Would you live in the Federation?

[ORCACommander]

in regards to post dominion war the most likely action to happen after a few rounds of indictments is the formation of a new service branch that deals only with military, Call it Star Command if you will

[MaxWylde]

in regards to post dominion war the most likely action to happen after a few rounds of indictments is the formation of a new service branch that deals only with military, Call it Star Command if you will

Perhaps. But given how very little Starfleet and the Federation learns from their mistakes, I have my doubts. They might simply fire a bunch of admirals to have new, fresh and veteran blood in the admiralty, one that takes the mission of defending the Federation seriously, but I can see that many member worlds, Betazed for instance, might still have their own doubts about this as well. If all it took to get Starfleet into this weird mindset was several years of comfort thanks to the absence of the Romulans (they said they didn't deal with the Federation for 50 years prior to The Neutral Zone episode, but that doesn't quite jive with Yesterday's Enterprise unless that happened 50 years prior) and the Klingon Alliance, I'd be very hard pressed to stay loyal to the Federation.

[FaxModem1]

I think you're doing a disservice to Starfleet and the Federation.

What we have to remember is that Starfleet started out as a civilian exploration agency, determined to explore the galaxy, acquire friends, and learn more about the universe. Encountering people like the Xindi and the Romulans made them determined to be able to defend Earth and the Federation, but they are still determined to pursue their mission of exploration. What has this achieved? In 200 years, they've gone from Earth being a small backwater to the superpower of the quadrant. And, if for 50 years the biggest military worry you had was a minor border skirmish(well, for the Federation, for the Cardassians it was a full blown war) with the Cardassians, you might think that things were pretty settled down in the Alpha Quadrant.

The Cold War ended in the 2290s(via Star Trek VI). They didn't really become allies until the 2230s. Yesterday's Enterprise has the incident for the Enterprise-C be at least 22 years since Naranda III. Which was when the Klingons and the Federation weren't allies, but also weren't in open competition for each other. So, decades of deescalation with their biggest rival, while the Romulans went all isolationist. When two of the biggest enemies you ever had for over a century are suddenly no longer problems for decades, the galaxy really gives an image of becoming quite tame.

Meanwhile, quality of life seemed to generally improve in the UFP. New medicines, new technologies, more colonies, new members. The Federation Council is probably primarily responsible for the change in funding as well. You tend to divert more resources to civilian projects when you're no longer in a Cold War. This is probably why Starfleet focused more on giant jack-of-all-trades ships, so as to satisfy their funding requirements, by having giant battleships that could go toe to toe with whomever, but could also serve as a giant troop transport, science facility, engineering complex to fix a local colony, etc.

Note how after Wolf 359, Starfleet expanded it's numbers, had new ship designs, and seemed much more professionally military than it was previously. (no more children on starships) Problem is that the Dominion could still out-produce them, and until the season 5 finale of DS9, could breach Starfleet shields. What changed this? Having captured a Dominion ship, and having a heavy emphasis on science and research that allows a government to learn all about how to make defenses for it, as opposed to a government that heavily emphasizes focusing on military production and fighting.

Also note that Starfleet protested whenever the Federation Council did something colossally stupid(like cede Federation colonies to the Cardassians), while also still relocating colonists to similar or better worlds within UFP space. At the same time, it seemed that the UFP was more worried about an open war with the Romulans after their fight with the Borg, and wanted to free up resources in case that cold war became hot. Diplomacy and science really has saved the UFP's bacon.

Having that outlook really saved the Federation more than once. After all, a clever solution gets them out of a military fight more often than not. Allowing the UFP to expand what they can do, and what they are able to achieve.

[Durandal_1707]

The Cold War ended in the 2290s(via Star Trek VI). They didn't really become allies until the 2230s.

I assume that crazy time portal that the Enterprise-C got stuck in had something to do with this?

[FaxModem1]

The Cold War ended in the 2290s(via Star Trek VI). They didn't really become allies until the 2230s.

I assume that crazy time portal that the Enterprise-C got stuck in had something to do with this?

Yep, the incident with the Romulans and the Enterprise sacrificing herself made a deep cultural impact with the Klingon Empire, making it to where they viewed the Federation as honorable.

[Durandal_1707]

The Cold War ended in the 2290s(via Star Trek VI). They didn't really become allies until the 2230s.

I assume that crazy time portal that the Enterprise-C got stuck in had something to do with this?

Yep, the incident with the Romulans and the Enterprise sacrificing herself made a deep cultural impact with the Klingon Empire, making it to where they viewed the Federation as honorable.

Read the bit I quoted again

[GandALF]

I have a hard time believing that the full-Roddenberry season 1 & 2 TNG Federation is an actual liberal democracy, its just way too conformist. The universal atheism in particular makes it seem like there was a communist coup in between the TOS era and the TNG era. The writers had to slowly develop Q into more complex character away from Roddenberry's straw-god and introduce the Maquis and Section 31 to try and bring it closer to the flawed TOS Federation. Piller even deliberately created the religious Bajorans as a contrast with the materialistic Roddenberry humans to create more character conflict in DS9.

How federal is the Federation anyway? The Vulcans allow for battles to the death during pon farr, so does that mean its legal to do the same if you get blue balls on Earth? Do gay Vulcans even exist? If they do, would they then be encouraged to suppress it because of whole pon farr/arranged marriage traditions? Would that be acceptable in the Federation? Would traditionalist Christians and Muslims then move to Vulcan because the culture is inherently chaste? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

[FaxModem1]

The Cold War ended in the 2290s(via Star Trek VI). They didn't really become allies until the 2230s.

I assume that crazy time portal that the Enterprise-C got stuck in had something to do with this?

Yep, the incident with the Romulans and the Enterprise sacrificing herself made a deep cultural impact with the Klingon Empire, making it to where they viewed the Federation as honorable.

Read the bit I quoted again

Whoops, that should be 2330s.

[1701EarlGrey]

YES!