The 30K Imperium & 40K Imperium aren't different enough.

[Sulemain]

The tragedy of the 40K universe is how backwards and degraded humanity has become compared to what The Emperor intended. Riven by superstition and fear, ruled by paranoia and brutality. But the thing is, whilst the ideology and outlook of the Imperium has changed, its methodology is only slightly different. The 30K Imperium was still a dictatorship, but one which emphasised progress and reason and so forth. I honestly think the Horus Heresy Novels and the whole setting would be *more tragic* if the 30K Imperium was shown to be more liberal and democratic, with Horus's rebelling being as much a military coup as anything else. 

 

I know this probably sounds silly, but that's my 50 pence. 

[M@verik115]

If the Imperium was ever liberal and democratic then it would have never risen to the height it did in the first place. 

[depthcharge12]

If the Imperium was ever liberal and democratic then it would have never risen to the height it did in the first place.

Agreed. It's a classic case of do the civilians hold the military or does the military hold the civilians? Likewise, it would be near impossible to merge all the disparate human elements without bonking a few over the head.

 

But then again, it would be funny to hold diplomatic relations with genocidal xenos and chaos :P

[carlisimo]

I see where you're coming from and generally agree.  It would've been a nice touch if, for example, Imperial Army generals were chosen on merit at the time, and the Guard/Navy only became heavily class-based later.  Same with planetary governors.

 

It was supposed to be a harsh setting, but a rational and scientifically-minded one.

[MindOfMetal]

One tragedy with the Imperium of 30k is that even at the height of the Great Crusade and with the tight reins the Emperor had over humanity, it was his last and only chance of trying to save humanity from itself. He realised that humanity couldn't control itself so needed a heavy hand in charge just to survive.

The tragedy of 40k is that everything failed; 10,000 years of slow death. Even Guilliman returning is a temporary fix, a slowing of humanities decline rather than a halt or improvement.

[Marshal Rohr]

The Imperium was in a Golden Age, where life was much better than anything in 40K. Even if its poorly executed, the intention is there and I think most everyone will agree its supposed to be hopeful. Artists are allowed to publish work that was critical of the government (for a brief period), education was getting better (the Imperial historical society that Hawser worked for), and technology was undoubtedly improving. Liberalism and Democracy, et al are accidents of history that can only exist because of modern conveniences. They also rest on the idea that everyone is equal, something that is entirely untrue in 30k. There are psychics, supermen, transhumans, cyborgs, human minds in mechanical bodies. Regular humans are not equal of these and as such there is no reason to treat them as having the same intrinsic value. The ideas of self-determination and libera democracy wouldn't survive into the future because they aren't good ideas. Does anyone honestly think even with all the education in the world an elected man could lead better than a Primarch? Or the Emperor? The answer is no. Democracy is on the way out in our own time because its outdated, theres no reason it would survive much longer. 

[M@verik115]

Not to get into a whole debate on politics, but even today you can see the limits and stifling of progress presented by democracy and liberalism. We are getting 50 different genders, people are afraid of being labeled racists and everyone is more concerned about how everyone else feels instead of tackling the real hard issues at hand, which will always offend someone. 

This is not a recipe for galactic dominance. 
Look there is a pro and con to everything in life. For instance the best possible way of governing (what I rate) is a benevolent dictatorship, ie someone who actually cares about the people, progress and doing what needs to be done (unfortunately hard choices need to be made sometimes). Then again on the opposite side of the coin if you get in a dictator who doesn't care about the people, but is swayed by money and power, then a liberal democracy starts looking really good. 

[Brother Captain Kezef]

The tragedy is that the traitors rebelled BECAUSE the Imperium was becoming a corrupt dictatorship. If you look at the traitors, many o them joined for idealistic reasons before the where corrupted and fell to chaos.

[M@verik115]

The tragedy is that the traitors rebelled BECAUSE the Imperium was becoming a corrupt dictatorship. If you look at the traitors, many o them joined for idealistic reasons before the where corrupted and fell to chaos.

And that is exactly why I love how the entire Horus Heresy series panned out. 

The traitors weren't villains in the beginning. They fell due to legitimate concerns and human emotions and you could actually understand their reasoning (whether we agreed or not was another matter). 

I believe Horus' character was a bit rushed in book 3 as he just got up and was "evil". The others took time, they brooded, they justified their viewpoint and their fall was a lot more believable. 

 

Just look at the Word Bearers. Imagine you had a child who loved you with all his heart, but you broke him, sent your other son to discipline him in front of his friends while you and everyone else watched. Then you abandoned him for a few years. That child will brood, he will feel resentment, that resentment will turn to hate. And that is precisely how we saw things pan out.