Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Missing by Una McCormack

Author:Una McCormack
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, Star Trek
ISBN: 9781476750255
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2014-12-30T08:00:00+00:00

Seven

Captain’s Log, Personal.

I should offer some thoughts on the Prime Directive, although I believe that a complete discussion could easily sustain a full-length work in itself. This, the guiding principle behind all exploration conducted under the banner of Starfleet, is of course intended to prevent the hideous forms of exploitation that can come when an advanced civilization makes contact with one that is less so. Even the most cursory reading of Earth history will show the extent to which we should be on guard against these circumstances. Beware of involvement and intervention, the Prime Directive insists, because our history instructs us that that way lies tragedy. In no way do I mean to understate this, and I do not advocate casual meddling in the affairs of others. But I increasingly come to believe that in certain circumstances lofty disinterest can be, in its own way, a form of self-aggrandizement, implying, as it does, that we are in some way superior to the civilizations we meet and must remain aloof. How can one walk away from suffering?

Surely, then, there must be a third way?

I recall an excellent speculative novel in which the explorers from Earth, on discovering a new and technologically less advanced civilization, agonize as to what degree of involvement would be appropriate. They solve this thorny problem by asking the people concerned what they think would be appropriate; in other words, the humans demonstrate that they have truly learned the lessons of the past by no longer assuming that they have the answers as far as others are concerned . . .

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