Which is also unrealistic. All sword fighting especially in future settings is unrealistic unless your talking about people who are into it and train for it. I doubt people in the future would train to use such primitive weapons. It would mostly be high tech stuff like phasers,tech weapons and maybe knives for close combat situations but even then you can tell with TNG they use the less violent open palm technique in order to not create us much damage in fighting. Starfleet seems to value non-lethal strategies so teaching them with medieval weapons seems unlikely. Jason
It was Azetbur's assessment. And while her argument is reductive, it contains more than a hint of truth. Vulcan, Andor, and Tellar had all been powerful spacefaring worlds for centuries when United Earth came along -- how come the Federation is so Earth-centric? How come English is Federation Standard? How come Earth is the capital planet? How come we see crews that are majority-human? The only two possibilities are either that we creatively reinterpret the canonical evidence to fit our pre-conceived ideas ("everyone in the Federation is equal") or we acknowledge the disparity between the ideal and the evidence and conclude that the Federation is not truly egalitarian. I think sometimes it is. There's no reason to let an entire species go extinct unless you just don't want future competition. And Kirk's interpretation of the Prime Directive in "A Private Little War" was a thinly-veiled rationalization for using the conflict on Neural as a proxy war for the Federation's conflict with the Klingons. It is certainly true that the Federation betrayed them! But Picard also betrayed them, by abandoning them. Picard could have -- and should have -- used all the resources at his disposal as a private citizen to continue mobilizing ships to participate in the Romulan evacuation. He should have continued to advocate for the people of Vashti in the Federation government. He should have founded a non-governmental organization to continue this work, and he should have recruited people to keep it up. AND, he should have made sure that Romulans and Vashti were in key leadership positions of that organization, so that it didn't fall into a paternalistic "Federation Savior" mode of thinking! These are all things Jean-Luc should have done. Instead, he ran away to LaBerre and wallowed in self-pity for fifteen years. No one is blaming Jean-Luc for the Federation's sins. But he chose the sin of omission, the sin of passivity once state action was rejected. He deserves to be called out for that. And he deserves to be called out for thinking he could just come back to Vashti and everyone would be happy to see him. There is a lot of sheer fucking hubris there. It literally had a crowd of people converging on him and him soaking it up. Good question! I don't know. But you know what I do know? Jean-Luc could have done a shit-ton more to save more Romulans than he did, without forgoing his own welfare. He had two years to do all kinds of work as a private citizen to rescue as many people as possible before the supernova, and he squandered it while condemning the Federation for not doing the same work he was refusing to do as a private citizen. That's some hypocrisy there. That's some hubris. And that's what he has to make amends for. I'm sorry, but some things really are simple. Yeah, but Jean-Luc thinks of himself as a hero, and that is exactly what a hero is supposed to do. And if you refuse to, you shouldn't show up at a refugee camp of the people you abruptly stopped doing jack-all to help and expect to be welcomed back with open arms. "Fuck you, I got mine" is no basis for a system of morality. It's a big leap to jump from "This depiction supports deeply oppressive cisheteropatrichal values" to "Depictions of oppressive cisheteropatriarchal values are inconsequential." The values espoused by our works of popular fiction are very important, because they influence what kinds of ideas and values people in real life will tolerate. For example, the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffin not only reaffirmed to millions of white Americans that white supremacy was okay and black people were threats, but it directly led to the revival of the Ku Klux Klan. That's an extreme example, but it establishes beyond a doubt that the values espoused by works of popular fiction have important real-world consequences. They are not inconsequential. Yes, we all understand how make-believe works. And Star Trek: The Next Generation is indeed a work of make-believe -- a work of make-believe that espouses certain values. Many of the values Star Trek: The Next Generation espouses as a work of make-believe are good, progressive values, such as the idea that we shouldn't let our prejudices about what life is "supposed" to look like blind us from acknowledging someone else's personhood (e.g., Data in "The Measure of a Man"). And some of the values Star Trek: The Next Generation espouses as a work of make-believe are in fact deeply toxic and oppressive, such as the idea that women exist to please men and it's a tragedy when they can't do so (e.g., Kamala in "The Perfect Mate"). Yes, it's very clear you aren't capable of recognizing toxic, oppressive