Suppose Earth was destroyed

[Shawnster]

A more apt comparison, instead of comparing the sudden destruction of the US or North America to the rest of Earh, would be the sudden destruction of Washington DC impact on the survival of the United States. Both Earth and Washington DC are the capital of their respective geopolitical entities. A sudden loss of either that completely wipes out the heads of state, congress, senate, joint chiefs of staff, military command HQs, etc... might have a destabilizing effect. Oh, sure, you might be able to beam up some governmental leaders, but that would require some advanced notice and time. What if the destruction was so complete and so fast that there wasn't time? Or that the rescue ships in orbit were also engulfed in the destruction and didn't have time to warp out (and we're ignoring ST Beyond's magical cross galaxy transporter).

The Federation isn't as united as the US. It seems to be more like the EU with more authority. It might be very likely that the sudden loss of Earth with all the heads of state for the Federation would result in the member nations contracting back into their own independent groups at least until the dust settles and new treaties could be established.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I wonder what the chain of command in Starfleet would actually be if Earth was destroyed? Which planet then assumes official control?

 

[Nyotarules]

I wonder what the chain of command in Starfleet would actually be if Earth was destroyed? Which planet then assumes official control?

Vulcan, but then Starfleet is not the military they are exploreres, the Royal Navy would deal with things.....

 

[Lance Charger]

What do you mean by "destroyed"? Like Alderaan destroyed?

San Francisco was destroyed at the end of DS9. The Federation managed to stumble along.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

As in, no more Earth. A la nuTrek Vulcan.

 

[Tenacity]

A more apt comparison, instead of comparing the sudden destruction of the US or North America to the rest of Earh, would be the sudden destruction of Washington DC

I don't think that a good comparison. The members of the federation are sovereign worlds with their own intact governments. The destruction of Earth would bring momentary confusion, but not complete anarchy.

The destruction of the Starfleet Admiralty would be like the destruction of the pentagon, regional commands would quickly take fully control of their areas until a new central command was established.

The destruction of Earth would really be more like the destruction of Brussels and the effect on the fedeartion would be like the effect upon the EU. A tragedy, but life would go on.

Starfleet is not the military

Yes they are.

 

[Lance Charger]

Oh.

It couldn't happen. If the Earth were destroyed, humans would go back in time and fetch some whales or something.

It's too bad the Vulcan Science Council doesn't believe in time travel, else they could go back and fix Vulcan.

 

[Nyotarules]

Yes they are.

I was being sarcastic - Picard and NuScotty believe it and so do I!

It's too bad the Vulcan Science Council doesn't believe in time travel, else they could go back and fix Vulcan.

And here is the plot for the 4th JJ movie!
Star Trek IV - The search for a Reset Button

 

[wayoung]

The thing is that we don't know the statistics. What percentage of humankind live on earth? Is it 90 percent, 50 percent, 10 percent?

I for one was surprised, appalled even that only ten thousand Vulcans lived off world, after thousands of years of space faring!

Yeah, that did not work for me either. Add in the Federations ban on genetic engineering, Vulcans only breeding every seven years, and such a low number of people, any of which would be too old to breed you're looking at a distinct lack of genetic diversity. I don't see how Vulcan species could survive, unless they start romancing the Romulans.

 

[David Strickhouser]

It couldn't happen. If the Earth were destroyed, humans would go back in time

That's a thought! Would the Federation sanction such a mission, knowing the potential consequences?

 

[wayoung]

That's a thought! Would the Federation sanction such a mission, knowing the potential consequences?

As demonstrated over and over again, the prime directive only applies to filthy aliens, not us humans. If you go back in time to save Earth, you end up with all criminal charges dropped and a shiny new starship.

 

[USS Triumphant]

That's a thought! Would the Federation sanction such a mission, knowing the potential consequences?

However, I suspect there's a "catastrophic events" team on the planet where the Guardian of Forever is, and other similar plans in place, that mean that this would never happen, anyway. Not without a fight with the temporal powers that be, anyway.

And while I don't agree with the attitude @wayoung just brought to the matter , substantively it is correct that the temporal shenanigans involved in resolving the Whale Song Probe crisis went well enough for the Federation, so if the situation was that dire, I don't see why not.

 

[wayoung]

And while I don't agree with the attitude @wayoung just brought to the matter , substantively it is correct that the temporal shenanigans involved in resolving the Whale Song Probe crisis went well enough for the Federation, so if the situation was that dire, I don't see why not.

My attitude is directed to the idea of the Prime Directive as implemented in Star Trek, which I find to be hypocritical and self serving, not towards the user I quoted. I apologize to David if that is how it was interpreted.

 

[USS Triumphant]

There's no point in that, Captain - David is dead.

 

[wayoung]

There's no point in that, Captain - David is dead.

You Klingon bastard.....

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

It couldn't happen. If the Earth were destroyed, humans would go back in time

That's a thought! Would the Federation sanction such a mission, knowing the potential consequences?

Like they did on Sarpeidon? You'd need an army of temporal agents to keep everyone straight on what they shouldn't do.

The person you married and had a kid with in the past might lead to a great-great grandchild who averts the disaster.