Starfleet has been monitoring the development of a pre-contact global civilization that is still wrestling with capitalist imperialism, still split into infighting nationalistic factions.
World war breaks out near the start of the episode and the fascists actually win, enslave and colonize neighboring countries, committing an ongoing genocide and lebensraum/manifest destiny. The ship is dispatched to send specially trained Starfleet officers down to the planet as infiltrators to directly monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, the situation is intensely debated both by the ship's command staff and the upper echelons of Starfleet, with regards to the prime directive and whether/how to intervene.
I know this is a lot like DS9 but I loved that shit and was so disappointed when Trek went in a completely different and wrong direction that I'm not watching any of the new stuff. Wanted more of the philosophical Picard and so on.
Not sure exactly where to go from there but I don't believe there should be some deus ex machina that allows the main characters to resolve the crisis in one episode, but I think they should intervene over the course of several episodes because that gives an opportunity to explore the moral core of FALGSC and the ethical dilemmas ( deontological vs. utilitarian) and contradictions inherent in the prime directive and whether the Federation itself is imperialistic.
I think it would also make for good drama and satisfy people's apparent demand for grittier iterations of classic sci fi without becoming warped by capitalist realism.
So it's not a mechanistic adherence to legal codes that holds the Federation together and keeps it true to its aims but the spirit and positive potential of human nature and the nature of all sentient beings. So you know, classic Trek stuff.
Edit: classic tng/ds9 stuff I guess
Edit2: Or... "Spirit and positive potential of human nature and the nature of all sentient beings" could easily be a cynically appropriated fascist slogan. See? I think it would be interesting...
Starfleet has been monitoring the development of a pre-contact global civilization that is still wrestling with capitalist imperialism, still split into infighting nationalistic factions.
World war breaks out near the start of the episode and the fascists actually win, enslave and colonize neighboring countries, committing an ongoing genocide and lebensraum/manifest destiny. The ship is dispatched to send specially trained Starfleet officers down to the planet as infiltrators to directly monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, the situation is intensely debated both by the ship's command staff and the upper echelons of Starfleet, with regards to the prime directive and whether/how to intervene.
I know this is a lot like DS9 but I loved that shit and was so disappointed when Trek went in a completely different and wrong direction that I'm not watching any of the new stuff. Wanted more of the philosophical Picard and so on.
Not sure exactly where to go from there but I don't believe there should be some deus ex machina that allows the main characters to resolve the crisis in one episode, but I think they should intervene over the course of several episodes because that gives an opportunity to explore the moral core of FALGSC and the ethical dilemmas ( deontological vs. utilitarian) and contradictions inherent in the prime directive and whether the Federation itself is imperialistic.
I think it would also make for good drama and satisfy people's apparent demand for grittier iterations of classic sci fi without becoming warped by capitalist realism.
So it's not a mechanistic adherence to legal codes that holds the Federation together and keeps it true to its aims but the spirit and positive potential of human nature and the nature of all sentient beings. So you know, classic Trek stuff.
Edit: classic tng/ds9 stuff I guess
Edit2: Or... "Spirit and positive potential of human nature and the nature of all sentient beings" could easily be a cynically appropriated fascist slogan. See? I think it would be interesting...