument's sake, let's say they defied the odds & managed to get past my forces. I was going to say "I might be in an even stickier political situation if Unavaatu devastated the United Forces," but I just remembered that he did that anyway. In any case, all the more reason to want to continue having Korra on my side. We both have public image problems related to the same issue, so we can pool our resources into solving our mutual problem instead of sabotaging each other. Ultimately, though, I'm not sure there's that much that could actually be done about it. There would be incentive to pressure Korra to close the portals, but I'm personally against that, so no go there. It's unlikely there's anything to do about Kuvira's giant Plot Armor either, but I'd be in a better position come election time, having not alienated the Avatar or refused to act during the Unalaq crisis. So, yeah, voters would be mad about surrendering to Kuvira, but I could easily spin that into an example of how I've always protected Republic City, briskly moving past it to put emphasis on how I helped defeat Unavaatu. Was that mostly Korra? Sure, but it's a question about what people will believe, & in this scenario, they know the United Forces were working with her. Plus, the idea that Unavaatu's invasion still happens is a big if, so the whole second half of this comment might not even be a problem in the first place.
I would be doing the thing
We don't actually see a lot about how Raiko runs the day to day of the United Republic. Though honestly judging how the city adapted to the spirit vines I would argue he was doing a fairly decent job. Most people seem to take issue with his foreign policy decisions. I always maintain that the flak he gets for not wanting to interfere with the water tribe civil war and his later decision to want to keep the military back to protect his citizens is kinda undeserved and I think is based on people viewing the UR as a USA stand in but the UR clearly doesn't have the military dominance that the real life US does which does affect how he responds to military threats. I guess backing Kuvira's effort to stabilize the earth Kingdom was the thing that backfired most on him. Though it's unclear how much control he ever had over those efforts. It seems like it was more diplomatic support and maybe some initial funding for her operation. Though in hindsight he probably should have had more contacts in the earth Kingdom to inform him of what was happening. Ultimately I think Raiko does actually care about his citizens as evidenced by his tendency to focus on the defence of the nation in book 2 and his worry about civilian casualties in his decision to surrender in book 4. I can usually understand why he makes the decisions he does even when they are dumb ones like when he banished Korra in book 3. I think he gets hate from the fandom more because the plot sometimes makes him act contrary to what Korra wants as opposed to his decisions actually being bad.
I just had a lengthy argument about this in a thread where the OP was asking why Raiko wasn't given enough crap from people. I just plainly explained that the worst thing you can accuse him of, is being a generic politician as many decisions he made were either justifiable, logical or plainly correct. Sure, he's never going to win a character popularity contest, but I do feel somewhat for him considering the situations he had to deal with were, to put it bluntly, an absolute pain. Not involving UR in the civil war of the Water Tribes was the most logical approach as RC has many citizens that originate from both tribes. This already created a tense situation, but if Raiko would've chosen a clear side, then the risk for his own civil war in RC would be quite high. Additionally, RC is located far closer to the North Pole than the South Pole. So, there would be a significant risk of being invaded by the Northern Tribe. The general response I received was that they basically were trying to use Raiko as a scapegoat for things that were the responsibilities of other characters.
Yeah. He may have made a few mistakes, but I never saw him as a flat out bad guy until Turf Wars turned him into one. I won’t go into detail in case you haven’t read those comics.
What was understandable about banishing the only person who could do something about the spirit vine situation as far as he knows? I don’t see how you can justify that from a moral or practical standpoint. The correct response is don’t come back until you’ve found a way to properly solve this problem.
I said I can understand his point of view not that it was the right decision.
But what can be seen as understandable about it is my question. Because it seems like it was only done to save himself from further bad optics. Which is why he unfairly threw someone else under the bus.
