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Which world would you rather live in? | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 192 comments | Search Discussion
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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday December 28 2019, @12:52AM (3 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Saturday December 28 2019, @12:52AM (#936721) Homepage Journal

    You're right on the unpossibleness but I wouldn't choose it even if it were an option. The liberties they seem to enjoy are illusions, as shown in the Homefront and Paradise Lost episodes of DS9, among many others where Starfleet specifically or the Federation in general shows you clearly that the government is totally willing to trample individual rights for some Higher Purpose. They're just fascists without the strength to admit it to themselves.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +4  
       Insightful=1, Interesting=2, Informative=1, Total=4
    Extra 'Interesting' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   5  

  • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Saturday December 28 2019, @01:59AM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Saturday December 28 2019, @01:59AM (#936753) Journal

    It seems that in the face of war, or perceived war, it is traditional and futural (?) to suspend civil liberties. It would be interesting to imagine a world where that doesn't happen.

    The episodes you not also emphasize a weakness in any governmental system -- the people who comprise it and the portion who will seek power at any cost.

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday December 28 2019, @04:56AM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Saturday December 28 2019, @04:56AM (#936798) Homepage

    Yep, and even during times of relative peace, back in the TNG days we had the fascists at Starfleet try to claim Data as property in Measure of a Man and kangaroo courts in The Drumhead.

    And before we knew what Section 31 even was, we had deep-state fuckery in The Pegasus.

  • (Score: 2) by meustrus on Friday January 10 2020, @05:33PM

    by meustrus (4961) on Friday January 10 2020, @05:33PM (#941966)

    Totalitarian != Fascist. Words have meaning, and the meaning of "Fascist" is tied to identity politics, not necessarily overreach by the state.

    Your references point to a statist ideology of national security. I'm not aware of a good -ism for this ideology, but a quick Google search brings up this article from The American Conservative [theamericanconservative.com] asserting an American "Ideology of National Security" that 1) describes a motivation common to both mainstream America and the United Federation of Planets, and 2) backs up exactly the kind of secret-police-know-best mechanism of effecting a Higher Purpose.

    There are fascists in Star Trek. Just not the Federation itself, not even Section 31. The Terran Empire [fandom.com] in the mirror universe and Terra Prime [fandom.com] from Enterprise (predating the foundation of the Federation) both come to mind.

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    If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?