United Earth

[Nyotarules]

First order of business of Federation colonies - be fruitful and multiply

Being so close to Earth, the HQ of the Federation, it is probably one of the most diverse planets that the Federation has by 2375.

 

[Sci]

For the record, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimates that circa 1750, not quite 270 years ago, the world's population was around 791 million. Today, of course, it is 7.5 billion. So in 267 years, the world's population increased by 6.7 billion -- and that's while going through the Industrial Revolution, major world wars, worldwide epidemics, capitalism, slavery, etc. That's almost 25.1 million per year.

So I think they can pull off 21 billion in 270 years.

 

[Longinus]

I have always found the idea of completely independent human colonies weird, especially when the interstellar travel was young. It is particularly odd for Mars, which is not really hospitable for life and very close to Earth. Any colony on Mars would be highly dependable on Earth. I would assume that United Earth government would control all human colonies and when UE joined the Federation all the colonies automatically joined as well.

 

[Sci]

I have always found the idea of completely independent human colonies weird, especially when the interstellar travel was young. It is particularly odd for Mars, which is not really hospitable for life and very close to Earth. Any colony on Mars would be highly dependable on Earth. I would assume that United Earth government would control all human colonies and when UE joined the Federation all the colonies automatically joined as well.

I think it makes perfect sense that people who give up all of the benefits of a developed economy to create a colony on an uninhabited world might have always intended to become independent as soon as they developed the resources necessary to sustain their populations. They may not have become developed economies on par with Earth's for many decades -- or maybe not! who is to say how sophisticated automatic construction and infrastructure might be by the 2100s? -- but I can certainly imagine colonies basically saying to Earth, "Dude, we can take care of ourselves. Leave us alone."

 

[Nyotarules]

For the record, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimates that circa 1750, not quite 270 years ago, the world's population was around 791 million. Today, of course, it is 7.5 billion. So in 267 years, the world's population increased by 6.7 billion -- and that's while going through the Industrial Revolution, major world wars, worldwide epidemics, capitalism, slavery, etc. That's almost 25.1 million per year.

So I think they can pull off 21 billion in 270 years.

However in the past access to effective birth control was non existent until the 20th century. Unless one is a frontier colony, I think most 'industrialised' Federation planets would be practicing birth control, the higher the standard of living, the less likely one is to breed like a rabbit, (unless one caters to religious and cultural pressures) especially when there are species living way past 100 or even 200 years.

 

[Nyotarules]

I think it makes perfect sense that people who give up all of the benefits of a developed economy to create a colony on an uninhabited world might have always intended to become independent as soon as they developed the resources necessary to sustain their populations. They may not have become developed economies on par with Earth's for many decades -- or maybe not! who is to say how sophisticated automatic construction and infrastructure might be by the 2100s? -- but I can certainly imagine colonies basically saying to Earth, "Dude, we can take care of ourselves. Leave us alone."

Mars is only 12.5 light minutes from Earth, in Star Trek terms that is probably less than an hours journey. (In STTMP it took 4 days to get to Vulcan, 16 light years away, in ST09 five minutes.) Once warp ships were set up it would be easy to transport resources and people from Earth to Mars with Boomer ships. Their Independence would come soon after, assuming Earth does not want to repeat the colonial errors of its past.

 

[Tenacity]

A human colony that was independent from Earth, not sure if Alpha Centauri had their own indigenous

I like the idea that Alpha Centauri has a non-Human indigenous people, and that the Humans who traveled there were allowed to set up a "Human colony." It was the AC native species who choose to become one of the Federation's founding members.

Why wouldn't other founding member not take advantage of the opportunity to have some of their colonies become founding member too, if Earth was going to do so?

You can't call something that isn't a government a government.

Trade Unions have "governments," the National Football League has one too. Hundreds of high schools have student governments.

The word government doesn't have this narrow use.

The World Government Summit isn't a world government, nor is it a non-governmental organization called "the World Government."

I'm suggesting that the 22nd century world government/United Earth strictly speaking isn't itself a sovereign power.

But instead world government/United Earth is a community of sovereign nation/states, it provides a formal environment for communications and the discuss of matter that affect them all. A place where new ideas can be brought forward.

We've already got that. It's called the United Nations.

Does the UN still exist in the 22nd century, didn't Q say it was gone by the late 21st century?

 

[Timo]

What Q specifically stated was that there was none of that "United Earth nonsense" in 2079 any longer.

This was in response to Picard appealing to the writ of the New United Nations, supposedly a pre-WWIII organization. One might surmise that the NUN gave rise to the earliest form of United Earth (and that this early form of UE is what UESPA, in the 2060s, gets its first two letters from), an organization with global aspirations but not much more - and that these aspirations were put on hold for the duration of the late 21st century but came back with a vengeance in the next century.

We get no references to United Nations, New or otherwise, beyond WWIII. Indeed, there are no dialogue references to the New United Nations except in "Encounter at Farpoint", and no references to United Nations beyond the mid-20th century.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tenacity]

And at some point "United Earth" fell out of use, and our world was referred to as just "Earth."

Maybe Q was correct, but got his years mixed up. The last canon appearance of UESPA was a dedication plaque on the Enterprise B, and no one spoke of United Earth since the TOS years.

United Earth as a organization was gone.

 

[Nyotarules]

And at some point "United Earth" fell out of use, and our world was referred to as just "Earth."

Maybe Q was correct, but got his years mixed up. The last canon appearance of UESPA was a dedication plaque on the Enterprise B, and no one spoke of United Earth since the TOS years.

United Earth as a organization was gone.

Or maybe 'United Earth' became 'Earth' just as most folks don't go around saying the 'United States of America' in common speech, we say either the 'US' or just plain old 'America'.
How many people say the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' Or just plain ole 'UK' or 'Britain'?

 

[Tenacity]

just plain ole 'UK' or 'Britain'

Or as we say in America ... England.

 

[Nyotarules]

Or as we say in America ... England.

Or even worse London lol
In the UK all West Indians are Jamaicans and all Africans are Nigerians lol

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Does the UN still exist in the 22nd century, didn't Q say it was gone by the late 21st century?

It's probably gone. With United Earth as the world government, there'd be no need for the UN.

 

[Tenacity]

^ America is a member of the UN, but also holds memberships in other international organization. In the future, just because a soverneign nation is a member of United Earth doesn't mean that is their only association.

Might be one way Earth's nations keep United Earth in it place, wouldn't want the UE getting too big for it's briches.

Sometime the short leash is the best length.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

What possible benefit could the UN still have, in a world where there is a real global government? There's nothing the UN can do that United Earth can't. The UN would be obsolete.

 

[Jedi_Master]

What possible benefit could the UN still have, in a world where there is a real global government? There's nothing the UN can do that United Earth can't. The UN would be obsolete.

I agree. At most, the United Nations would be seen as the "predecessor" of United Earth, but it would certainly no longer exist as a governing body.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ And the UN is hardly a governing body as it is.

 

[Jedi_Master]

^ And the UN is hardly a governing body as it is.

True. I guess I should have dropped "scare quotes" around those words.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ No worries...the fact that the UN is so powerless and ineffective is their fault, not yours.

 

[GabyBee]

Given that one of the requirements for Federation membership by the 24th Century is to have a single political entity governing the applicant world, I'd presume that United Earth was more than a loose coalition of Terran nation states. It may have started out as a loose association, but over the centuries would have likely become more centralized and solitary as a political entity.