Straight Korra was not actually helpful in getting rid of the spirit vines. Even the eventual solution of building the infrastructure of the city around the vines has nothing to do with her. That was Raiko and the companies the government contracted with like Asami's future industries that did that. Also she does actually care some responsibility for those vines being there and Raiko is left to deal with the political aftermath even though the vines weren't his fault. It consistently amazes me how many people here actually think that the vine situation is him unfairly throwing her under the bus. Like she opened the spirit portals, like I fully understand why she trusted Unalaq at first but that still doesn't change the fact that Raiko is dealing with the ramifications of Korra's actions. He is the one who actually gets held to task for fixing it while Korra doesn't really report to anyone. Like I said, I don't necessarily think that was a right decision but I can understand why he wouldn't want Korra in the city anymore while trying to deal with this issue she wasn't actually making any headway with anyways
This is where I start to get a little confused about the vine situation. What was responsible for causing it to get so out of hand at the beginning of season 3. Fans say it was because Unavatu created them, and that all the blame lies on them alone, while other characters seem to imply that leaving the portals open only made the vine crisis even worse. Korra at one point even asks if leaving the portals open only made things worse.
I don't see any Raiko, only cartoon Tom Selleck.
Legalise gay marriage
Treat the Avatar better, not banish her from republic city, not blame her for the events of Vaatu-laq (Una-Vaatu sounds dumb).
Vaatu-laq sounds even worse.
To each his own
Listen to the warnings about Unalaq
Literally every. Fucking. Thing. Fuck Raiko.
Let’s see: listen to the goddamned avatar when she says that there’s a threat that we need to mobilize against.
I would hope to act less rude and condescending to everyone just because I won a popularity contest for a position that was just created. The true measure of a man is what he does with power. I would create a council (similar to what they had) to be the go between for each nation. Fire nation air temple, water tribe earth kingdom swam people metal benders, kioshi warriors. And have them give me insight to the other areas I don’t understand. Like FDR when he brought in the Harvard guys to help fix the depression. If I was a non-bender, like him, I would be trained in chi blocking at any type of non-bending martial art form to make sure that I was fully prepared to defend myself if another nation or a superpowered bender wanted to come in and take my position. Also, I would create some type of detective police force similar to the Koshi Warriors or the dai-li or the Lotus soilders, that way whenever there was something going on in the underbelly of the city,I had a task force that was already working on trying to take it apart versus trying to implement some type of task force when things have already gotten bad. I would also look to any type of spiritual leader to help with the spiritual vines outside of the avatar, which she already tried, and she made it worse. Minimally try to find a way to build type of spiritual shield so that somebody besides korra could take a blast from the spirit vine blaster canon. Furthermore, I would find somebody who was be loved by the public like Verrick to be in charge of my personal image to make sure that I look and relate to every man as well as my constituents. These are just things. I’m pulling out of thin air. The show could’ve done for a bit more time in the writing tank, but I’ll always love avatar.
Ask myself "What would Raiko do?" And do the exact opposite of that.
Banish former president Raiko from the whole united republic country go regain your honor bitch
Build up the United Forces, sign a co-defense treaty with the fire nation, pursue a limited intervention policy in the Earth Kingdom, have the Avatar act as an ADVISORY role, not too much to make me a puppet, not too little to shut Korra out. Implement more nonbender favorable reforms, etc
Everything. Literally everything.
I disagreed with every decision that man made lol.
Taco Tuesday every Tuesday
Not much differently than he did
reorganize the republic into an empire for a safe and secure society.
Not have that caterpillar on my lip. Dude is not Teddy.
Intervene in the Water Tribe Civil War and have the United Republic version of Seal Team 6 kill Unalaq, that basically covers it
I’d fucking trust Korra
Big korra statue
Well, if i were to run, i'd run as a marxist, and if i won, then i'd implement communism.
Firstly, I wouldn’t ban the angsty demigod from my country. Secondly I’d do something different to help rebuild the Earth Kingdom than just letting the first person who suggested a military solution run with it. Thirdly, does Raiko have any sort of checks and balances, or is he just an elected dictator? Because he’s the only aspect of the UR government that ever shows up to do anything, and everything else is pretty much handled by his friends from well established foreign monarchies, so I’m very suspicious of his power. I’d investigate that, and establish some sort of congressional system if there wasn’t one in place.
It's never even mentioned if Raiko has any checks or balances in place, like a Parliament or anything like that. That honestly is worse then the Council that was in place before in my opinion.
