I'm not so generous. I think it's the other way around. The only way Picard (and company) don't come across as monsters is if the Boraalans live and when asked Picard says "Hey, nobody WANTS this."
Heh, does he really say "OUR plan"?
How Messed Up is the Prime Directive?
- Thread starter Tallguy
- Start date
Heh, does he really say "OUR plan"?
Yup:
CRUSHER: Are you saying you're sorry we saved the Boraalans?
PICARD: No, of course not. Our plan for them worked out well. But I wish that Vorin could have bridged the gap between our two cultures. I would have liked the chance to have known him better.
It's crazy to me that Picard is so against this plan, and he berates Nikolai for doing so, then says "I wish I could have gotten to know him better." Dude, you can't do that if he, and his whole people, had gone extinct as was the initial reaction. Got to love how we swing from "Let them die" to "Boy, it's so sad he died."
They cite the Prime Directive when declining to take sides in the Klingon Civil War. "Dear Doctor" is pre-Prime Directive but ends with Archer declining to help.
Who ever makes the first move has responsibility. If they ask, it's their decision to accept whatever changes it makes to their society, good or ill. The Federation will still try their best to limit their impact regardless.
[QUOTE="fireproof78, post: 14720458, member: 61243". Got to love how we swing from "Let them die" to "Boy, it's so sad he died."[/QUOTE]
Yes, that's why I have the impression that the element of Picard feeling they could not help the Booralans was only inserted at a late time during script writing and then nobody took the time to 'homogenize' the script properly to make it one coherent story again.
Yes, that's why I have the impression that the element of Picard feeling they could not help the Booralans was only inserted at a late time during script writing and then nobody took the time to 'homogenize' the script properly to make it one coherent story again.
Why would that be PD rather than just politics? As we've seen in nearly 60 years of Star Trek: Klingons can be interfered with.
Also (I don't remember the details) they DID interfere, didn't they? Doesn't Picard cash in a favor from Gowron later in the season?
That would follow the pattern anyway. "We CAN'T interfere! But oh, wait, we're the good guys. It must be done!"
"The Apple" is a far better example.
Though it is a child, we have no idea what bearing that would have for both the planet (do they want children speaking for all of them?) and the captain sitting on the hot seat of whether to intervene or not.
According to Voyager, the Prime Directive has 47 subsections and we have no idea what is in them.
I remember Picard's general demeanor throughout the entire thing was being annoyed.
Picard's reaction to Worf's brother was akin to someone who rolls their eyes because the person is making a bad situation worse. And once Nikolai forces the situation and puts them in the position of having to do something my take is that Picard goes along with making the best of a situation he didn't agree with from the start.
I mean once Vorin is out of the Holodeck, what else can you do but hope you can "bridge the gap" and make a connection with some poor soul that doesn't understand what's happening and in the end felt he had no choice but to kill himself?
The two lines before those cited are important.
CRUSHER: He would have died even if we hadn't interfered.
PICARD: But he wouldn't have died alone and afraid.
PICARD: But he wouldn't have died alone and afraid.
I know it's the Kelvin Universe, but isn't that exactly what happens in Star Trek Beyond?
Some alien comes from the other side of an anomaly, begs for help, and Starfleet sends the Enterprise in to help. It's a trap, but if it wasn't Starfleet was ready to assist.
They do, but did the Federation really not take sides?
I mean they don't actively fight for a certain side, but Picard does coordinate with Gowron to launch the decisive attack in the Civil War in order to expose the Romulan involvement with the Duras faction.
Using Federation starships to guard the Klingon-Romulan border. Someone may be able to semantic it away, but that is one huge bit of interference.
The working with the Prime Directive is all about using semantics to your advantage. The blockade only affects the movements of the Romulans. I'm shocked! Shocked to find it has an impact on the Kilingon Civil war!
Your winnings, sir.
Picard does in fact do so in order to round up the necessary ships.
As noted, the intention was to prevent other parties from interfering in internal Klingon affairs.
Even if I didn't agree which various people (including but not limited to Riker and Worf) who felt that Picard being "hands off" otherwise was sketchy at best, that seems a reasonable compromise to me.
Is it, though? Seems pretty self serving of the Federation. Do they have any idea how rank and file Klingons feel about the interference in who will lead their government?
I doubt that rank and file Klingons would be all that keen on being a Romulan proxy state (as they would have been at best under the Sisters), so they'd be fine with that part.
Honestly, I'd say they'd be more bent out of shape over Picard and Worf's various effort to thwart Dura's legitimate claim originally.
Since we’re told during TNG’s “Unification” that the Chancellor of the High Council has the ability to rewrite the official Klingon history, and Gowron has used that power to edit the Federation’s and Picard’s involvement, depending on the extent to which the Klingon government censors what people can see and hear, the rank-and-file might not even know.
That doesn't sound... Honorable.
Does sound very TOS Klingon, though.
There is no greater honor than winning.
Has a writer ever written a book about the constitution of the Prime Directive?
I think you nailed it here. The writers liked using the PD to add Drama, but the ethos of Star Trek tends to be, "Somehow, we help."
Maybe we DO have a responsibility to every society that gets into trouble and maybe that never ends.
"Let me help. A hundred years or so from now, I believe, a famous novelist will write a classic using that theme. He'll recommend those three words even over I love you."
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