Before the war everything flowed, sorta, all were getting rations, nobody died in vain
Then something sparked, and someone tossed a stone
Then the war started, and people died
Who tossed the stone?
That's like asking who fired the first shot of the American Revolution.
Rations are low, resources are dwindling, conditions are dangerous. Options for refugees are few and extreme: continue to live in squalor and poverty or try to emigrate back to the mainland. Some refugees wonder how it's going back at the mainland. Security forces crack down on those pushing to escape, arousing sympathy from other refugees. They unite and form the Resistance. Tensions are high on all sides. Standoffs occured. Someone got jumpy. Panicked. Cut a few rounds loose. Instant civil war.
What I don't get is why the Resistance guys haven't tried improving their lives from the bottom up. Build additional water processing plants instead of blowing things up, that sort of stuff. There's plenty of usable materials laying around, and at least some of them should have the required engineering abilities. :wink_smile:
This whole civil war could have been avoided if people just worked hard at improving the general situation on the Ark. But a seasteading version of Harvest Moon wouldn't be much fun, I suppose. :frog:
I don't think there is a way to improve a situation when the available resources can only support a tenth of the actual population. As you said, why didn't someone build more water processing plants? That shouldn't have been the job of the refugees (although they could've helped in constructing it, sure); it really should have been the job of those in charge of the Ark to at least organize and direct the effort. But that didn't happen. Someone decided to take advantage of the refugees. Someone is controlling what information gets out to the populace, and someone wants to be sure the refugees stay under control, to advance whatever agenda he/she may have. The Resistance is having none of it; they want to see the truth, and they want out of the mess the Ark leadership has locked them into and make better lives for themselves and their fellows. This shadowy Ark mastermind needs to crush the Resistance to keep the refugees in line. Hence, the Security is brought in for "population/crowd control".
Why does the Ark leadership need the refugees to stay? Why doesn't the Ark leadership understand and work to alleviate the plight of the refugees? If the leadership cooperated and helped the refugees, the Resistance would have no reason to exist. So to say this situation is the fault of the Resistance, I think is false. There is something much bigger at work than mere rebels and police skirmishes. I'd bet a good amount of money on it.