Green Arrow
10-27-2017, 08:03 PM
This is one of my all-time favorite Star Trek moments, from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Symbiosis."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppykquyAUyY
In the episode, Captain Picard and his crew are faced with a dilemma. The Ornarans are apparently suffering from a terrible disease for which there is only one treatment: felicium, created by the Brekkians. The Ornarans traded with the Brekkians for the felicium, but their freighter disintegrated in orbit of a star. The crew of the Enterprise were able to save two Ornarans and two Brekkians, as well as the felicium. However, the Brekkians refuse to give the Ornarans the felicium since they no longer had the goods they were trading to the Brekkians. Over the course of the episode, Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher learn that there is no plague on the Ornarans, and that it is actually a severe addiction to the felicium, which is a narcotic. The Brekkians eventually agree to give the felicium to the Ornarans after Picard tells them that the Prime Directive keeps him from interfering in their business, and the four are ready to beam down to their planet with the felicium and some coils to help repair the Ornaran freighters that facilitate the trade. Captain Picard refuses to give them the coils, however, again citing the Prime Directive. The aliens are beamed home and Picard has this discussion with Dr. Crusher.
The Prime Directive is, in my opinion, the best possible philosophy the U.S. could adopt when it comes to foreign affairs. It is the position of balance between all the competing ideologies of isolationism, interventionism, non-interventionism, and realism. We can interfere in other cultures for the purpose of our own defense and the defense of our allies, but not unprovoked and not without compelling national interest. As Picard says to Dr. Crusher, every time a more developed civilization interferes in the affairs of less developed civilizations, no matter how well-intentioned, disaster ensues. This has been proven to translate into the real world, particularly where the Middle East is concerned. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in the aftermath of World War I, the more well-developed nations of the winning side arbitrarily determined the new borders based on what they thought was best for their nations, and the result was unmitigated disaster that still plagues us today, over one hundred years later. In 2003, we destabilized Iraq by taking out Saddam Hussein, ostensibly for humanitarian reasons. The result was a weak Iraqi central government and a power vacuum that the terrorist group ISIL was more than happy to fill, which caused yet another humanitarian and security crisis. In 2011, we helped eliminate Muammar Gadhafi in Libya, which gave ISIL and other terror groups another power vacuum. In 2013, we began destabilizing the Assad regime, which gave ISIL a foothold in THAT country.
It's time to put away the failed foreign policies of the past and try out a real world Prime Directive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppykquyAUyY
In the episode, Captain Picard and his crew are faced with a dilemma. The Ornarans are apparently suffering from a terrible disease for which there is only one treatment: felicium, created by the Brekkians. The Ornarans traded with the Brekkians for the felicium, but their freighter disintegrated in orbit of a star. The crew of the Enterprise were able to save two Ornarans and two Brekkians, as well as the felicium. However, the Brekkians refuse to give the Ornarans the felicium since they no longer had the goods they were trading to the Brekkians. Over the course of the episode, Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher learn that there is no plague on the Ornarans, and that it is actually a severe addiction to the felicium, which is a narcotic. The Brekkians eventually agree to give the felicium to the Ornarans after Picard tells them that the Prime Directive keeps him from interfering in their business, and the four are ready to beam down to their planet with the felicium and some coils to help repair the Ornaran freighters that facilitate the trade. Captain Picard refuses to give them the coils, however, again citing the Prime Directive. The aliens are beamed home and Picard has this discussion with Dr. Crusher.
The Prime Directive is, in my opinion, the best possible philosophy the U.S. could adopt when it comes to foreign affairs. It is the position of balance between all the competing ideologies of isolationism, interventionism, non-interventionism, and realism. We can interfere in other cultures for the purpose of our own defense and the defense of our allies, but not unprovoked and not without compelling national interest. As Picard says to Dr. Crusher, every time a more developed civilization interferes in the affairs of less developed civilizations, no matter how well-intentioned, disaster ensues. This has been proven to translate into the real world, particularly where the Middle East is concerned. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in the aftermath of World War I, the more well-developed nations of the winning side arbitrarily determined the new borders based on what they thought was best for their nations, and the result was unmitigated disaster that still plagues us today, over one hundred years later. In 2003, we destabilized Iraq by taking out Saddam Hussein, ostensibly for humanitarian reasons. The result was a weak Iraqi central government and a power vacuum that the terrorist group ISIL was more than happy to fill, which caused yet another humanitarian and security crisis. In 2011, we helped eliminate Muammar Gadhafi in Libya, which gave ISIL and other terror groups another power vacuum. In 2013, we began destabilizing the Assad regime, which gave ISIL a foothold in THAT country.
It's time to put away the failed foreign policies of the past and try out a real world Prime Directive.