Why did the crew walk away at the end of The Hunted?

[T'Girl]

More like, what if the army decided that only veterans could run things and that democracy was a sham, like in Starship Troopers?

In Starship Troopers (the novel) you had to of engaged in some form of public service in order to gain the ability to vote and hold public office.

Military service was only one of the ways to gain "the franchise." According to Heinlein about 2% of the people who gain the franchise did so through military service.

But there were lot's of other ways.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

In Starship Troopers (the novel) you had to of engaged in some form of public service in order to gain the ability to vote and hold public office.

But the novel showed that this came about because the veterans of the world conflicts took control of society after it had broken down and imposed this edict of public service (Federal Service) having to be done in order to get said franchise.

 

[RunawayStarShip]

Following this logic, being invaded by Cardassians or Klingons must also be part of their natural develoment.

Which is why the Federation did not interfere with the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, even though the Cardassians were essentially doing something along the lines of slavery/holocaust to the Bajorans.

The Feds didn't do anything over Bajor because Bajor was formally annexed by Cardassia. As in, the Bajoran Government at the time signed over their world to the Cardassians in a perfectly legal and acknowledged manner. Of course, it was probably a disruptor-to-the-head negotiation, but there's no real proof.

So even if what happened was brutal, the way it all came about was legal. The Feds couldn't just intervene all willy-nilly.

I think that the simpler answer is that the Federation still adheres to realpolitik. It's not going to send Starfleet to right every wrong. If it did, it would be at war with everyone. As long as the Federation strives to behave in the most just way that it can, that's probably enough for its citizens and government.

I've always thought that it's called the Prime Directive/General Order One because Starfleet wants all of its officers to consider the consequences of their actions and to always err on the side of caution. In reality, it's really more the "Prime Suggestion", since there seems to be no actual consequence to breaking the Prime Directive as long as there is a good explanation. According to "The Drumhead", Picard has broken the Prime Directive nine times in his first four years as captain of the Enterprise-D. He remains the captain of the Federation flagship for another four years, and proceeds to command the Enterprise-E.

As for why Picard always seems adamant (at least on the surface) about following the letter (rather than the spirit) of the Prime Directive, it is possible that he is worried about a possible court martial after Louvois' relentlessness in the Stargazer court martial. (Or it's just an act to emphasize the importance of the PD to more junior officers... he does usually go along with it in the end...)

 

[T'Girl]

But the novel showed that this came about because the veterans of the world conflicts took control of society after it had broken down and imposed this edict of public service (Federal Service) having to be done in order to get said franchise.

Which isn't the same as "only veterans could run things and that democracy was a sham," While veterans did precipitate a societal change, there was no indication that they seized control, or that democracy stopped. Anyone could obtain the franchise, the novel made clear that if you truly couldn't do anything, society would create some half-assed job for you in order for you to have engaged in public service.

 

[The Transformed Man]

God I hated this episode. So overly simplistic i its morality while beating the audience over the head with a hammer.

Hey kids here's our "Post-Vietnam soldier with PTSD" episode. Let's sum it up:

Government... bad... soldiers... brainwashed. Soldiers... dangerous... need help... but do bad things... We walk away.

Just awful; some of the most simplistic, ham-fisted writing in all of Trek. So to believe the writers, basically every soldier who served in Vietnam is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, but the government has largely ignored them and has treated them like outcasts.

Funny, I served in the Army for 8 years... quite a few of the people I served with were combat veterans and we some of the nicest, most well adjusted, honorable people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. My next door neighbor is also a veteran, and again is probably one of the most decent people I know. He's actively involved in his church and works tirelessly to help homeless vets.

Now there's an issue I'd like to see Trek handle...

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The occupation of Bajor was only 'legal' because the guys with the bigger guns said it was legal. You know, like real life occupations. If there was at some point a paper signed signing Bajor over to Cardassia, the official who signed the document did not own the lives of Bajorans, and did not have the right to hand them all over to the Cardassians.

