So Bajor made one of it's moons uninhabitable for some energy

[You_Will_Fail]

its*

Season 1 "Progress"

And apparently enough energy to heat "two hundred thousand homes". Seriously, sometimes you'd think Bajor only had like 10 million people the way they talk about it, they needed to scale up the numbers a lot.

But regardless of that, I found it disturbing that they were willing to poison the entire atmosphere of a habitable moon for some energy and on top of that, there WAS another option to use some sort of phase technobabble technology that wouldn't harm the moon but they had to wait one year. Wait on year or poison an entire moon? Hmm, tough choice...not.

 

[Mage]

Season 1 "Progress"

And apparently enough energy to heat "two hundred thousand homes". Seriously, sometimes you'd think Bajor only had like 10 million people the way they talk about it, they needed to scale up the numbers a lot.

But regardless of that, I found it disturbing that they were willing to poison the entire atmosphere of a habitable moon for some energy and on top of that, there WAS another option to use some sort of phase technobabble technology that wouldn't harm the moon but they had to wait one year. Wait on year or poison an entire moon? Hmm, tough choice...not.

When 200.000 families CAN NOT wait another year, as was clearly established, for this energy then it is the most reasonable thing to do.

Bajor JUST got out of the occupation. They didn't have the means to support themselves fully, what with their planet being raped to near death by Cardassians. Sorry for my language......

Anyway, they had not other choice, otherwise they'd condem 200.000 families. Kind of an easy choice then really.

 

[You_Will_Fail]

Thanks for replying but you really don't need to quote my entire post...especially since you're the first to reply.

Anyway, I still find it unrealistic they'd want to poison their entire moon just to get some energy. One winter isn't gonna be their downfall.

 

[Edit_XYZ]

With star trek tech, it doesn't make much sense - starfleet could have given the bajorans a few fusion reactors, for example.
Within the confines of the episode - either ~half a million people starving/freezing/dying or destroying the ecosystem of an uninhabited moon - the second option wins.

 

[MacLeod]

Tell that to the people in those 200 000 homes (which could easily be 500 000-1 000 000 pepole) without heat for the winter.

In some regions on Earth we can get warm pleasent summers, but come winter minues (degrees C) tempatures aren't unheard of. For example in the UK the highest tempature recorded is +38.5C and the lowest -27.2C. A vast difference between the two seasons.

 

[MacLeod]

With star trek tech, it doesn't make much sense - starfleet could have given the bajorans a few fusion reactors, for example.
Within the confines of the episode - either ~half a million people starving/freezing/dying or destroying the ecosystem of an uninhabited moon - the second option wins.

Yes they could have, perhaps the Federation offered but were turned down. Or perhaps it was a pride thing the Bajoran's. They wanted to stand on their own two feet and do it by themselves.

 

[Edit_XYZ]

With star trek tech, it doesn't make much sense - starfleet could have given the bajorans a few fusion reactors, for example.
Within the confines of the episode - either ~half a million people starving/freezing/dying or destroying the ecosystem of an uninhabited moon - the second option wins.

Yes they could have, perhaps the Federation offered but were turned down. Or perhaps it was a pride thing the Bajoran's. They wanted to stand on their own two feet and do it by themselves.

If the bajorans put their pride on such a high pedesal that they preferred to destroy a moon's ecosystem rather than accept help when help was available - well, that would lower my opinion of the bajorans considerably. That would not even be stubbornness, but idiocy.

It may be better to just accept the contradiction as a plot hole than to try and fit the episode into the larger technological trekverse.

 

[Mage]

Thanks for replying but you really don't need to quote my entire post...especially since you're the first to reply.

Anyway, I still find it unrealistic they'd want to poison their entire moon just to get some energy. One winter isn't gonna be their downfall.

I'm not so sure about that dowfall. I think the city I live in, including the smaller town around it, should make up for about 200.000 families. In the winter, with no power what so ever to heat themselves or prepare food for themselves.... That's a game over. So, one surplus moon no one's using anyway is a good deal. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

And as Edit_XYZ stated, it's a minor plothole really.

 

[R. Star]

How's this much more different the the government claiming imminent domain on all land around a river so they can dam it and supply power to thousands if not millions? I agree they didn't think the numbers through, but that's relatively minor.

 

[You_Will_Fail]

How's this much more different the the government claiming imminent domain on all land around a river so they can dam it and supply power to thousands if not millions? I agree they didn't think the numbers through, but that's relatively minor.

I don't expect the actions of the governments of today to be the same in advanced Star Trek civilizations.
Bajor is paradise right, this beautiful world which is full of history, art and culture....but also they're gonna destroy a clearly fertile moon for some power? Don't think so.

 

[od0_ital]

^

Bajor *was* a paradise, which is why it was so attractive to the Cardassians.

And art, history & culture are nice things to have, but won't make much difference in keepin' your house warm in the winter.

 

[Mage]

^

Bajor *was* a paradise, which is why it was so attractive to the Cardassians.

And art, history & culture are nice things to have, but won't make much difference in keepin' your house warm in the winter.

This.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Anyway, I still find it unrealistic they'd want to poison their entire moon just to get some energy. One winter isn't gonna be their downfall.

...Right, it would be much more realistic if they poisoned their own planet just to get some energy.

If you have absolutely no heating whatsoever one winter could be their downfall. You know how many people froze to death in Jamestown?

Would it have been better to help them with what's available? Sure, only nothing was available, the Cardassians took it all. Besides chopping wood there's not a whole lot they can do.

 

[R. Star]

The art, history and culture of a small moon doesn't feed people nor keep them safe from the elements.

 

[You_Will_Fail]

Dude, it was ONE winter.
They sacrificed a shit ton of potentially fertile farmland and poisoned a planetoid when they could have waited one measly year, it's absurd!

 

[Edit_XYZ]

You_Will_Fail, I take it you never went through a winter without adequate heating and plenty to eat.
Far from being absurd, one winter is more than enough to kill you.

 

[You_Will_Fail]

Well duh, of course people can die in harsh winters, but it's not worth destroying such a huge piece of land for.

 

[Jono]

I wonder how bad the moon was since it seems Kira and Dax were able to return several months later and along with the local giant spiders seemed to get around without much of an issue.

It isn't at all surprising that the government did this. They are first post Cardassian government trying to rule a fairly fractured population. Do you think that 200,000 homes will just accept the lack of heat? There would be civil unrest and chaos if the government didn't do something. In the end short term stability over possible (some small plot farmers survived, but that doesn't mean it would necessarily be suitable for large scale argi or that projects on the moon are necessarily better than sorting out those on Bajor itself) long term gains won out...so very unrealistic indeed.

 

[Edit_XYZ]

Well duh, of course people can die in harsh winters, but it's not worth destroying such a huge piece of land for.

If destroying the land is the only option for ~500000 people to survive - YES, their survival is worth it.

I see you disagree - does this mean that, in real life, you would be ready to commit suicide, along with your family, in order to save a few trees?

 

[You_Will_Fail]

Your argument is flawed. There would have been alternatives available.