The show shoe horns the prime directive into the setting.
I always did feel that the show was too hesitant to explore the possibilities of a pre-Prime Directive era. I've always thought that the PD must've been a reaction to some disaster that resulted from early Starfleet crews interfering too recklessly. It would've been interesting to see those early mistakes that Starfleet made and later learned from. Fortunately, I've ended up writing the post-series
Enterprise novels, and I've been able to do what I wanted the show to do, i.e. take advantage of the freedom to depict a Starfleet that isn't yet constrained by a non-interference rule.
I agree with you. In hind sight, it's my wish for the Prime Directive to have been a result of very well meaning, humanitarian blundering on Archer's part.
Just imagine, he could involve Earth in an interplanetary war in a single solar system (he almost did just that, possibly twice, but it had no lingering results), he ties an alien race to Earth as dependents, he addicts a planet to pain killer due to funky biology (a twist on Dear Doctor perhaps), he gives subspace technology to a 20th century style planet and the state he gives the tech to becomes world dominating (not necessarily militarily, but still throw things out of wack for the locals), he inadvertently enslaves a race to a machine god, he inadvertently replaces a primitive society's god with himself and forms a violent aggressive religion which ultimately leads to the group getting killed off, at some point he encounters a brutal planet bound threat to humanity which is partially his fault and doesn't wipe them out or otherwise solve the situation. Basically take any Kirk or Picard episode where they face a self styled god or a pre-warp civilization, and try to think of the funniest or worst outcome for Archer to cause.
It just needs to lead into a Prime Directive where a hands off attitude prevails, but where no strings attached, one time aid still happens.
Also, my favorite episode is the Space Time Nazi episode which concluded the time war arc. It's one of only two episodes I actually like out of that mess, not counting season 3.
Oh no, not the Space Nazi episode! I'm glad you found something to like, but did it have to be that one
The premise of the episode IMO was just a step too far, and this is coming from a ST die hard. In the end I also found things to like about the episode, namely the conclusion to the Suliban arc started in season 1, but I guess I couldn't include this two-parter as a favorite.
Having said that I think I'd watch this episode over half of what is now put on TV today. I guess I'm getting old.... and get off my lawn!
Its absurdity is exactly what I like about it so much, but you're not alone, I can't think of anyone other than myself who genuinely loves that episode. When I first saw it it was like watching something out of the original series. To me the episode was absolutely amazing and the kind of wackiness I had been waiting for.
Ehm, there was no Prime Directive yet and the disaster you described is is precisely what happened in "Cogenitor".
Sure, it is just a suicide and not some large scale disaster but Trek wouldn't be Trek if it cared less about the life of one being than that of billions.
"Cogenitor" was a mess specifically because of Archer's magic Prime Directive sense, and is just a poor rehash of TNG: "The Outcast." He says we mustn't interfere in the workings of their society, and whatnot. Except it is balogna. They're out there willingly interacting with all sorts of civilizations all the time, just like the Enterprise crew. He says what he does only because he cares more about political connections and advanced technology, so the pseudo Prime Directive reasoning is just self serving.
The weird thing is, the only time Picard ever treats asylum like a negotiable thing is in "The Outcast" (and for some reason Janeway when Quinn wants asylum on Voyager) but in all other instances if someone comes to him it's just granted. The except being where he suspected the person may have been involved in an assassination.
The difference in "The Outcast" is that the person in question was not on the ship at the time, but he does say he will negotiate to get her released from her people. Archer deliberated on his own yet declines. In the situations where Picard got to choose on his own those situations had far greater affect, such as giving asylum to a Romulan defector. Sisko also gave asylum to a Bajoran terrorist who had just escaped from the Cardassians, even though it would make the political situation worse. That's all with the Prime Directive actually existing.
I believe that if Picard had the person right in front of him and he was asked for asylum he would have granted it without hesitation, as he did in most other situations. The only reason it is a Prime Directive issue is because he would have to use force to extract the person. Force would mean going into the alien society and stirring junk up, and that's contrary to the Prime Directive. He wanted to do things the local's way to keep things peaceful and respectful and thus in accordance with the Prime Directive. It's similar to when he negotiated to save Wesley's life from execution from that weird Eden world.
So my conclusion is, Archer definitely was not in accordance with the Prime Directive. Picard would have accepted the asylum request, and that's with the actual Prime Directive to answer to.
Except that quote is total rubbish. There are plenty of cases in Earth history where a "less developed" civilization got knowledge and ideas from a more advanced civilization and thrived as a result. For instance, Europe got all sorts of innovations from the more advanced cultures of the Mideast and Asia -- gunpowder, stirrups, the magnetic compass, the lateen sail, decimal mathematics, the printing press, etc. -- and not only did not get destroyed by the influx of foreign knowledge and technology, but used it to thrive and dominate all those formerly more advanced societies.
Europe is pretty unique in how the regions are divided by rough terrain, but open enough for regular contact. It's fractured yet allows enough contact that war seems like a good idea. It keeps the area very vibrant, because no single faction can conquer all other factions, and if one group wants to drop an idea, the other groups keeping that idea forces the other to keep with it. It means a good idea like guns never goes out of style, where as in Japan the Shogun was able to suppress them, and in China technology in all sorts of areas diminished because of one body's decision.
It's very easy to see all of the introduced technologies as having lead to bigger better, and further flung wars. Besides which, there are different kinds of contact. There's the very direct contact which can lead to conquest, and there is the light contact which is like a filter. The Japanese got the filter version of contact, they got Dutch guns and potatoes, but didn't get conquered because they were so far away and contact was hard. I'm not sure much changed for the Japanese.
In contrast the Maori got nice filtered contact, with no conquest, but did get guns too. The tribes which got them quickly realized what they had and killed off any tribes which didn't have guns.
Romans conquering Greece, totally unfiltered, but Greece ended up assimilating the Romans culturally, even if the Greeks were assimilated politically into Rome.
Over all though, as wealth spreads and populations grow, human caused death (every day violence and war) decreases.
The Prime Directive isn't just about isolating societies, it's about respect, at least in TNG. If a primitive society is right next door, then unfiltered contact is just about inevitable, and lack of respect for their ways means getting steamrolled and becoming just another little, and resentful, part of Earth in the heavens. But, when Picard has to interact with societies, regardless of advancement, he approaches them with respect and tries to work with their rules while in their sphere. That's what I like to think the Prime Directive writers were fearing in-universe.
"History has proved again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well-intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous."
Except that quote is total rubbish.
Yes, Trek doesn't always differentiate between obvious interference (picking sides in a war being the classic example) and the more nebulous notion of "cultural contamination". The latter plays on unfortunate politically correct ideas about maintaining the purity of a primitive culture by quarantining it. Earth history shows that cultures constantly intermingle and become enriched as a result, but according to (some interpretations of) the Prime Directive, a hunter-gatherer seeing a spaceship must regarded as a cultural atrocity.
I feel like the cultural contamination idea must have started as a backlash against Kirk's era. It probably was a well meaning form of respect for other civilization's methods. But, the idea quickly turned into some sort of purity fetish, at least in regard to pre-warp civilizations. So, the idea of a healthy civilization turned from one which is dynamic and can adapt or which promotes humanitarian values, and instead a healthy civilization became one which is untouched by any extra-planetary cultures.
At the same time, it helps make sense as to why Picard wants to work within alien systems. Working within those systems reinforces them, but barging in and doing what you want is the essence of contamination.
But we'll always have "Demons"/"Terra Prime," thank goodness.
. It was actually a breath of fresh air I found, though admittedly it's something that should be put to rest, regardless of gender.
