Why did the crew walk away at the end of The Hunted?

Discussion in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' started by Plomeek Broth, Dec 26, 2013.

  1. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2009
    Location:
    T'Girl
    In Starship Troopers (the novel) you had to of engaged in some form of public service in order to gain the ability to vote and hold public office.

    Military service was only one of the ways to gain "the franchise." According to Heinlein about 2% of the people who gain the franchise did so through military service.

    But there were lot's of other ways.

    :)
     
  2. Shaka Zulu

    Shaka Zulu Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2013
    Location:
    Bulawayo Military Krral
    But the novel showed that this came about because the veterans of the world conflicts took control of society after it had broken down and imposed this edict of public service (Federal Service) having to be done in order to get said franchise.
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2014
  3. RunawayStarShip

    RunawayStarShip Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Dec 25, 2013
    I think that the simpler answer is that the Federation still adheres to realpolitik. It's not going to send Starfleet to right every wrong. If it did, it would be at war with everyone. As long as the Federation strives to behave in the most just way that it can, that's probably enough for its citizens and government.

    I've always thought that it's called the Prime Directive/General Order One because Starfleet wants all of its officers to consider the consequences of their actions and to always err on the side of caution. In reality, it's really more the "Prime Suggestion", since there seems to be no actual consequence to breaking the Prime Directive as long as there is a good explanation. According to "The Drumhead", Picard has broken the Prime Directive nine times in his first four years as captain of the Enterprise-D. He remains the captain of the Federation flagship for another four years, and proceeds to command the Enterprise-E.

    As for why Picard always seems adamant (at least on the surface) about following the letter (rather than the spirit) of the Prime Directive, it is possible that he is worried about a possible court martial after Louvois' relentlessness in the Stargazer court martial. (Or it's just an act to emphasize the importance of the PD to more junior officers... he does usually go along with it in the end...)
     
  4. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2009
    Location:
    T'Girl
    Which isn't the same as "only veterans could run things and that democracy was a sham," While veterans did precipitate a societal change, there was no indication that they seized control, or that democracy stopped. Anyone could obtain the franchise, the novel made clear that if you truly couldn't do anything, society would create some half-assed job for you in order for you to have engaged in public service.

    :)
     
  5. The Transformed Man

    The Transformed Man Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2003
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    God I hated this episode. So overly simplistic i its morality while beating the audience over the head with a hammer.

    Hey kids here's our "Post-Vietnam soldier with PTSD" episode. Let's sum it up:

    Government... bad... soldiers... brainwashed. Soldiers... dangerous... need help... but do bad things... We walk away.

    Just awful; some of the most simplistic, ham-fisted writing in all of Trek. So to believe the writers, basically every soldier who served in Vietnam is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, but the government has largely ignored them and has treated them like outcasts.

    Funny, I served in the Army for 8 years... quite a few of the people I served with were combat veterans and we some of the nicest, most well adjusted, honorable people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. My next door neighbor is also a veteran, and again is probably one of the most decent people I know. He's actively involved in his church and works tirelessly to help homeless vets.

    Now there's an issue I'd like to see Trek handle...
     
  6. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Location:
    JirinPanthosa
    The occupation of Bajor was only 'legal' because the guys with the bigger guns said it was legal. You know, like real life occupations. If there was at some point a paper signed signing Bajor over to Cardassia, the official who signed the document did not own the lives of Bajorans, and did not have the right to hand them all over to the Cardassians.

    The Federation didn't intervene with Bajor because it wouldn't have been in their own political best interests. It had nothing to do with legality or any kind of higher moral concept. Political convenience, pure and simple.
     
  7. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2006
    Location:
    Moncton, NB
    If he/she was an elected official chosen by the people to do so, he/she did have the legal authority to do so.

    And the Feds can't go around disregarding Intergalactic Laws accepted by their equals just when they feel like it. It'd disrupt Agreements made to preserve Order and their (equally powerful neighbors) suspicious as to why they should tolerate the Feds.
     
  8. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 10, 2005
    Location:
    Confederation of Earth
    But any document signed under duress, which this surely would have been, is by definition invalid.
     
  9. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2006
    Location:
    Moncton, NB
    That's the thing, there was no proof of it being signed under duress except by Bajoran rebels (who are...you know...rebels). Sure, it'd be kind of accepted in hindsight, but you still need proof before violating intergalactic laws.
     
  10. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2002
    Location:
    The Old Mixer, Somewhere in Connecticut
    By the time we met the Cardassians or the Bajorans, the Federation wasn't at war with Cardassia anymore, they were trying to keep an uneasy truce.
     
  11. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Location:
    JirinPanthosa
    What you describe is tyranny of the majority. Again, law by means of superior force. An elected official is the employee of the electorate, not the master of the electorate. Bajoran officials have no more right to sign their own people into slavery as Barack Obama has to sell you as a slave to another country.

    The natural rights of all people to life, liberty and property take precedence over any pen mark on paper. No form of slavery is ever legal in the truest sense. It just so happened that liberating Bajor would have caused a war to start.
     
  12. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2006
    Location:
    Moncton, NB
    Which is why there were Bajoran Rebels who took up arms against the Occupation. Their Chosen leaders signed over the World they had legal authority over (forced, but without proof it's still totally legal) and once the sign-over was legalized the Cardassians were in charge so if the people demanded the Annexation be repealed, the Bajoran Government was no longer in a position to do so and the Cardies used their new legal authority to silence opposition by force of arms.

    "In the Truest sense" was ignored in favor of the Cardassians' legal rights to the planet. Which they enforced through brutality and military force.

    You ARE right in that this wasn't right "In the Truest Sense" but legalities and brute force get in the way of that.