stereotypes when you see them. (I hope for the sake of any women in your life that you don't actually buy into them.) The point is not that caregiving is something to be ashamed of. The point is that it is oppressive for a work of art to consistently depict that as women's roles instead of depicting women in a variety of roles, because depicting that as women's most common role is an artistic decision that reinforces patriarchal gender roles. Ah, yes, another variation on, "Let's claim that pointing out oppression is what is oppressive!" It's right up there with, "No, you're the racist for saying that white people have unearned advantages." To be clear: I have made no claims whatsoever about real people or their real choices. I have made claims about the real-world consequences of the messages propagated by works of fiction. Yes. You should try engaging with the arguments made by that sarcasm instead of being upset by it. You were absolutely not addressing the point being made. The issue is not, "Are ambitious people pleasant?" The issue is, "Always depicting ambitious women as unpleasant is sexist because it is an artistic choice that supports the idea that women should have less power than men." My own reasons being, "Men and women are equal and these depictions oppose equality." Do you think men and women are equal? Wow. Wow wow wow. There are a lot of ideas about what it means to be human, what it means to be a man, what it means to be a father, and what it means to be a father to a daughter. Why would Data aspiring to be a human lead to him adopting the patriarchal values of one particular human sub-culture? We're getting off-topic here, but I would humbly suggest that that is probably a waste of time in reality, that Black Widow's levels of martial arts proficiency and lethality are in fact wish-fulfillment fantasies, and that weapons training is probably more useful for anyone who isn't part of a dedicated special operations team. One of the best things about DIS.
Exactly what resources does Picard have when he is isn't in Starfleet to mount some kind of personal rescue. One of the issues of being in a society without money is you got nothing to pay people with in terms of mounting any kind of individual rescue operation. Plus even if you did, do you think Starfleet would sit back and allow civilians to get involved in a political matter of that kind of scale. Picard's makeshift fleet would be intercepted by Starfleet vessels and be told to turn back or be arrested. Jason
Well, as people like to note, Picard has lots of connections due to his various missions. So, why not appeal to the Klingons, call in a favor with the Vulcans or help Spock? No, I don't think he could martial near the resources of Starfleet, but there is a huge gulf between doing nothing and doing everything.
To start with, Jean-Luc is famous. He's the face of Starfleet! He saved Earth from Shinzon in 2379, he exposed the forced relocation of the Ba'ku in 2375, he saved the entire Federation from the Borg in 2373. He's so famous that when the Mars Attack happened, the Federation News Network was carrying his personal reaction to it. He's huge. That means, he has political and social capital. One of the most basic things he could do is, arrange a press conference or exclusive interview -- go on the Federation News Service or whatever, denounce the decision to abandon the Romulans, and call on the owners of private ships throughout the Federation to join in a new rescue armada. The canon has always been contradictory on this, but PIC makes it pretty clear that Jean-Luc is paying Rios for use of La Sirena. And we know from DS9's "Dr. Bashir, I Presume?" and "Little Green Men" that there's an industry of ships that provide interstellar transportation to paying customers. So clearly there is capital out there to compensate shipowners. Assuming, of course, that those ship owners even want to be compensated. Why? Free societies aren't supposed to prevent that sort of thing, and there's no indication from PIC that the Federation's decision to abandon the rescue effort was accompanied by a ban on private travel to Romulan space if the Romulans were to grant access. And even if that were the case -- that's not an argument not to do it. Civil disobedience is a thing.
I'm not so sure the Klingons would want to help Romulans. Heck they were probably cheering things on. Worf is also likely back in Starfleet so he doesn't even have Gowron around anymore who he has worked with in the past. Plus the same issue of him being a civilian come up. Those connections were created while he was a Starfleet officer. Without the uniform any dealings with other governments would be tricky because if they help Picard then that means they might be betraying a alley or business partner in the Federation. Jason
That still doesn't mean he gives up. As Sci noted, civil disobedience is a thing (and something Picard is willing to do-Insurrection), and he has social capital as a diplomat and famed Starfleet officer. Picard doesn't have Gowron but he has Worf who has Martok. Picard was the Arbiter of Succession which would have pull with the Klingons for status alone. Again, do something with this ability that you have. Going home is not the answer.
