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Avarin

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Posts posted by Avarin

  1. "Captain James T. Kirk: [broadcasting on intership communications] This is the Captain speaking. In approximately one minute, we'll be attacked by Federation starships. The M-5 no longer controls the ship, but then neither we control it. The M-5 has left itself, and us, open for destruction. For whatever satisfaction we may get from the knowledge, our nineteen lives will buy the survival of over one thousand of our fellow starship crewmen."

    Awesome.

    ~Remy

    • Like 1
  2. 12 hours ago, Taelon said:

    Section 31 bothers me for a number of reasons but I'll sum it up as: 

    Section 31 is, effectively, something like a mythical 'KGB' - it exists not to 'protect', but to force things to go the way of the Federation government. Its very existence in the recent films and DS9 is not only incredibly unrealistic, but it goes against the basic outline of the Federation's morals and Roddenberry's vision. While Gene's vision was sometimes a bit...odd (to say the least) it's one thing to say the Federation is willing to use their Intelligence agents in wet work, and quite another to say they're fine with overriding individual rights and lives at the discretion of their agents.

    The Federation is supposed to be an enlightened government who actually rules with their citizen's best interests in mind, and I do not feel that Section 31 fits into that at all. 

    (Also, to be realistic? If you want some opposing leader killed, it's far better to encourage their own government's dissidents to do the job for you and deny any involvement, than it is to send in fanciful 'James Bond' types.)

    Up to that last line, I was in total agreement ... (laughs)

    But you do have a point. From a story viewpoint, Section 31 was immensely irritating -- the whole idea of a shadow organization that sees all/knows all is unrealistic and their methods were way over the top. You know, there are a whole lot of armchair quarterbacks in the actual world that think they could run the country better than those in charge so its also reasonable to assume that such types exist in the Star Trek universe. However, and its not a small however, they shouldn't be the ones in charge. I agree with you -the Federation is supposed to be enlightened government and yes indeed, Gene Roddenberry had some ... odd ... ideas.

  3. Is that what we have become? A 24th century Rome driven by nothing other than the certainty that Caesar can do no wrong?
    ~ Julian Bashin to Admiral William Ross, 2375

    I'm not a fan of 'ends justifies the means' - that morally wrong actions can lead to a morally right outcome - and I wholeheartedly believe in accountability. 
    So, I'm against Section 31. The fact that they are autonomous and accountable to no one is horrifying to me as are some of the actions they have taken in support of their goal.
    The United Federation of Planets was founded on some fairly lofty principles. Starfleet operates under the prime directive. I respect that. 

    Anyways, that's my two cents. Interesting poll ... keep 'em coming.
     

    • Like 2
  4. Ron Moore, the man who was a longstanding Star Trek writer before he rebooted Battlestar Galactica, once explained the frustration of creating stories in the Star Trek universe:

    Quote

    “[You’d be] in the writers room and tossing out stories then having to stop yourself and go ‘Does this work? Does this violate continuity?’ And having to call people and check encyclopedias and look up information. You want to have it all in your head and just play. The Trek universe has got to the point where you can’t play anymore.”

    I have read more than once about how a writer will ignore canon in favor of a good story and I can understand the frustration. On the other hand, I can also appreciate how canon describes the world in which we choose to write. We want that world to make sense, for the parts to work together, and when it doesn't, it can be very frustrating. 

    For me I think I come down in the middle. I want to learn, to observe canon, but at the same time, I don't want canon to be the most important thing.  Creativity has its place too and as catscatscats said, the spirit of collaboration is sometimes more important than getting every detail right.

    • Like 2
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