Fighting for your home: joining the Maquis?

[Farscape One]

I think there's one thing that everyone is forgetting when it comes to the motivations of the Maquis.

Pride.

Those colonies were built by those people. With their own blood and sweat. There is a sense of accomplishment and pride when doing something like that.

Think of it like this. What would you be more proud of: a toy you buy for your kid that was already built, or a toy you built yourself? Your kid loves them both, but which one do you feel more proud about?

There's a lot to be said about actually making something yourself from the ground up. Not everyone wants things just handed to them. Some people like to earn their stuff.

Would you be fine with the government telling you that your home, that you built yourself, was going to a stranger from a different country, and were told you had to move somewhere else but had no idea where? Would you really trust them to actually keep their word that you would get a new home? I sure as hell wouldn't trust that.


To answer the title question: I would join the Maquis. But would I have continued after they started going past defense and going on the offensive? No.

I was completely on their side... until they started attacking outside their systems. It's one thing to defend your homes, but it's quite another to go outside your colonies and systems to attack other worlds and ships that are not even part of the fight. They stole industrial replicators from the Federation. They attacked multiple Cardassian freighters. They attacked and disabled TWO Starfleet starships, with no idea on how many officers were injured and killed. They poisoned a Cardassian world, making it uninhabitable by them for decades.

THAT is where the Maquis lost me. They went from defending their homes to a terrorist organization.

 

[kkt]

Nobody mentioned that some of the settlers had a *religious* attachment to what they saw as their holy land or whatever. That makes it much harder to leave.

Personally? I wouldn’t turn to violence for sure, especially not so stupidly, but I understand some of the motovations.

Israel/Palestine cough cough

Yes. Possibly uppermost in the DS9 writers' minds was the Sinai which was Egyptian territory, occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel built many settlements there, aiming at solidifying it as Israeli territory permanently, and making peace between Israel and the Arab countries much more difficult. As part of a peace settlement between Israel and Egypt negotiated in 1979 with the mediation of U.S. President Carter, Israel and Egypt agreed to a peace including removal of the Israeli settlements in stages over three years. It was done, although many of the settlers were very unhappy about being relocated. Egypt and Israel have not fought a war since.

 

[DonIago]

Would you be fine with the government telling you that your home, that you built yourself, was going to a stranger from a different country, and were told you had to move somewhere else but had no idea where? Would you really trust them to actually keep their word that you would get a new home? I sure as hell wouldn't trust that.

I don't think there's any evidence that the Federation was less than entirely-honest about relocating anyone who wished to be relocated from the colonies that were going to be given to the Cardassians.

If anything, problems seem to typically arise when people move outward and establish colonies and then don't receive great support from Starfleet/the Federation.

 

[jackoverfull]

I’m sure the federation was entirely honest and fully satisfied the ones that took the offer up. Still, it’s easy to mistrust the government, especially when it is already doing something you don’t like.

 

[DonIago]

Better to trust the Cardassian government?

Seriously, there doesn't seem to have been much of a thought process on the part of the colonists beyond "Nobody's taking my home from me!!!"

Including much thought for the people who might have been injured or killed if their actions had led to a full-out war.

If someone told me, "We're selling your land to North Korea. You can either relocate anywhere you want within the US free of charge, or accept that you'll become a citizen of North Korea," I know which option I'd choose, and if fighting for my land with the understanding that it might cause the US and North Korea to go to war if it became a major problem, and might get me killed regardless, then I also know which option I'd choose.

But I'm an agnostic and I try to avoid having too much attachment to property that I can't take with me, so perhaps I merely don't understand what it's like to have the kinds of ties these people apparently had.

 

[jackoverfull]

Better to trust the Cardassian government?

I don’t see the Maquis trusting the Cardies at all.

Seriously, there doesn't seem to have been much of a thought process on the part of the colonists beyond "Nobody's taking my home from me!!!"

sounds exactly like many popular-born real-life movements!

 

[Ragitsu]

The Marquis of Queensbury ?

 

[fireproof78]

Seriously, there doesn't seem to have been much of a thought process on the part of the colonists beyond "Nobody's taking my home from me!!!"

Welcome to humans.

 

[DonIago]

Uck, humans are the worst.

Doesn't really explain Vulcan Maquis though!

 

[Unicron]

But I really don't understand why. Why fight for "land" in a society and setting where land, including breathtakingly beautiful land with the mildest climate(especially considering weather control systems) and oceanview, is so readily available? Would you really join a ragtag band of guérilla fighters and fight the Cardassians for land with the knowledge that you just could to go to the Federation and ask them for some new land? Knowing what the Cardassianz do to rebellious populations?

