TNG - Homeward

[CharlesPhipps]

I've always been creeped out that interaction with other races is considered "contamination" as if cosmopolitanism was a disease.

[McAvoy]

Well, the universe is made of the same stuff, no matter where to go. Carbon is carbon, oxygen is oxygen. Even the molecules will be the same for the most part. For all the diversity of life on Earth, it's all based on the same molecules no matter how they're put together. They would need to make sure the new planet has a biochemistry compatible with the transplants, but I would think the Federation would have a database on various uninhabited habitable worlds. And they would need "guides" to assist them in finding out what can be eaten and what should be avoided.

It wouldn't be just plopping them down on the planet. However, it could be done with proper measures taken.

Right... this does come up... In the episode I'm fairly certain they distinguished it as a class M planet (habitable for the humanoids we see on the show). People always peck at the show for how easy it is for them to always go down to the surface in any episode, but it's not like the crew doesn't know how to make sure they can walk around outside.

Yeah, out of all the tech Trek has, being able to figure out the basics of a planet's atmosphere is baby's play. Figuring out the biosphere would be child's play.

That super duper flesh eating bug? Episode of the week.

[CharlesPhipps]

Yeah, out of all the tech Trek has, being able to figure out the basics of a planet's atmosphere is baby's play. Figuring out the biosphere would be child's play.

That super duper flesh eating bug? Episode of the week.

That's kind of the point of the episodes, buried under all the crap. One random anthropologist does a pretty good of saving a group of people and the Enterprise COULD save this people but Worf's brother has to go into elaborate lengths and do cartwheels to get them to help in ANY way.

When they probably could have fixed their atmosphere and the locals never realized it.

[Nealithi]

Thing is from a harder science fiction point, Frustration has a point. Several in fact. You have a small tribe, so genetic diversity is in question. What is growing on the new planet will be unknown and this tribe will have to figure out what is and isn't edible. And the trial and error for that may further deplete the people. Diseases? Transporter filters those up and down. But not in the planetary atmosphere. So who knows what they will have to contend with.
This is not a Federation colony with a medical officer to do blood screens.

They brought some crop seeds? The first thought is invasive species.

With the factors against these people. They already broke the Prime Directive. At this point it would be less damage to just bring them into the fold of the Federation. Basically uplift them. Because all that has really been done is change their quick death for a slow one.

And that might actually be a good reason for the Prime Directive right there.

[CrypticMirror]

I've always been creeped out that interaction with other races is considered "contamination" as if cosmopolitanism was a disease.

No, but colonialism and assimilation is. Think of how many unique cultures have been wiped out, and are still slowly being wiped out, in real life just in the last hundred years alone. The Federation does not want to be Belgium in the Congo, Britain in India, or even America of Borg.

[Al-1701]

I've always been creeped out that interaction with other races is considered "contamination" as if cosmopolitanism was a disease.

No, but colonialism and assimilation is. Think of how many unique cultures have been wiped out, and are still slowly being wiped out, in real life just in the last hundred years alone. The Federation does not want to be Belgium in the Congo, Britain in India, or even America of Borg.

And Roddenberry created Star trek during the height of both the aftermath of this as well as the Truman Doctrine having led to the Korean War and increasing likelihood of involvement in Vietnam. He figured after having the benefit of hindsight, humans and other advanced races would realize it's best to avoid contact with significantly less advanced races (developing warp technology being considered the threshold since they would be discovering they're not alone quickly anyway and might as well get it out of the way in a controlled setting) and not getting involved in the internal matters of other powers. So, he created the Prime Directive.

Though, like any rule, there were circumstances in which it would have to be bent or even broken. The universe is a messy place where sometimes there are no other options but to interfere. But, again, by the time TNG rolled around, Roddenberry had gotten more dogmatic about his utopian future and Berman only made it worse after his death.

