Yeah, unfortunately we're a rather hotheaded race, and there would probably be more support for "justice" (revenge) than practical ways to save maximum human life. And you're right, it'd be a hard sell to spare the assholes who just slaughtered and enslaved our planet.Veylon said:True enough. But whatever leaders are in charge of the ragged ex-slave armies are going to have nothing going for them but their reputation in meting out destruction to their alien overlords. Most people (leaders included) aren't going to be coolheaded enough to want to patch up an amiable relationship with a nation that, shortly before, had invaded, conquered, and enslaved them. No, they are going to pay back every indignity they can upon their newly-helpless captives. Leaders unwilling to accommodate this aren't going to stay leaders for long.dyre said:Honestly, as bartering chips to ensure the survival of the human race against a massive revenge attack, I'd say it'd be in our interests to keep them well-fed. They would probably even be better-fed than lots of humans (the important ones, anyway). Sort of like capturing enemy officers in battle. You don't want to give the imperialist aliens more reason rally their citizens to blow up Earth.Veylon said:It would resonate badly with (hopefully free) future generations. It would be seen as an entirely unnecessary atrocity, similar to the way a lot of people feel about Hiroshima.senordesol said:How would that resonate with future generations? (Ours and theirs)Veylon said:They'd probably be shoved in concentration camps until the larger threat is dealt with and then used as bargaining chips in whatever peace treaty is ultimately struck.
How will we feed hundreds of thousands of alien prisoners (wide-spread resentment of which will be palpable) while we pick up the pieces of our own world?
(I'm not saying any answer is 'wrong' here, just like to know what the 'short term' and 'long term' solutions of you Escapists would be with reasonable regard placed on social and economic stressors)
Feeding them would involve equal parts "nothing" and "garbage". Ex-slaves are unlikely to have much sympathy for their former masters and would only preserve the mass of them for bargaining chip purposes. Individual aliens could expect open brutality and gross negligence for their lives and safety. The "food" would be whatever is unfit for human consumption yet still has some modicum of nutrition. Sawdust bread, tree bark, vegetable leaves and the like. When there's not enough to go around, starvation happens.
Also, the aliens can't blow up Earth in revenge as long as their own people (in whatever condition) are still on it. It would be as senseless as nuking Tehran to force Iran to free the embassy hostages. And if they don't care about their own people's lives, then why were they upset in the first place? And why were we bothering with hostages?
Assuming we keep most of the hostages in a one place or even a few camps though, the aliens could easily send a small army to take over the area, and then nuke the rest of us. And I'm guessing if the aliens are like us (at our worst), they'd be more interested in preserving their "honor" after being attacked by us savages than in individual lives of their soldiers.