Because it's not a given that the Federation has plenty of "nice" land (planets or parts of planets) that's freely available to anyone, much less the resources (like transportation and raw materials) available to simply move large groups of people on a whim. Many colonists likely don't have access to their own private ships, and Starfleet would need to divert a number of vessels for any such relocation. And after you leave, imagine spending weeks or even months aboard a ship before you actually get a chance to settle in another "nice" spot. How long will you be able to build this time before the next conflict hands that place over to the next enemy? Clearly the planets that were swapped have some measure of strategic value, to both sides, or there wouldn't be much of a controversy with who retains control. They're not just average, unimportant planets.

It's kind of like living the first half of your life in Maine, where several generations of your family settled, and waking up one day to learn that the Canadian government is going to annex the entire state (along with other bordering states like Washington and Minnesota). Because relations along the border with the U.S. have, in this case, been poor for decades and the American government has decided to smooth things over a bit by giving away territory the Canadians really want. A rather silly example, I know. But under the system of U.S. government, as defined in our constitution, only the central (federal) government can make treaties or negotiations with a foreign power with regards to such territorial changes. The state government wouldn't get much of a say, although they'd likely protest. Congress could, theoretically, overrule any objections if the treaty were approved by a majority of other states and if the other branches of government agree with the outcome.

It's also not a given that the Cardassians actually care about fulfilling their promises, even if we agree to their laws, because in their minds we're still "the enemy." They promised us that if both sides agreed to live in peace, and stay out of each other's hair, we can farm and grow crops. But last week the Cardassians burned a couple of fields to nothing with phasers, because they claimed that "someone" forgot to donate their fair share to the local government. Two weeks ago, they confiscated half the medical supplies because the high-end Federation equipment we kept is now "contraband" under a rule that no one mentioned before. Now we have people who are sick and not able to work, much less find any degree of normalcy, and the Cardassians are saying we don't work hard enough. That we're always stirring up trouble.

If I'm watching my friends and family being attacked and killed by our new foreign government, if our medical and food supplies are being raided, if this government is even killing its own citizens who would work with us for legitimate peace, what alternative do I have if I want to survive? Running away doesn't seem like a sensible option, because they'll just shoot me in the back.

I was completely on their side... until they started attacking outside their systems. It's one thing to defend your homes, but it's quite another to go outside your colonies and systems to attack other worlds and ships that are not even part of the fight. They stole industrial replicators from the Federation. They attacked multiple Cardassian freighters. They attacked and disabled TWO Starfleet starships, with no idea on how many officers were injured and killed. They poisoned a Cardassian world, making it uninhabitable by them for decades.

THAT is where the Maquis lost me. They went from defending their homes to a terrorist organization.

I generally agree with you in regards to direct terrorism. Though I do think to some degree the lines would seem blurry, as the Cardassians viewed all Bajoran resistance as being terrorism even though many Bajorans didn't directly engage in terrorist behavior. Only military or civil resistance. "Preemptive Strike" made it clear that different Maquis cells operate differently, and that the more conservative ones like Ro's were reluctant to commit large resources unless they were sure they could accomplish their goal. They didn't want a full scale war with the Cardassian military or Starfleet, they wanted raids of opportunity.

I was rewatching "The Maquis" today, and the second half makes it pretty clear that the Cardassian government is conducting genuine violations of the peace, even if not everyone (such as Gul Dukat) is fully aware of it. The Central Command was smuggling weapons directly to many of their colonies (via third parties) while encouraging the Cardassian administration to make things as harsh as possible for non-Cardassian settlers. Because they knew that the formation of groups like the Maquis would provide them with an excuse to take "direct" action and pin the blame on their enemies. They were also hoping the Maquis would kill Dukat for them, since he had commanded DS9 and was being scapegoated for the loss of Bajor. Obviously, any evidence of "smuggling" would have been the fault of Dukat and other "wayward" elements.

 

[Farscape One]

I actually don't view the Bajorans fighting the Occupation as terrorists. The Cardassians invaded their world, pillaged it, forced millions of Bajorans into slave labor, and millions more. The Cardassians call that terrorism. I call it defending your people from an invader.

And yes, Kira acknowledges that she was a terrorist. While I agree that some of the tactics used against the Cardassians she can rightfully call herself and those like her terrorists, I don't view them as terrorists.

