Bajor and the Federation

[Damask]

Just thinking out loud really (or on paper). Was there a reason that the Federation couldn't help Bajor more? Provide more replicators, etc to aid the planet. I mean the monks had to rely on gambling in Quarks to get blankets!

Could the Federation not do it because Bajor wasn't a member? Or was it more that Bajor wanted to stand on it's own? It would be fine with trading or bartering (allowing Zek to hold meetings on the stations) but wouldn't want "hand-outs"?

 

[Sci]

Is there a reason the United States doesn't do more to help Haiti?

 

[Damask]

Is there a reason the United States doesn't do more to help Haiti?

I confess my knowledge of American politics is weak. Does America have some treaty with Haiti? Similar to the Federation and Bajor to the point that Bajor allowed them to administer their space station? I'm curious.

 

[Sci]

Is there a reason the United States doesn't do more to help Haiti?

I confess my knowledge of American politics is weak. Does America have some treaty with Haiti? Similar to the Federation and Bajor to the point that Bajor allowed them to administer their space station? I'm curious.

We have regular diplomatic relations with them, and I'm sure there are some treaties. But the larger issue I wanted to suggest was simply reluctance on the Federation's part to share resources -- same as the US's.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Bajor had been pillaged of much of its natural resources, its population centers were crushed or decayed, and the enitre civilization was surpressed and enslaved. The Federation helped the entire devastated PLANET (Not country-- PLANET) recover so fast that they were apparently self-sufficient within 4 1/2 years. (As per them meeting UFP membership requirements in "The Rapture".) That's incredibly fast. The Federation obviously did as much as they could to aid the Bajorans.

 

[Timo]

One might think that blankets wouldn't be in short supply, though, if the Federation distributed technology similar to the portable replicator we saw in TNG "The Survivors". One would think that such appliances would be relatively common and cheap domestic items, so that at least a few thousand could be donated to Bajor without flinching, even if industrial replicators were much more expensive.

Assuming, of course, that Quark wasn't simply bullshitting us about the nature of the bets placed on the Bashir/O'Brien game.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[AdmiralGarak]

The industrial replicators had plenty to do already. If Quark can supply some blankets so that their replication doesn't take valuable time and resources, than why not?

 

[Cicero]

Is it possible that the blankets were of a special type (sacred, antique, etc.)?

 

[Damask]

Is it possible that the blankets were of a special type (sacred, antique, etc.)?

Knowing Quark I bet they were . Hell maybe he hired people and made them dress up as monks. It just seemed odd that O'Brien didn't go
"What they need blankets? Hold on and I'll replicate a few thousand."

Besides the blankets there was also stuff like soil reclamation units. They had I think two or something and people were willing to fight for them.

It doesn't cost the Federation anything really (other than power consumption for the replicators). If I view it as Bajor wanting the Federation there for protection but wanting to stand on their own feet otherwise, it makes sense. However rewatching some of the older episodes it comes across as odd.

 

[Anthony Sabre]

I'm not even sure the Fed truly would want Bajor as a member. What's so attractive about a civilization that was just liberated after a 50 year occupation, stripped of much of its resources and suffering from political in fighting? The Fed's interest in Bajor was a tactical one. It was an opportunity to gain a foothold near Cardassian space and slow their expansion. The true benefit didn't come until the wormhole was discovered.

 

[Timo]

...Also, Bajor was something of a pet project for Picard. Quite possibly the Federation expands chiefly by allowing various luminaries to "adopt" planets and coordinate the relatively minor resources that are needed to lure new members into the fold. These members need not actually have anything to offer, as little or nothing is required to compensate for the minimal UFP effort. It can be just a hobby project.

Planets that require greater effort can still be processed at "back burner" pace, which is what Picard might have been hoping on. But he'd certainly also understand the strategic significance of Bajor, and make use of that when arguing with his superiors about the project.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Huntingdon]

It could also be that that particular sector was over-taxed with activity. They had just ceded and relocated several colonies to the Cardassians so a lot of the resources would presumably be going to set up replacement colonies for Federation citizens.

 

[Trekwatcher]

In the early episodes it comes across clearly that the citizens of Bajor do not universally want Federation help, and I suspect a compromise on Federation involvement had to be reached before a deal was secured.