What happens to other countries on Earth?

[The Old Mixer]

All of which proves the point. It's a crap accent that everyone recognizes as Scots. So yeah, it's obvious Scott is a "Scot".

Maybe not to an actual Scot. I was watching a very early episode of The Avengers not long ago, and wondering what the hell was up with one actor's accent. He sounded mostly English with an occasional American-ish inflection tossed in. It wasn't until somebody mentioned it in dialogue that I realized that the character was supposed to be an American. "Seriously, that's supposed to be an American accent?"

 

[Nerys Myk]

Maybe not to an actual Scot. I was watching a very early episode of The Avengers not long ago, and wondering what the hell was up with one actor's accent. He sounded mostly English with an occasional American-ish inflection tossed in. It wasn't until somebody mentioned it in dialogue that I realized that the character was supposed to be an American. "Seriously, that's supposed to be an American accent?"

English actors of that era had crap American accents. We are truly lucky to live in the age of English actors with good American accents!

 

[The Old Mixer]

I've heard fake American accents on The Saint that were at least recognizable as American accents. The Avengers was a very low-budget show in those seasons...daytime soap opera production values.

 

[Nyotarules]

I don't see the insistance that nations would be required to surrender their sovereignty after forming a international cooperative union with a governing body.

There are EU laws that are binding on all E.U nations as well as national laws unique to each nation.

Speaking of that sort of dislocation I am
Reminded of admiral Nechayev who has a clearly southern accent yet a Russian name.

Perhaps Russian accents are progressive in the 24th century, just like French Picard. Or one of her ancestors was Russian, its an Earth where global migration is easy and cheap.

 

[MacLeod]

Speaking of that sort of dislocation I am
Reminded of admiral Nechayev who has a clearly southern accent yet a Russian name.

People tend to pick up the accent of where they grow up which might not be the same place as to where they are born.

 

[B.J.]

Speaking of that sort of dislocation I am
Reminded of admiral Nechayev who has a clearly southern accent yet a Russian name.

Plenty of people with names from all around the world here. My own last name is Slovak, but I'm definitely an all-American mutt.

 

[Tenacity]

There are EU laws that are binding on all E.U nations as well as national laws unique to each nation.

Isn't that one of the aspects of the E.U. that is driving the UK (and maybe others in the future ) out of the E.U.?

And agreeing to some international laws and treaties doesn't mean a complete surrendering of national sovereign to a world body.

One of the things I would see the world government doing is engaging in interstellar diplomacy collectively for Earth's many nation/states, however this wouldn't prevent individual nation/states (who are part of the world government) from separately having their own interstellar diplomacy as well.

The world government could finance Starfleet, but the nation/states could still have their own starships (military and civilian registry), TNG had readouts of starships in the 22nd century with HMS before the ship's name.

 

[Tenacity]

Technology alone would have an insane impact upon us all [probably the biggest]

Social institutions (imo) would be far more important than technology. Although tech would have a influence too.

why it is so hard for some of you to see why a United Earth would actually be very possible

It isn't that many of us doubt that a worldwide "single nation/state" would be possible, it that some of us don't see such as a desirable goal. Nor is it that such a state would be the only way of achieving the positive future depicted in Star Trek.

Why are global laws so outlandish?

Because some of the current ones simply are, some are down right goofy.

Yes, everyone thinks their views are rational but many, many aren't

So who decides between your personal version of "rational," and my own version employing the same term?

Would the moon be part of the Earth government or would it be it's own government?

Or a bit of both. In the future there could be multiple independent nation/states on parts of the moon, some of which could be members in United Earth. While at the same time the surface of the moon could have (for example) some new states in the United States. Also, territories directly apart of existing (or new) nation/states.

I'd Imagine alot of smaller nations would be absorbed into bigger ones

I really think it would be in the other direction, big countries breaking up and there would then be a larger number of smaller nation/states.

 

[Voth commando1]

It wouldn't send a good message to the rest of the interstellar community in the alpha-beta quadrants if earth didn't have a unified government methinks.

While Enterprise mentioned the Royal (sea) navy and apparently national customs have continued and cultures still exist there is no evidence by the time of DS9/Voyager that nation states exist on earth anymore at all

 

[Tenacity]

there is no evidence by the time of DS9/Voyager that nation states exist on earth anymore at all

There is Picard's dialog that people from Alaska and people from Ohio are "countrymen."

Riker knew enough about the United States that he knew the years the number of stars changed on the American flag.

It wouldn't send a good message to the rest of the interstellar community in the alpha-beta quadrants if earth didn't have a unified government methinks.

Of course it would, it would show a belief in diversity of political thought and expression, and would assure the interstellar community that the gigantic Federation wasn't going to be requiring them to conform to some kind of political system litmus test.

