Why does a organization that supposedly has no money need a "Secretary of Commerce?"
Does Picard hate us?
- Thread starter Prax
- Start date
Just because the Federation doesn't use physical money, that's not a logical reason to assume the Federation doesn't have an economy. Any group of people larger than a band (anthropologically speaking) has to have some kind of economy, even if it's just bartering.
We saw numerous examples in TNG of Federation citizens interacting with non-Federation citizens for the purpose of commercial transactions, whether it's with the Ferengi or that friggin' bolt of cloth Beverly charged to her account on the Enterprise in "Encounter at Farpoint."
So there's nothing wrong with Offenhouse holding that job or title.
What is wrong is the incredible hypocrisy of Picard, et. al in denying that the Federation uses money. Of course they use money. They just don't use hard, physical currency.
Unless, of course, they're gambling at Quark's, on Deep Space Nine. I wonder where Jadzia kept her stash of gold-pressed latinum - under her pillow, under the mattress, in her boot, or somewhere else?
We saw numerous examples in TNG of Federation citizens interacting with non-Federation citizens for the purpose of commercial transactions, whether it's with the Ferengi or that friggin' bolt of cloth Beverly charged to her account on the Enterprise in "Encounter at Farpoint."
So there's nothing wrong with Offenhouse holding that job or title.
What is wrong is the incredible hypocrisy of Picard, et. al in denying that the Federation uses money. Of course they use money. They just don't use hard, physical currency.
Unless, of course, they're gambling at Quark's, on Deep Space Nine. I wonder where Jadzia kept her stash of gold-pressed latinum - under her pillow, under the mattress, in her boot, or somewhere else?
It might be disdain on Picard's part, he might see them as unpredictable techno-savages, in fact that is very likely given his description of 20th century military uniforms, but it is also his strict sense of Prime Directive driven non-interference. He sees the 21st century humans as not part of his world, and definitively pre-warp as long as they come from the first half of the 21st century.
Given how he has treated other pre-warp societies, he is in conflict with his innate morals and chosen ethics. As a compassionate person he wants an excuse to help the pre-warp societies, as shown by how he jumps on any excuse to interfere and does his absolute best to render help. Without an excuse he forces himself to follow the strictest interpretation of the Prime Directive, meaning the non-warp societies are allowed to suffer tragedies if not extinction. I cannot recall exactly how "The Neutral Zone" goes, but I guess it was enough of a grey zone with the people being human that he might have made a personal misstep in his unyielding interpretation. He has done that several times before.
As for Worf being there, Picard believes in the truth and putting everything out there once the curtain is drawn. Worf is supposed to be able to protect himself and others, and as far as weird things go, Worf is the least weird thing in the universe. We've seen Picard do the whole rip the band-aid off routine with him letting himself be shot by an arrow to prove his mortality to the proto-Vulcans.
That's how I see it anyway.
Given how he has treated other pre-warp societies, he is in conflict with his innate morals and chosen ethics. As a compassionate person he wants an excuse to help the pre-warp societies, as shown by how he jumps on any excuse to interfere and does his absolute best to render help. Without an excuse he forces himself to follow the strictest interpretation of the Prime Directive, meaning the non-warp societies are allowed to suffer tragedies if not extinction. I cannot recall exactly how "The Neutral Zone" goes, but I guess it was enough of a grey zone with the people being human that he might have made a personal misstep in his unyielding interpretation. He has done that several times before.
As for Worf being there, Picard believes in the truth and putting everything out there once the curtain is drawn. Worf is supposed to be able to protect himself and others, and as far as weird things go, Worf is the least weird thing in the universe. We've seen Picard do the whole rip the band-aid off routine with him letting himself be shot by an arrow to prove his mortality to the proto-Vulcans.
That's how I see it anyway.
Probably not "hate" so much. I think it's more that he feels embarrassed by primitive human behaviour (violence, hatred, etc.) and wants to distance himself from a past society that was very capable of committing horrendous acts towards each other and other species. It's something I think the writers did well, actually. They make no apologies for the actions of humans today or in the past. They provide no justification for our society or the problems plaguing it. The ways humans act in TNG is something for us to strive for, that we should seek to leave behind our primitive aspects.
I think it's obvious that Picard has great fascination for parts of the past, take Shakespeare, music, and literature- but he also have obvious disdain for our faults.
I think it's obvious that Picard has great fascination for parts of the past, take Shakespeare, music, and literature- but he also have obvious disdain for our faults.
He doesn't want to face the man inside who, at his core, is as capable of committing such acts as anyone in the past, with the right motive or inhibitions removed. I imagine that was part of his horror at being a Borg - he did, (albeit under control from a hive mind) ordered, and allowed things he never would have. He fears it and wonders if it will emerge from where it lurks below the surface.
We don't have to look very far into the past to see things that are hideous. The second world war wasn't that long ago and what happened in Germany and countries nearby was exactly that, hideous. When someone from hundreds of years from now looks at us, what might that person think.
And who knows what kind of stupidity humanity is capable of between right now and TNG.
And who knows what kind of stupidity humanity is capable of between right now and TNG.
Yes.
But to be fair, look what’s going on in the world.
Don’t you hate all the slave owners?
But to be fair, look what’s going on in the world.
Don’t you hate all the slave owners?
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