This. Everything on screen indicates it was the depletion of resources which pushed Cardassia into becoming Space Nazis.
What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?
- Thread starter Amasov
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This. Everything on screen indicates it was the depletion of resources which pushed Cardassia into becoming Space Nazis.
And at least according to TOS, that was also the motivation for the Klingons to expand outward and conquer.
I greatly prefer that to the idea that the Klingons got warp drive from those "Hur'q" people and just went crazy.
Probably the line from Kor in "Errand of Mercy(TOS)" where he accuses Kirk and the Federation of strangling their trade routes and depleting their resources, which forced the Empire to be more aggressive.
Kang’s wife Mara also mentioned very poor planets within the borders of the empire in “Day of the Dove”.
Right. Ninja'd. Not necessarily depletion per se, as it could mean simply that there are not many resources to begin with in these systems, but there's a massive amount of wiggle room. For example, "poor" could mean insufficient resources for Klingon needs, the way they use them. And Mara implies aggressive use. The full line [transcript]:
MARA: We have always fought. We must. We are hunters, Captain, tracking and taking what we need. There are poor planets in the Klingon systems, we must push outward if we are to survive.
I thought it was a military takeover of the planet that pushed them into being Space Nazis, plus the Dukat coup with the Dominion
Is it me, or is the "DeActivation Switch" for Soong type Androids located at the small of the back a very easy to accidentally trigger location?
Like, seriously, just a random bump to that area can turn off your android.
I would've hid it in a much harder to find & reach area. (Straight up his bum).
Androids/Robots shouldn't need to excrement bio-waste technically like humans, so there is a very good hiding place to put a Androids "DeActivation Switch".
Like, seriously, just a random bump to that area can turn off your android.
I would've hid it in a much harder to find & reach area. (Straight up his bum).
Androids/Robots shouldn't need to excrement bio-waste technically like humans, so there is a very good hiding place to put a Androids "DeActivation Switch".
I don't think Soong really wanted to have to reach up his robo-son's behind every time he wanted to turn him off for maintenance.
Parents have to do a lot to take care of their children, especially when they're young.
Consider it a small price to pay to maintain his Robo-Son.
Having a butt button kind of cancels out the modesty subroutines. (ew)
Here's the thing about the whole "poor planets" and "depleted resources" argument for the Cardassians and Klingons (and any other aggressor species in the TrekVerse, for that matter). Back in the 23rd century I could see where that might have been the case, but 100 years later, pretty much all the spacefaring Alpha and Beta Quadrant races are ostensibly post-scarcity societies. They all have replicators, which can basically manufacture anything out of raw matter.
They can take that same tech and up-scale them to produce industrial-production replicators to build housing and provide food for literally everyone in their respective jurisdictions. There should be absolutely no reason why any organization would need to attack another for resource acquisition. This brings us back to a more socio-political motivation. More of a show of strength to their neighbors, warning everyone not to mess with them, lest they suffer the consequences of intrusion. The Dominion didn't attack everyone down south for resources. They attacked them because they HATED solids (social motivation) and they wanted to subjugate or kill them (political motivation). The Dominion, under the Founders, were extremely resource-rich, or they wouldn't have been able to build those massive fleets and battleships. Really, the only thing that brought them down were their own hubris over their member worlds, who rebelled against them, as well as Section 31's anti-Founder virus that Odo unwittingly introduced to the Great Link. If it weren't for those things, the Dominion likely would have wiped everyone out eventually.
I mean, the only thing that can't be reproduced by replicators (supposedly) is gold-pressed latinum. Gold can be replicated ("useless" gold, according to Quark) - but there is something specific within the molecular configuration of liquid latinum that prevents it from being easily made by replication tech, which is why it's still considered a viable currency in the 24th century.
I just don't buy the scarce resources angle for military aggression with these empires. Doesn't track with the technology that everyone is known to have, specifically designed to mitigate scarcity.
They can take that same tech and up-scale them to produce industrial-production replicators to build housing and provide food for literally everyone in their respective jurisdictions. There should be absolutely no reason why any organization would need to attack another for resource acquisition. This brings us back to a more socio-political motivation. More of a show of strength to their neighbors, warning everyone not to mess with them, lest they suffer the consequences of intrusion. The Dominion didn't attack everyone down south for resources. They attacked them because they HATED solids (social motivation) and they wanted to subjugate or kill them (political motivation). The Dominion, under the Founders, were extremely resource-rich, or they wouldn't have been able to build those massive fleets and battleships. Really, the only thing that brought them down were their own hubris over their member worlds, who rebelled against them, as well as Section 31's anti-Founder virus that Odo unwittingly introduced to the Great Link. If it weren't for those things, the Dominion likely would have wiped everyone out eventually.
I mean, the only thing that can't be reproduced by replicators (supposedly) is gold-pressed latinum. Gold can be replicated ("useless" gold, according to Quark) - but there is something specific within the molecular configuration of liquid latinum that prevents it from being easily made by replication tech, which is why it's still considered a viable currency in the 24th century.
I just don't buy the scarce resources angle for military aggression with these empires. Doesn't track with the technology that everyone is known to have, specifically designed to mitigate scarcity.
It's possible the replicators of the Klingons and Cardassians just aren't quite as good or as efficient as Federation ones.
Plus, since raw materials are needed anyway, that could be what is in lower quantity for them than the Federation. Federation space is vast (even Weyoun noted it was so vast that holding onto it would be a difficult task in itself).
Plus, since raw materials are needed anyway, that could be what is in lower quantity for them than the Federation. Federation space is vast (even Weyoun noted it was so vast that holding onto it would be a difficult task in itself).
Well, see that's the thing - replicators supposedly can take any matter, break it down and recombine it. It doesn't need to be something special like deuterium. So they could literally just supply their replicators with chunks of planet to make whatever they wanted. Further, wouldn't it make sense, as a gesture of good will to their neighbors, for the Federation to provide more advanced replicator tech? Would that not go a long way to preventing others from using the scarcity angle as motivation for aggression? Seems a great opportunity to stabilize relations between empires.
As evidenced by Kirk's apartment with the amazing view and Chateau Picard: replicators don't make land. ("Stocks may rise and fall, utilities may collapse, people are no damn good, but they will always need land and they will pay through the nose to get it.")
What is the technological (forget cultural) gizmo that makes a society "post scarcity"? Is it just the replicator? What feeds into it? What powers it?
What is the technological (forget cultural) gizmo that makes a society "post scarcity"? Is it just the replicator? What feeds into it? What powers it?
Now that I think about it, that is a very valid point and a flaw in the writing of the show. I think that after the war's end, the Cardassians would have ended up joining the Federation.
Also one of my controversial opinions is that the Federation appears so human dominated. I get it in the Original Series when they didn't have the budget for costumes, but, I think the Federation should have appeared to be a lot less human-oriented and just have humans as another race part of it. They are a founding Member, yes, but I think that Tellarites should have had the same amount of focus in the Federation as humans.
Not seeing that on TV.
Well. That was a pleasant and illuminating read.
It's definitely an issue, albeit an understandable outgrowth of budget limitations. Personally, I've always liked to think that most of those human looking extras in the background aren't actually human.
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