And there had been a reversal. In TOS, Prime Directive violations were limited to situations that were beyond control of the race in question. It was some cataclysmic act of nature or they were already being interfered with by some outside force. The Prime Directive was upheld when it was political troubles and there were episodes that demonstrated what happened when there was interference in those cases to show why even the best intentions pave a road to hell. In the TNG era, they more insisted on noninterference for natural disasters and interfered with internal politics. The Prime Directive also went from being a device for an Aesop to a cheap driver of conflict.

I'm actually happy Plus Trek (I think this is a better name for it that "NuTrek") has seemed to not deal with the Prime Directive.

[CrypticMirror]

Based on the first couple of seasons of TNG, which were the ones Roddenberry was most involved in, while Gene had many flaws, an overly rigid adherence to the PD was not one of them. First couple of seasons of TNG were pretty loosey-goosey with it, and used it mainly as a springboard to other issues or occasionally just ignored it. It was very much a TOS approach to it in the TNG era, maybe a little tighter, but not by much. I think we can lay an overly rigid adherence to the PD on Berman's shoulders, so once again: Fuck Rick Berman, always and forever.

[CharlesPhipps]

No, but colonialism and assimilation is. Think of how many unique cultures have been wiped out, and are still slowly being wiped out, in real life just in the last hundred years alone. The Federation does not want to be Belgium in the Congo, Britain in India, or even America of Borg.

Nope. Just Randians. Let the poor suffer and die because they're not rich enough for space travel.

I mean, this is a strawman episode because if avoiding colonialism results in the EXTINCTION of a culture then it is genocide by inaction.

[Al-1701]

No, but colonialism and assimilation is. Think of how many unique cultures have been wiped out, and are still slowly being wiped out, in real life just in the last hundred years alone. The Federation does not want to be Belgium in the Congo, Britain in India, or even America of Borg.

Nope. Just Randians. Let the poor suffer and die because they're not rich enough for space travel.

I mean, this is a strawman episode because if avoiding colonialism results in the EXTINCTION of a culture then it is genocide by inaction.

I think he was addressing the reason why it's called "contamination" when they make direct contact and the concerns that inform the Prime Directive.

Many of us have already said contamination beats complete destruction. The people can adjust to the culture shock that there are aliens from other planets with technology that seems like magic or even divine power. They'll never be the same, but they have a chance to create a new normal. I don't think anyone has figured out how to get over being dead.

[clearspira]

I've always been creeped out that interaction with other races is considered "contamination" as if cosmopolitanism was a disease.

No, but colonialism and assimilation is. Think of how many unique cultures have been wiped out, and are still slowly being wiped out, in real life just in the last hundred years alone. The Federation does not want to be Belgium in the Congo, Britain in India, or even America of Borg.

Uh... isn't ''America of Borg'' actually a great example of what the Federation is? Yeah I know, drone strikes, Iraq, blah blah; but mostly the US is an ''empire'' based on soft power. It wants you to consume its films, buy its goods and be in favour of its views on things. From what we've seen of TNG season 1 especially but plenty of times from VOY, that is EXACTLY how the Federation operates. They are a monoculture no matter how much they like to crow about having a Klingon on the bridge or whatever. You let them in, they will make every attempt to make you be like them.

You remember when Janeway swooned at the diversity of a 20th century beach? Or when it was accused of being a ''humans only'' club? Or the fact that people have ''human weddings'' which are basically just American weddings? And hey, like America, when ''soft power'' fails, the ''peaceful and humanitarian'' Federation also has plenty of firepower ready for when it needs to teach you a lesson.

I actually think a far more exacting example that the Federation ''does not want to be'' would be China and its policy of building you a road or a hospital in exchange for brutal loans or land grabs. Because that is something that I can see the Prime Directive actually being a force of good for. With its ability to replicate everything from precious metals to blankets, the Federation could exploit every primitive planet in the galaxy. Why mine dilithium for yourself ever again when you can get someone else to do it for what might as well be free?