Aside from the forced assimilation and stripping of one's individuality, the Borg in many ways are quite benevolent. They seek to raise the quaility of life for everyone. They seek to create unity where petty prejudices and ideologies would constantly would tear us apart and destroy us. All resources are allocated equally; there's no miserly minority hording it all for themselves. Every has an equal voice in the collective(let's forget the Queen). No one is disenfranchised or marginalized. No homelessness. No poverty. I can understand why 24th century humans would resist being assimilated because they already most of things. But to me a 21st century human they sound quite appealing. Yes, you lose your autonomy and individuality. But humans have societies where they retained their individuality and stripped of everything else. What good is it to be individual if you have no food or shelter? What good is it to be individual if you have your right abridged and your dignity trampled on? There's something noble about the Borg despite their methods.
The Borg Benevolence
- Thread starter Jonathan Hayes
- Start date
Meh. I'll keep the struggle versus being an automaton.
Your wishes are irrelevant.
The Borg also see their members as disposable drones. A single drone has no significant value to the collective. Thousands of dead drones are nothing more than a tiny blip in the collective consciousness.
With the Borg, you use your autonomy and individuality AND everything else. Including mind, free will, and privacy.
A human who wants to be a Borg probably has significant psychological or cognitive issues, perhaps both.
With the Borg, you use your autonomy and individuality AND everything else. Including mind, free will, and privacy.
A human who wants to be a Borg probably has significant psychological or cognitive issues, perhaps both.
Wow, when you put it that way, being a Borg is a pretty sweet deal, ain't it? You know, aside from being a prisoner in your own body and having to watch yourself commit atrocity after atrocity because of the hivemind you're connected to. Plus I'm not sure it counts as "living" when you are just surviving and have no real quality of life. But yeah, aside from all that being a Borg's a sweet deal.
Probably a similar reason we rarely see non-humanoid aliens to begin with.
Shatner's novel The Return does feature an interesting variety of alien life as Borg drones, though.
funnily enough that was exactly what I had in mind when I posted that. It was during the raid where our heroes inexplicably became a special forces unit if I remember rightly.
You get your own personal alcove and neighbors you get along with really well, sounds perfect to me.
I know it won't happen, but the Borg are *this* close to being an actual force for good. Imagine if we ever run across the Borg in the far future, where they've abandoned their search for perfection. Instead, focusing their efforts on redemption.
The Queen is gone. A hivemind exists, but it praises individuality. Drones are allowed to leave the collective if they wish it, and large programs are run to rehabilitate the worlds devastated by the Borg of old.
The Borg use their technology to elevate races decimated by wars and strife. With the Federation long-since balkanized, they are the only surviving galactic megapower. Their mastery over time ensures that the Temporal Accords are met, and they know the dangers that AIs provide.
The Queen is gone. A hivemind exists, but it praises individuality. Drones are allowed to leave the collective if they wish it, and large programs are run to rehabilitate the worlds devastated by the Borg of old.
The Borg use their technology to elevate races decimated by wars and strife. With the Federation long-since balkanized, they are the only surviving galactic megapower. Their mastery over time ensures that the Temporal Accords are met, and they know the dangers that AIs provide.
The BORG'S wishes are irrelevant. They will be exterminated.
"We would destroy the Borg with one Dalek!"
You forgot the part where they're farting rainbow-colored marshmallows.
I actually preferred McEnroe
If the Borg invited people to join, with fully informed consent and possibly some kind of way to reverse drone-ification at a later date, that'd be a different story. As it stands, they're just one of the most straight-up evil forces in the entire galaxy.
It'd be interesting if they eventually took such an approach, and there were annoying Borg drones preaching about the benefits of the collective on street corners all over the populated galaxy. You don't even have to eat, just get plugged into a socket, hell yeah!
It'd be interesting if they eventually took such an approach, and there were annoying Borg drones preaching about the benefits of the collective on street corners all over the populated galaxy. You don't even have to eat, just get plugged into a socket, hell yeah!
Isn’t that like being the sole survivor of a meteor and saying “Wow, that benevolent meteor solved all our social problems”?
Everyone being equally a slave is worse than inequality.
Everyone being equally a slave is worse than inequality.
Perhaps they should try their hand at commercials, complete with "this preview has been approved by Unimatrix zero-one for all unassimilated audiences", and 10-second "I am the Borg Queen, and I approve of this message" intros.
Seeing all those Borg drones smiling broadly in those videos probably would be an eery and unsettling sight, though...
Seeing all those Borg drones smiling broadly in those videos probably would be an eery and unsettling sight, though...
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