How they organized (or didn't) their own worlds was alway going to be up to them.

Kirk: "The highest of all our laws states your world is yours and will always remain yours."

 

[Voth commando1]

Are we seriously understating the impact
of WW3 and the eugenic wars in the trek timeline on human history here? Not to mention first contact.

Picard's statement was probably more poetic than anything.

I don't understand the resistance to the idea that earth has a unified government in Trek.

In DS9 Paradise Lost and Homefront there is absolutely zero evidence of nation states, the fact their is a global power grid confirms that.

New Zealand is obviously a penal colony/rehabilitative center and another of Voyager's episodes has an intercontinental transport from San Franscisco to Paris.

Face it the evidence is overwhelming.

 

[kkt]

There's a penal colony on New Zealand. It does not follow that all of New Zealand is a penal colony. That would be a huge prison for the small number of criminals there are supposed to be on 24th century Earth.
Many of those places still exist, they're just geographic features rather than regions of political authority.

 

[Tenacity]

In DS9 Paradise Lost and Homefront there is absolutely zero evidence of nation states ...

In DS9 Paradise Lost there is absolutely zero evidence of United Earth, or any planetary government at all.

 

[Markonian]

I think it's customary for a nation's institutions to drop their 'royal' prefixes once the monarchy of that nation has been deposed. I don't know, for example, whether there would still be any 'royal' institutions left in France, or any 'Königliche' or 'Kaiserliche' institutions in Germany. And I suppose that would even more so be the case for organisations very closely associated with a nation's power and (or power projection), such as the Navy.

Communist Germany retained the title Reichsbahn = Imperial Railway until the bitter end. Despite claiming to be anti-imperialist. It's not more outlandish to think than Royal Navy is kept.

 

[Nyotarules]

It wouldn't send a good message to the rest of the interstellar community in the alpha-beta quadrants if earth didn't have a unified government methinks.

While Enterprise mentioned the Royal (sea) navy and apparently national customs have continued and cultures still exist there is no evidence by the time of DS9/Voyager that nation states exist on earth anymore at all

Earth's actions lead to The Federation.There is no evidence that a United Earth government of no nation states had to be a requirement for Earth or any of the other planets before the concept of Federation could exist.

 

[Nyotarules]

Communist Germany retained the title Reichsbahn = Imperial Railway until the bitter end. Despite claiming to be anti-imperialist. It's not more outlandish to think than Royal Navy is kept.

I don't see the British giving up the Royal Family, unless World War 3 in the Star Trek universe really screws up the nation. Perhaps the House of Windsor migrates to Canada and are denounced as cowards for fleeing?

 

[JasonJ]

The Royal Navy still existed on 22nd century Earth, so even the British royal family are still around.
A DS 9 novel mentions the President of the USA touring San Francisco, after the Breen attack on Earth. Nation states still exist on Earth, the U.E government sounds like the United Nations but with more teeth and political power. It is probably a federalised form of government. Humans learn the hard way to work together after WWIII and First contact. Nation states stop seeing each other as political enemies. There is no 'Superpower' or 'Leader of the free world', no political dictatorships or extreme religious theocracies. (Islam would have to reform BIG time, as Christianity did in the past).
E. g Chekov is a very proud Russian; positive cultural national pride is still around, and so it should be. I would hate to think the rest of the world becomes a carbon copy USA.

For the rest of the world to become a carbon copy of ANY one, singular nation would not be preferable. Our uniqueness and cultural history, traditions, etc is what makes Earth so special (more so in the Star Trek universe, since it seems most alien worlds are largely homogeneous).

 

[Tallguy]

I am curious if it were put to a worldwide vote (minus any tampering or repercussions from existing dictators) who would be elected to lead the world.

The regions of China and India would have numeric superiority (at the moment) in such an election. I wonder what (for example) Copenhagen would think of such a government?

OTOH, I'm taking a very deomocracy / rebublic-centric notion that there would be votes. (It has been mentioned on screen that there are elections, I gather?)

 

[Markonian]

We think of everything dating back to our great-grandfather's generation as 'traditional'. Tradition is not a value in itself. It needs to be reevaluated regularly and either be kept, discarded or revived as needed, otherwise it may become a senseless cult.

Maybe the same goes for culture and language. Preserve them on record, yes, but don't mind letting French tongue go extinct, the royal families retired, cities merged.
The Germany you've come to know is not the one my grandfather helped to create. And that's no problem at all because society marches on.

 

[Tenacity]

The regions of China and India would have numeric superiority (at the moment) in such an election.

What are the odds that the resulting world government would be built on a "western" model, employing western standards?

Pretty low.