The Federation didn't intervene with Bajor because it wouldn't have been in their own political best interests. It had nothing to do with legality or any kind of higher moral concept. Political convenience, pure and simple.

 

[Anwar]

The occupation of Bajor was only 'legal' because the guys with the bigger guns said it was legal. You know, like real life occupations. If there was at some point a paper signed signing Bajor over to Cardassia, the official who signed the document did not own the lives of Bajorans, and did not have the right to hand them all over to the Cardassians.

If he/she was an elected official chosen by the people to do so, he/she did have the legal authority to do so.

The Federation didn't intervene with Bajor because it wouldn't have been in their own political best interests. It had nothing to do with legality or any kind of higher moral concept. Political convenience, pure and simple.

And the Feds can't go around disregarding Intergalactic Laws accepted by their equals just when they feel like it. It'd disrupt Agreements made to preserve Order and their (equally powerful neighbors) suspicious as to why they should tolerate the Feds.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

If there was at some point a paper signed signing Bajor over to Cardassia, the official who signed the document did not own the lives of Bajorans, and did not have the right to hand them all over to the Cardassians.

If he/she was an elected official chosen by the people to do so, he/she did have the legal authority to do so.

But any document signed under duress, which this surely would have been, is by definition invalid.

 

[Anwar]

That's the thing, there was no proof of it being signed under duress except by Bajoran rebels (who are...you know...rebels). Sure, it'd be kind of accepted in hindsight, but you still need proof before violating intergalactic laws.

 

[The Old Mixer]

By the time we met the Cardassians or the Bajorans, the Federation wasn't at war with Cardassia anymore, they were trying to keep an uneasy truce.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The occupation of Bajor was only 'legal' because the guys with the bigger guns said it was legal. You know, like real life occupations. If there was at some point a paper signed signing Bajor over to Cardassia, the official who signed the document did not own the lives of Bajorans, and did not have the right to hand them all over to the Cardassians.

If he/she was an elected official chosen by the people to do so, he/she did have the legal authority to do so.

The Federation didn't intervene with Bajor because it wouldn't have been in their own political best interests. It had nothing to do with legality or any kind of higher moral concept. Political convenience, pure and simple.

And the Feds can't go around disregarding Intergalactic Laws accepted by their equals just when they feel like it. It'd disrupt Agreements made to preserve Order and their (equally powerful neighbors) suspicious as to why they should tolerate the Feds.

What you describe is tyranny of the majority. Again, law by means of superior force. An elected official is the employee of the electorate, not the master of the electorate. Bajoran officials have no more right to sign their own people into slavery as Barack Obama has to sell you as a slave to another country.

The natural rights of all people to life, liberty and property take precedence over any pen mark on paper. No form of slavery is ever legal in the truest sense. It just so happened that liberating Bajor would have caused a war to start.

 

[Anwar]

What you describe is tyranny of the majority. Again, law by means of superior force. An elected official is the employee of the electorate, not the master of the electorate. Bajoran officials have no more right to sign their own people into slavery as Barack Obama has to sell you as a slave to another country.

Which is why there were Bajoran Rebels who took up arms against the Occupation. Their Chosen leaders signed over the World they had legal authority over (forced, but without proof it's still totally legal) and once the sign-over was legalized the Cardassians were in charge so if the people demanded the Annexation be repealed, the Bajoran Government was no longer in a position to do so and the Cardies used their new legal authority to silence opposition by force of arms.

The natural rights of all people to life, liberty and property take precedence over any pen mark on paper. No form of slavery is ever legal in the truest sense. It just so happened that liberating Bajor would have caused a war to start.

"In the Truest sense" was ignored in favor of the Cardassians' legal rights to the planet. Which they enforced through brutality and military force.

You ARE right in that this wasn't right "In the Truest Sense" but legalities and brute force get in the way of that.