I have to admit I am outright surprised and dismayed at the degree of cynicism and contempt towards the Federation voiced by many of the postings in this thread. Seriously, comparing the Federation to the Borg, are you out of your minds?
The Federation is the most liberal, tolerant and free society that humanity has ever had a part in. In no way does the Federation endeavour to subjugate or even incorporate all other sentient races or any race for that matter. Only the races that explicitly wish to join are considered. Those that wish to be left alone are protected by the PRIME DIRECTIVE. Surely you guys have heard of this law?
Those that do want to join have to meet certain criteria, such as democracy, civil liberties global peace etc. This is necessary for forming common grounds to enable a federal government to function on the basis of equity and equality and is hardly evidence of cultural imperialism.
Exceptions to this only prove the rule. Some people have brought up the Ba’ku incident. If you paid any attention to Insurrection then it should have been clear that this was more of a rouge operation than anything else and once all the facts where revealed to the Federation Council it was stopped immediately. Also the existence of Section 31 does not prove that the Federation is malevolent. This is clearly not an official organisation, but a bunch of criminals who believe to be above the laws of the Federation.
The Federation endeavours to be the most ethical, humane and decent government it can be, a fact that is clearly enshrined in its institutions such as Starfleet and the Council. To suggest some sinister, covert-hegemonial counter-agendum simply does not fit the facts. It rather sounds like one of those crazy conspiracy theories by people who believe that power is always abused, regardless of the laws and institutions that it is based on.
Some of the more thoughtful criticisms here have accused the Federation of being elitist and classist. To this I can say that when taken from today’s perspective that might be true.
However, the Federation is the closest thing to a classless, yet free society as you will ever get. Everyone has a high degree of education. A very large amount of the population goes to university or receives training of an equivalent level. In addition, there is no stratification through wealth. Therefore, there is no underclass or working class or upper class for that matter (if you exclude cultural singularities like joined Trills).
There will be a large group of people who probably don’t work or work in areas that do not directly advance society like science, medicine or being in Starfleet. But these people do so because they chose to, like Sisko’s dad. At no point do we see that they are treated with disregard. If anything Sisko’s father seemed to be a highly respected member of the community.
In all honesty there is nothing insidious or corrupt about the Federation. That’s the whole point about it. Does this mean it is capable of pleasing everyone? The answer is, of course not. Life doesn’t work that way. Just because you are decent and honest and want the best for everyone doesn’t mean you can put everything to right.
This, however, is no moral justification for people like the Marquis. Sure, it was a less than optimal situation and clearly the Federation wasn’t happy with it. However, peace is seldom free. The fact that the Federation was willing to make sacrifices for this shows their good intent.
The colonists were given every chance of moving to safety and every warning of what would happen if they didn’t. Furthermore, the Federation was willing to assist them in any way possible to build a new life on different planets. They refused and then formed a terrorist group when things didn’t turn out the way they wanted. These people are murders and traitors. The response they eventually received from the Federation is hardly a sign of totalitarianism.