That statement might seem confusing, but it sounded clearer in my head than on a keyboard.

 

[kkt]

Uck, humans are the worst.

Doesn't really explain Vulcan Maquis though!

Yes. That was just Not Logical. I wonder if Sakonna would have been considered insane on Vulcan.

 

[Ragitsu]

I - for one - welcome our new unusually pushy yet still undeniably polite Canadian neighbors.

 

[fireproof78]

Uck, humans are the worst.

Doesn't really explain Vulcan Maquis though!

Well, as @Unicron notes the Cardassians are being unreasonable with former Federation colonists. That's not logical.

 

[kkt]

Well, as @Unicron notes the Cardassians are being unreasonable with former Federation colonists. That's not logical.

It's not moral, but it's a logical way to pressure former Federation colonists to accept relocation.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

A list of the assorted reasons characters joined the Maqui.

Cal Hudson: Genuinely wanted to take the fight to the Cardassians after seeing the abuse and suffering of the people on the DMZ.

Michael Eddington: Wanted to live an agrarian life and eat the food he grew (real corn don't cha know) and cosplay as a freedom fighter.

Chakotay: His father was killed by the Cardassians on the DMZ. Chakotay quit Starfleet to be a freedom fighter as well.

Tom Paris: Nic Lacarno 2.0. Kicked out of Starfleet and joined for a lark.

B'Elanna Torres: Starfleet dropout. Blamed her Klingon temper, when she was really just young and angry in general. Rebel without a cause. Joined after meeting Chakotay.

Ro Laren: Formed a bond with the Bajoran members and wanted a shot at revenge against the Cardassians for the occupation.

Thomas Riker: Trying to distinguish himself from being Will Riker. Steals the USS Defiant but quickly discovers the line between terrorist and freedom fighter is razor thin.


Looking at the maps of the TNG/DS9 era of the galaxy, the sliver of space that was the DMZ on the border with Cardassian space.

The conclusion I come to is that most of the Maqui were more interested in joining "a cause" and looking to start a war with a hostile power in the quadrant. I believe the ex-Starfleet and ex-patriots of the Federation were under the impression that if they raised enough hell; Starfleet would be forced to come in and restart the war with Cardassia. A way to redraw the maps settle the border dispute.


The things the Maqui wanted to do, they literally could've done anywhere. You want to live on an M-Class planet and not be attacked by a hostile enemy? Pick a planet or habitable moon and do that. You want to grow your own food and live the simple life? I'm sure there are terraforming machines or natural planets that could accommodate that. You want to shake your fist and rattle the saber at the Cardassians for the occupation? Plenty of terrorist cells still on Bajor. You could have joined their lost cause there and died all the same.

I get the filling that Piller and Taylor wanted the Maqui to be a BIG deal. A lot of Piller's later stories on TNG, early DS9 and VOY and later Insurrection would involve would use the trope of evil men coming to displace an agrarian, native people. There's just nothing there to make the wider Federation care about this.

The people like Chakotay's father and the people in TNG Journey's End, all agreed to renounce their Fed citizenship and live under Cardassian rule. It shouldn't color anyone surprised that the gestapo stand-in aliens turned out to be real bastards to live under. But, that is what the ex-patriots volunteered themselves for.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Because it's not a given that the Federation has plenty of "nice" land (planets or parts of planets) that's freely available to anyone

Why is it not a given?

This is the future. Federation territory (and technology) is vast. There's got to be thousands of worlds available to colonize. (Doesn't even have to be an uninhabited world, either. Nothing preventing the people in the DMZ from moving to an actual Federation member world, like Earth, Andor, Tellar, etc.) And as I said, those colonists' homes can be re-created, in precise detail, on any of those worlds.

Home is where you lay your hat. Nothing more.

 

[fireproof78]

Home is where you lay your hat. Nothing more.

This is not the case for all people. Even Chakotay was inconsistent on the matter.

 

[Ragitsu]

I get the feeling that Piller and Taylor wanted the Maqui to be a BIG deal.

Perhaps Star Trek writers realized the weakness of the Maquis conflict as early as Season 1 of Voyager: the tension between Starfleet personnel and the Maquis members was pretty much over by that Season's conclusion.

 

[kkt]

Perhaps Star Trek writers realized the weakness of the Maquis conflict as early as Season 1 of Voyager: the tension between Starfleet personnel and the Maquis members was pretty much over by that Season's conclusion.

I thought it was an interesting story idea which Voyager unfortunately decided not to pursue.