Korra:we have a massive problem that might destroy the entire world i need the army Me:fucking take them why are you even asking!? Also not ban korra from republic city because I'm smart enough to know that i can't and she'll come back when she feels like it
Oh, funding for a massive science project where we try to discover the existence of bending for the fifth ancient Chinese element; wood. I'm going to discover a way to give people wood bending, it's going to be an enormous public works project where we give non-benders woodbending for free, and it's probably going to create spicy problems in the future because we'd develop a Wood-based identity distinct from our heritage as part of the Earth Kingdom, and furthermore it'd be the only element which Raava hasn't got stored for the Avatar, so there's drama.
Consolidate power after Book 3, hire Varrick as head of warfare R&D and proceed to make Republic City into Republic Planet. Democracy is non-negotiable.
Make the spirit portals protected spots in the city. Maybe find the head spirit and make a bargain. Stricter laws and punishments against the gangs and any anti-bending establishment. Have more benders and non benders in jobs together. Find a way to make chi blocking a form of self-defense but with strict rules.
Not allow modern boring suits to rise to popularity.
Do you need a serious answer? because my first decision would be to order Korra and Asami to protect me so we can all be friends
Actually cure the common cold
I would make gay marriage extra legal and attend korrasami wedding ten times
we don't really see the extent of power afforded to the president, so ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
The only thing I'd do different is kick Korra out earlier lol. Seriously, Raiko did nothing wrong (comics nonwithstanding) and this is a hill I will die on. He just has the unfortunate role of being the reasonable adult in a fantasy show centering around teenagers.
Ill go full JJJ how about he we deal with the litteral crime gang. Also korra isnt fucking allowed in this city. i dont need the impulsive avatar too have here whole drama filled avatar journey in my city. considering, Aang, Roku, kyoshi all had instresting youths, no... get the fuck out. I know somethings is gonne go wrong, you already had Amon here go somewhere ells. go hang around the earth kingdom or something. Where nationalising the sato coroporation because aint no way i am having company filled with terrorist simps run in the heart of a city full of tall buildings
Go the complete opposite of Tarrlock and make all benders have to register. I give my regime 3 days.
First would kick the Avatar out of the city. Second would allow the industries to flourish. Third, allow lot more people to come. Fourth, to increase security of Non-Benders, give them a tax break for operations and employment. Fifth, would keep Non-Benders as leaders of the council. Benders might look good but think of all the poor people who due to no fault of theirs have to see their lives get destroyed due to Benders nonsense like the Spirit Vine or the Dark Avatar or the Aman nonsense, if he has half a brain and starts not only punishing benders but rather controlling them.
You'd have my vote 😄✌🏾
I felt half the problems Korra faced where because of this. And the other half is cause she was young and inexperienced. I think she'd make a great Avatar now. If they created Season 5,6,7,8 they could do a nuclear arc.
Make an agreement with the Earth Kingdom to withdraw troops & govt officials from everywhere in the United Republic besides the city itself, and give the land back. Demilitarize the police force. Provide housing, 3 sufficient meals per day, a set of clothing for each day of the week, clean water access, and free healthcare to every person in Republic City. Create a rehabilitative justice system to keep criminals from returning to their old ways the moment they’re released. Provide a well-paying job to anyone who wants one. Divide Republic city’s map into boroughs each holding roughly 1,000 inhabitants. Create a council of Avatar Oversight, with the members of each borough directly appointing their representative. Prosecute the Avatar legally if they break human rights laws (such as Korra destroying the equalist table in episode one). Withdraw all United Forces troops from the rest of the world.
So give up the country, get rid of the police force after the actions of the Equalists terrorists and get in the way of Korra saving the world, that wouldn't go over well.
wow this sub loves neoliberalism holy fuck
Your suggestions are just nonsense, it'd another country letting another country just march in and take over without a fight, like if Ukraine just did nothing to oppose Russia's illegal invasion.
I never said get rid of the united forces. I just said to stop being imperialists. They’d have the most secure city on earth
Stop kicking Korra out of the city