"Homeward", when the crew saved some Boraalans'.
How Messed Up is the Prime Directive?
- Thread starter Tallguy
- Start date
"Homeward", when the crew saved some Boraalans'.
This is the way:
I don't know. But looking back at some episodes, I take it back and maybe that is the best and fairest way to describe it. Old Trek to me sometimes came off as "Earthman is wise and will save the world from the savage inhuman aliens" and yeah I guess that is a relic of colonialism, just I also sometimes took it as Human Superiority on display
Forced by Nikolai, Worf's foster brother.
I think the superiority is better than the "Who cares if they all die? They should've evolved faster." mentality.
Picard would have let the asteroid hit Mirimanee's world, even if there was a lost crewman on it.
Which is great and TOS certainly showed some of what can happen when folks muddle about with another culture. The problem seems to be that TNG often turned it into "Live and let die. [Cue Wings]" This made Our Heroes often look like assholes.
FWIW, I do think there's a difference between "I know better, so I'm going to screw with your culture" and "I can help you when you're in trouble."
The other way looking at "Homeward" is that it's a commentary on how governments can rationalize inaction as the best choice of bad ones when it comes to policy when the other options only lead to complications and unintended consequences.
When the Rwandan Genocide occurred in the 1990s, most of the major powers just looked at each other and did the bare fucking minimum (if that) in the face of people being butchered by machetes. The alternative would have been a large, open-ended commitment that would have meant putting a larger peacekeeping force on the ground and giving them rules of engagement that would have been ugly and not exactly ensured a framework for a peaceful solution.
People see the Prime Directive as ugly when it comes to the Boralans situation, but if the Federation had directly intervened, Starfleet would have been committing to a long-term engagement wth the Boralans where they would be responsible for every action the Boralans took from that point forward. If in 500 years, the Boralans launched an attack against their neighbors, would Starfleet be obligated to inverne in an interstellar war?
When the Rwandan Genocide occurred in the 1990s, most of the major powers just looked at each other and did the bare fucking minimum (if that) in the face of people being butchered by machetes. The alternative would have been a large, open-ended commitment that would have meant putting a larger peacekeeping force on the ground and giving them rules of engagement that would have been ugly and not exactly ensured a framework for a peaceful solution.
People see the Prime Directive as ugly when it comes to the Boralans situation, but if the Federation had directly intervened, Starfleet would have been committing to a long-term engagement wth the Boralans where they would be responsible for every action the Boralans took from that point forward. If in 500 years, the Boralans launched an attack against their neighbors, would Starfleet be obligated to inverne in an interstellar war?
The "crew" didn't save anybody. Eddie Valentine did and the Cap'n was hella pissed. But since they couldn't throw them back into space... FINE. We'll DO something.
The only part of that where the Prime Directive applies is the part about "uncontacted tribes". The rest is just diplomacy.
I do seem to recall that the PD was invoked during the Klingon Civil War which seemed a misapplication at best. It implies that if their hands were not tied by "the Prime Directive" that they would have done something. What would they have done?
It also implies (since we have contact, trade, and negotiations with the Empire) that for some reason they are NOT having contact, trade, and negotiations with more primitive cultures (that are moments away from extinction every once in a while) under the same rule.
Yes, this.
Picard would have let the asteroid hit Mirimanee's world, even if there was a lost crewman on it.
Yep. Sucks to be him.
BTW, Homeward is what started this thread.
They are fated to die.
Which is nonsense.
Which is nonsense. How do they know they weren’t fated to be there, to save the people in question?
How is it nonsense to them? They don't think fate involves starships. Abiding by the principle that things must unfold as if they were not there.
Not sure if call it nonsense even if I disagree with it.
Of course not. They want to explore and exploit other race’s territories without responsibility to any of them.
It is actually kind of sickening.
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