On 18May2019 1503, Richard Aiken wrote:

> If instead the potential for "massive abuse" is in the area of acquiring
> "volunteers" for Imperial service, then I agree. Of course, the services
> are only going to accept able-bodied refugees and such individuals would
> have few prospects otherwise, since the Imperium (at least IMTU) can't
> afford much in the way of charity.

IMTU Imperial 'charity' is accepting otherwise no-prospect recruits into
the Marines. Training someone from a sub-TL14 world to properly use and
maintain the equipment the Marines use is not at all cheap, especially
if they're from TL5-. It would be more cost-effective for the Marines to
recruit only from hi-pop TL14+ worlds, which is where much of the
population is anyway.

The reason they accept these low-TL recruits is that 1) it's Imperial
policy as a form of charity, 2) these recruits tend to be loyal to the
Marines first because they've nowhere else to go and are grateful for
the opportunity, and 3) when they retire they'll hopefully take their
skills and pensions back to their homeworld or one like it, making them
a cheap form of Imperial assistance to low-TL worlds.

--
Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>
Chief Assistant to the Assistant Chief