"...we should not interfere in the affairs of others (we do not understand)...we learned that from Star Trek." Rough Quote from Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show - 6/1/04

First off, I admit - I was, and still am a little bit, a Trekkie. My father is a major fan of science fiction, and he and I both loved Star Trek.

But the irony of the above quote was so surreal, for it came roughly 2 hours after I finished watching an old episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In that episode, two members of one group of people craved for 'medicine' that two members of another people, whose sole purpose in life was to create this 'medicine' and sell it, the only source of their income. The Enterprise learned the truth of the matter (drug addiction and dealing). But then Picard mentioned to the proprieters, who already knew this, that they could not notify the others that they were addicted to the drug, for that would have been a violation of what he called The Prime Directive, a law that forbade the Federation and any of their officers to interfere with the culture, decisions, and affairs of those whom they come in contact with while journeying through space. So, to achieve a neutral ground, Picard allowed both parties to deal peacefully with the distribution and purchasing of the serilium, the medicine, but in addition, he mentioned that they could not have the coils back that were needed for their ship. He told them they had to learn how to rebuild it themselves. Both sides did not like that new arrangement, but accepted it nonetheless.

In the end of the episode, Picard, talking to Dr. Crusher who dreaded the suffering of those that could have been helped by their hands, mentioned that the Prime Directive was more than a law, but a philosophy. He went on to state that "history has recorded that whenever mankind interferes with a culture or people that they do not fully understand or of which does not have the kind of abilities and technologies we have, no matter how righteous and good we feel our intentions are to them, the results have always been disasterous."

I am willing to bet you that Bush and the rest of his cronies didn't watch Star Trek or even cared about the messages that show emulated. If they did, they probably only enjoyed the scenes involving Klingons. Still, I feel that we all have something to learn from this episode about how we regard our future affairs. We went into Iraq, originally because they were a perceived immediate threat to our way of life and then later, to bring democracy to the region, to a people that haven't experienced such a thing in decades. But, in the darkest regions of our minds, even if our intentions were good, the end result is what we have seen - no electricity, no workable government, no security, no sufficient food or water, loss of hope, humiliation, and torture. As Picard said, the results have been disasterous.

We should begin to understand that just because we feel that somebody needs this or that, or should adopt a form of philosophy or religion to better themselves, does not mean that we have the right to interfere with their culture or current way of life. By honoring and respecting their culture, while simulaneously living ours and showing them what we can do, only then can we achieve true peace between us. We may not understand some of the things they do, and some cultures may run at the sight of what we do in the science labs or even at home. Still, tolerance is crucial to the advancement of our entire race, and until we can all finally achieve that and learn to adopt such a lifestyle, then there will always continue to be situations like Iraq, like homosexuals being killed for their lifestyle, like Christians being persecuted by others who don't take too well to their beliefs, etc.

Of all the concepts and stories that came out of Star Trek, including the popular phrase "to boldly go where no one has gone before," I think the greatest concept to arise from this entire legacy of a series is the Prime Directive. A simple philosophy, turned law in this show, that outlines the very aspect of how we should evolve ourselves and our culture, and yet achieve a peace and harmony that few have ever known. Some of you may read this and think "what the hell? He's talking about a TV show, what a moron!," and that's fine. My bottom line is we need to start realizing that we cannot simply step into other cultures and transform them to our way of thinking. It didn't work with us and the Native Americans, and it hasn't worked in Iraq. It hasn't worked for thousands of years, and the consequences have been wars, poverty, disease, famine, destruction.

Maybe it's finally time for our government and all of us to apply the Prime Directive to our lives, not that I'm telling you how to live.

cross-posted at Daily Kos Diaries

Posted by Tony at June 2, 2004 06:39 AM

Has anyone noticed that during this period of high gas prices when the pressure was on the Saudis to increase production, gunmen start attacking foreigners in Saudi Arabia, driving prices up in spite of higher production (best of both worlds for the producer, eh?)

No attacks on Saudis, no attack on the actual oil infrastructure, which must be vulnerable. Really, it looks like the lightest, least destructive attack possible that will spike gas prices.

It looks to me like Al Quaeda, assuming that they are behind this, may be acting in the best interests of Saudi oil men. I have always been suspicious that AQ has been covertly doing the Saudi monarchy's bidding, with the possible collusion of our own government.

I mean, if AQ really wanted to bring down the monarchy, they could begin a concerted oil-production-sabotage campaign. This would not be that hard, as we have seen in Iraq. The Saudis can't possible guard every mile of oil pipeline. Why are they not doing that if they truly want to take out the monarchy?

Here is my thesis. Al Quaeda is in fact a covert black opps organization run by the Saudi Monarchy to shift the focus of power away from oil consumers to oil producers.

Posted by Growth Factor at June 2, 2004 06:49 AM

Mike Allen of the Washington Post reads the blogs. He has an article today talking about the CEO president. That theme first showed up here, and then on Kevin Drum's blog.

This isn't the first time I've noticed a theme on the blogs taken up by professional journalists.It shows the influence the blogosphere is having on the traditional press, and that's a good thing. It would be nice though if these guys started giving some credit to specific bloggers instead of trashing us as unreliable and radical.

Posted by tings at June 2, 2004 08:40 AM

So what if they keep trashing us as unreliable and radical? The more they trash us, the more press we get (no pun intended). Plus, if all they can do is trash us, and we remain unwavering, sticking to the facts, disclosing them, and offering insightful, intellectual discourse, then we will gain more respect and influence when people see we don't let this get us down, and they are viewed as petty crybabies who are unable to do the work we do.

The hell with what the mainstream press think! If all they can do is bitch and moan about us, then that's all they will be able to do when it's said and done.

Posted by Tony at June 2, 2004 08:59 AM

I think the mainstream press trashes the blogs out of fear that they have lost their exclusive grip on information. Blogs are changing and challenging traditional media.

The thing that threatens them the most is the potential for feedback. They are used to talking to each other, repecting only the opinions of their peers. They can no longer speak from on high. They are discovering that their readers and watchers actually have opinions about their work and they just can't handle that.

Posted by tings at June 2, 2004 09:17 AM

'Growth factor' laid out something I've been wondering myself recently. WTF is up with AQ not attacking the truly vulnerable parts of the Saudi distribution grid? I'm not a tinfoil hat kind of gal ususally but it's starting to make me more than a little suspicious.

Posted by lux at June 2, 2004 09:57 AM

Sorry about the typos, people. I have some vision problems that make it hard to proofread. (That's a real handy excuse for bad typing and spelling.)

Posted by tings at June 2, 2004 10:20 AM