Good point -- it might be very controversial in the Empire! But there again, there would almost certainly be Klingons out there who recognize that Romulans fought with honor against the Dominion. And there would almost certainly be Klingons who may hate the Romulans but still think doing nothing is passive genocide and a violation of Kahless's teachings. Ah, but Chancellor Martok is the head of Worf's House. That gives Worf influence with the Klingon government (even if Gowron is no longer around to owe Jean-Luc favors). And I have trouble imagining Worf not resigning in protest of the abandonment of the Romulans. Might be! But that's not a reason for Jean-Luc not to try. Exactly. Nobody would blame Jean-Luc if he tried and failed. They blame him for not even trying.
Maybe but your still hoping people will go against the government which can easily be seen as treason. Your also not just leading a march down some street but your putting civilians at risk by taking them into Romulan space and if they get killed then that is also something you have to consider as well. Jason
The needs of the many outweighs the need of the few, or the one. At least, according to Star Trek. Again, I would have preferred Picard at least supporting Spock!
Something else to think about -- how many worlds out there are looking at the Federation now, wondering if the UFP will let them go 'asplodey if they get a planetary disaster? How many worlds that might have aligned with the Federation are now thinking they should align with another power, or unite amongst themselves? How many potential rivals to the Federation might be willing to lend ships to a rescue armada under Jean-Luc's leadership out of both "humanitarian" (we need a better word for this concept in the multi-species world of ST) concerns and out of a desire to get a P.R. coup against the UFP? If, say, the Cardassian Union, Tholian Assembly, Tzenkethi Coalition, and Breen Confederacy decide to send a rescue armada to evacuate Romulus under Jean-Luc's command? That would definitely help those states' interests. They'd have a major incentive to help him. From a legal perspective? Pure nonsense. In real life today, people mobilize humanitarian assistance to nations like Iran all the time; it's not illegal, because it doesn't involve assisting the regime to wage war. From a P.R. perspective? Maybe! The FNN interviewer in "Remembrance" certainly reflected that kind of bigotry. But again, so what? That's not a reason not to try. This is true! And this is sometimes that would almost certainly bother Jean-Luc. But he still should do it. To make a comparison: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew that every time he went into a segregated city to confront the police with nonviolence, that that carried a risk that some of his supporters would be killed. His entire strategy, you must remember, was to use non-violent confrontation to provoke Jim Crow police forces into abusing him and his followers in the presence of a news media, whose reporting would then shock white Americans who would otherwise turn a blind eye to the whole thing into realizing that they couldn't stomach the violence and oppression when they actually saw it. He was a leader who marched people into dangerous situations and people did get killed. It was still the right thing to do.
I've kind of wondered if Picard was thinking Starfleet would come to him at some point and ask for help. People would be upset by the news and be won over by his resignation. If people felt Picard was forced out for taking a moral stand then they might get upset at the Federation and demand he be brought back and listened to. At some point that didn't happen. Time moved on and the rescue effort didn't happen at which point Picard went into bitter mode at his failure and self isolated for many years. Jason
Now, here is my thing. I completely understand that Picard would feel that way. I have no issue with how the show presented in the show. But, Picard is not right. He ignored the Romulans and hoped others would do it. Now, I am a huge champion of individual choices but there is an impact to others-consequences. And Picard certainly can be held responsible for inaction.
And thats why I don't like the way they portrayed JL in the series as Oh.. I didn't get my way, let me hole up in my vineyard for 15 years and do NOTHING.. JL in Tng wouldnt do that, He would do what Sci and others have stated that he didn't do, and having sheer F' hubris 15 years latter. He would have pushed starfleet, then the federation, than federaion news, federation opinion polls, etc. He wouldn't have given up on the romulan people in evacuation nor the people of Vashti.. The rest is.. well its a written show.. writers take liberties to tell stories.. As for a Human Centric federation? Well according to Enterprise, we were the driving force in forming the federation from speices that didn't really like each other when we first met them.. And, There has to be Some/A planet that is the center for the Federation? why not us?? As for Human ships.. well.. We see 1 ship out of over 7000? there are probably loads of multi species crews, even ships with just vulcans, just andorian, just Telerites.. etc. because we all have different tollerances to heat/cold etc. and while may able to serve on a human ship, they wouldn't be comfortable. But as a nother, the other speices just might not be motivated to join starfleet.. not like there's a draft? where humans are all Ra Ra Sign me up! its a volunteer service.