Organization of Federation Government

[lostshaker]

Misfit Toy,

Thank you for directing me to TNZ. I'm still learning how to navigate the whole site.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Starfleet violated the PD in DS9 by trespassing upon Dominion Space.

Since the Dominion has been warp-capable and aware of other cultures for centuries, that's hardly the case.

Remember, nobody in the Federation even knew that the Dominion existed when DS9 first began. Simply going into Dominion space is not, in and of itself, a violation of the Prime Directive. Especially if you don't know it's Dominion space.

And once the Jem'Hadar popped up, began destroying targets on their side of the wormhole, and warned Starfleet away, I think they respected it. By that time they actually knew what the boundaries of Dominion space were. Before, they didn't. Ignorance, in this case, is an excuse.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Sometimes boldly going where no one has gone before can land someone where they're not wanted.

One of the occupational hazards of being an explorer, IMO.

 

[lostshaker]

Starfleet violated the PD in DS9 by trespassing upon Dominion Space.

Since the Dominion has been warp-capable and aware of other cultures for centuries, that's hardly the case.

Remember, nobody in the Federation even knew that the Dominion existed when DS9 first began. Simply going into Dominion space is not, in and of itself, a violation of the Prime Directive. Especially if you don't know it's Dominion space.

And once the Jem'Hadar popped up, began destroying targets on their side of the wormhole, and warned Starfleet away, I think they respected it. By that time they actually knew what the boundaries of Dominion space were. Before, they didn't. Ignorance, in this case, is an excuse.

In "The Jem'Hadar", a Dominion representative told Dax that Sisko was being detained for interfering with the Dominion and that colonies were destroyed in response to violating Dominion Territory. Dax's response was, "You're making a mistake if you think that detaining Commander Sisko will stop us from exploring the galaxy." That is threat to trespass, which the Federation continued to do after the warning and is a violation of the Prime Directive.

Ignorance may be an excuse, but the right of forgiveness belongs to the injured party.

 

[lostshaker]

With regards to sex on the holodeck, even the main characters were of the opinion that it wasn't real... LaForge and Troi said as much to Barclay even though Troi admitted that Barclay's programs had some therapeutic value. But even then, most people seem to enjoy sharing their holodeck time and using it as a bonding experience.

Also, individuals need variety. Experiencing the same program over and over again will lead to boredom, hence the demand for holo-novelists. If anything, a holo-user will devise a program out of boredom that would turn into an expected hit, which in and of itself would be a valuable commodity and contribution to society.

 

[T'Girl]

Sarek, I've always thought of him as a member of the Federation Council ...

Is there anything on-screen that rules this out?

There's the animated series, which some discount.

My take is that Member Worlds send teams of representatives to the Federation governing body, in addition the governments of the worlds also have ambassadors, which are sent to the Federation, and the Federation sends Federation ambassadors to the Members.

The Members send ambassadors to each other.

And the Members can send ambassadors outside the Federation (on DS9, Vulcan had a Klingon embassy), so they have foreign relations separate from the Federation.

I can't disagree more with the first part of your post. No individual bears any responsibility to help another person in plight unless said individual caused the plight through an aggressive act.

In terms of a legal responsibility you might have a point, if someone comes upon a burning orphanage and instead of calling 911 merely stood outside giggling and masturbating as the children inside screamed, burned and died, it is unlikely they would be charged with not making a simply cell phone call. Although in some modern countries (Argentina for one) that person could be imprisoned.

But as a moral responsibility, yes one does exist.

Can the Federation step in and (if possible) help people they find in distress, yes. There likely would be situations where assisting others in a meaningful way would be impossible.

If a Federation citizen wanted to use his personal property and resources to help a pre-warp civilization, then he should be allowed to do so ...

While carte blanche probably should not apply, I would agree.

... on the basis that the civilization wants his help and he is prepared to personally compensate the civilization for any unforeseen consequences due to his interference.

Where I am from we have something called a "Good Samaritan Law" which protects people who may cause harm in the course of assisting another in a reasonable fashion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law

The Federation and its respective governments should not get involved, as such creates a moral hazard by risking the resources of those that would prefer to not associate with the pre-warp civilization.

Being a Member of the Federation likely comes with treaty obligations and group decisions, however as a Member you could have the ability to abstain from some activities.

As to the second half of the post, it depends largely on the organization of the federation. The Prime Directive, as the highest law in the Federation, would imply that the Andorians can't interfere since they are Federation members and agreed to the Prime Directive.

It's unclear if the PD applies to individual persons (outside of Starfleet) or to the various Member Worlds directly.

Of course, the Andorians could always secede if they really wanted to help a pre-warp society.

As you said, it depends largely on the organization of the federation. If in addition to being Federation Members, the Andorians also conduct interstellar affairs as a sovereign entity, then cancelling their Membership (or seceding) would be un-necessary.

Being a Federation Member might be a relatively minor component of what the totality of Andorians are. In addition to the UN and NATO, the United States is a part of many other international organizations and associations. And has her own foreign policies too.