The Imperium is a vast entity. The typical vision of the world is one of Oppressive Pseudo Religious Government, one where paranoia and hysteria are tools used to control the masses of humans existing within this entity. Heresy is a word (definition here) that is used repeatedly, instilling the feeling of persecution and accusations, both by authorities and neighbors. Subconcious manipulation of the populace is a common practice, taking the form of short mantras of faith and duty, repeated by the average citizen thousands of times before they even reach their teen years. It is ingrained within the subconscious, much like a Space marines Hypno Therapy which enables them to use their additional organs, to a lesser degree it is the same for the average Imperial Citizen. These “Thoughts of the Day” create the subconscious fears that are within their minds, causing them to Fear the Mutant and Purge the Psyker. With those fears, come the natural human instinct to seek safety, safety comes in the form of the heavy handed Imperial Authorities. Whether they are the Black Armored Arbiters, enforcing the strict and ambiguous Book of Law or the Hooded Inquisitor, whose actions are usually more heinous and reprehensible than that of those they condemn to purgation. The typical Imperial citizen blinds themselves to the atrocities that are often committed by these forces, all in the name of Humanity and the Emperor. Their need to be shielded from the threats that are both real and imagined overwhelm any sense of personal freedom or rights.

Is this right? Well in comparison to our perception, probably not, a lot of good people died over 50 years ago to prevent this type of regime from coming to power. The horrible effects of that regime aside, while it was certainly oppressive to those not of their descent, the Industrial and Scientific power of the country achieved  many great and horrible weapons, drugs and technology. It came at a cost though, such exertion of resources must be recouped somehow, whether through taxes, trade or loans or war. Human nature again comes into play, being a violent manifestation of freedom of choice gone wrong, inevitably the build-up led to war. War is a prevalent theme in the 41^st millennium. Since this stemmed from a table top wargame it is no wonder that conflict seems to exist all around. Is that the case though? Is every planet under siege or at least maintaining that mindset? The answer; no, probably not. In fact I would guess that there are more world’s not under the strict control of imperial Authority. A “designated” Governor may simply be the Tyrant with the largest army or a garrisoned Imperial Guard Colonel that is worried more about his own troops rebelling than some Eldar Fleet invading his world.