We Really Need To Talk About The State And Path Of FFXIV

[Edax]

You may want to read the history books... or simply look at the political situation in many countries right now.

This usually starts with the Government annexing a neighboring piece of land, then...

A) Government declares some minority group as being illegal and less-than human

B) Government makes policies specifically to dehumanize them, turns a blind eye to any genocide under their policies.

C) Government strips the minority group of their resources.

D) Everyone is surprisingly okay with this until the Government falls, and suddenly it's everyone for themselves. If you're rich, you're likely going to become a victim, and that's why rich people flee countries when they become unstable, taking most of the countries wealth with them.

This is everything the Garleans have done and we're now on the way to D with them.

A. The Garleans invade a country and mistreat the Majority group. Treat them less than human. The obsession of "purity" of the Garleans that were driven into a small country would make them the minority in every country but their own.
B. The Garleans are from a small country and are obsessed with purity. Their genocide depopulates their own Empire until there are barely enough to run basic services. They don't even bother protecting the people that have sworn loyalty to them either.
C. The Garleans aren't stripping resources from the Majority. They just destroy the resource output of the conquered until everyone is starving.
D. Who would be okay with this? And who would get rich under this system? Collaborators seemingly get no protection and the GDP of these occupied territories has to be abysmally small. And when was the last time saw a loyal Garlean actually do any work besides killing somebody or standing around waiting to be killed?

Perhaps you should read a history book. Empires are built on greed but the Garleans are not greedy. They see a farm, they torture and conscript the farmers until everyone is starving. They see a fishing village, they murder the fisherman. They see a quarry and beat and starve the workers. They see a saltmine and drive the people off so that the wildlife reclaims it. They see a paper mill and they destroy it and leave it in ruins. The Garleans do not profit from war, they aren't motivated by it and every action they take says otherwise. Their occupations makes the lands worthless and they must be spending fortunes building the towers, artillery pieces, mecha, shield generators and bases too. This "Empire" should have crumbled the moment the Garleans left Garlemald.
The sinews of war are infinite money, but the Garleans sidestep this because they are one dimensional villains. We learn rebuilding the Doman enclave that they stole all the good tools from the Domans. But we already know the Garleans and their magi-tech don't need medieval tools, they probably just chucked them in the ocean because that was the "cartoonishly evil" thing to do.

[Sigma-Astra]

And when was the last time saw a loyal Garlean actually do any work besides killing somebody or standing around waiting to be killed?

Well, there's Lucia, Cid, and Nero for one.

[Edax]

Well, there's Lucia, Cid, and Nero for one.

They don't seem terribly loyal to Garlemald, but I suppose you could say they are loyal outside of Garemald.

[Sigma-Astra]

They don't seem terribly loyal to Garlemald, but I suppose you could say they are loyal outside of Garemald.

I'd like to believe that somewhere along the lines they are still loyal towards their birth country and that will probably never change, they just don't agree with their actions at the current present.

One can still remain loyal towards their own country, yet still disagree and propose opposition against their ways simply because they feel it's doing more harm than good, which displays self pride and concern for their fellow countrymen even if they're supporting the people that their own country dislikes at the same time.

Basically, it's a "for the greater good" type scenario.

[Edax]

I'd like to believe that somewhere along the lines they are still loyal towards their birth country and that will probably never change, they just don't agree with their actions at the current present.

One can still remain loyal towards their own country, yet still disagree and propose opposition against their ways simply because they feel it's doing more harm than good, which displays self pride and concern for their fellow countrymen even if they're supporting the people that their own country dislikes at the same time.

Basically, it's a "for the greater good" type scenario.

Well, at some point Cid actively worked against the Empire, such as when he helped the Scions break out the other Scions captured at the Garlean base. And if I remember correctly, Lucia gives you a mecha to help you mow down other Garlean soldiers by the bushel. Some might call that treason, not loyalty. But I'll agree it's "treason for the greater good".

[KisaiTenshi]

A. The Garleans invade a country and mistreat the Majority group. Treat them less than human. The obsession of "purity" of the Garleans that were driven into a small country would make them the minority in every country but their own.
B. The Garleans are from a small country and are obsessed with purity. Their genocide depopulates their own Empire until there are barely enough to run basic services. They don't even bother protecting the people that have sworn loyalty to them either.
C. The Garleans aren't stripping resources from the Majority. They just destroy the resource output of the conquered until everyone is starving.
D. Who would be okay with this? And who would get rich under this system? Collaborators seemingly get no protection and the GDP of these occupied territories has to be abysmally small. And when was the last time saw a loyal Garlean actually do any work besides killing somebody or standing around waiting to be killed?

Perhaps you should read a history book. Empires are built on greed but the Garleans are not greedy. They see a farm, they torture and conscript the farmers until everyone is starving. They see a fishing village, they murder the fisherman. They see a quarry and beat and starve the workers. They see a saltmine and drive the people off so that the wildlife reclaims it. They see a paper mill and they destroy it and leave it in ruins. The Garleans do not profit from war, they aren't motivated by it and every action they take says otherwise. Their occupations makes the lands worthless and they must be spending fortunes building the towers, artillery pieces, mecha, shield generators and bases too. This "Empire" should have crumbled the moment the Garleans left Garlemald.
The sinews of war are infinite money, but the Garleans sidestep this because they are one dimensional villains. We learn rebuilding the Doman enclave that they stole all the good tools from the Domans. But we already know the Garleans and their magi-tech don't need medieval tools, they probably just chucked them in the ocean because that was the "cartoonishly evil" thing to do.

Excluding the beast tribes and Dragons you mean. You ignored my point however.

In "our" history books, there is always a resource or a military strategically important reason to invade, which usually stems from breaking treaties. The Garleans invaded La Noscea, Thanalan, The Black Shroud, and had already taken over Ala Mhigo and Doma. Hence the Ala Mhigo refugees near Ul'dah and Doman refugees in Mor Dhona. So it is not an unreasonable prediction that Garlemald gives up every place they've invaded at some point once we "Warrior of Light" stick our nose in at some point.

Yes the Garleans are a bit cartoonish, but I think reality has surpassed the cartoonish villainy earlier this year. There are still major global conflicts going on, and they're over borders.