From: john@thebeard.demon.co.uk (John Robinson) Newsgroups: alt.humor.best-of-usenet Subject: [rec.arts.sf.fandom] Re: Lawyers...in....spaaaaaace Date: 8 Sep 1998 14:58:51 GMT Subject: Re: Lawyers...in....spaaaaaace was:Re: Prometheus Award From: joe@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au.DELETETHIS (Joe Slater) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom, rec.arts.sf.written, alt.politics.libertarian >Lizard wrote: >> What we've seen of the penal system isn't promising -- forced labor >> camps (mentioned in Voyager and DS9, and also "Trouble With Tribbles") >> and mind-control 'rehabilitation', at least experimentally. Keith Morrison wrote: >Well, when you did see the "forced labour camp" they didn't appear >to be doing anything more vigorous than what you'd expect in a modern >prison. And there were essentially no guards, no physical fences, >nice outdoorsy working area. Well, of course. All we get to see are the propaganda films that the Federation releases. Consider: the Federation doesn't use money. Everybody seems to wear uniforms - when you see street scenes they all wear variations on the basic uniform. All their needs are allegedly supplied by replicators - so why don't colony worlds have them? Why does Quark dispense liquor from bottles? Why are they short of vessels? The obvious answer is that we are being lied to. If replicators exist they are either unbelievably expensive (the energy used to make a glass of water would run a city) or very unsatisfactory. If they are used at all, they are used to supply luxuries to the military ruling class. The economy is obviously one of scarcity, but they don't use money - this was admitted by Jake Sisko and others. Consider the awful bureacracy needed to ration everything across the Federation. Also consider the role of non-human races - we rarely see them in the Federation except as senior officers or cadets. These must be the children of the quislings who administer the slave-worlds of Vulcan, Andorra and so forth. Most humans hate aliens, hate their cold skin and slimy touch. These few are only there as political favors and to preserve an illusion of equality. The Klingons used to be the bad guys. Now they are represented almost as comically decent chaps with funny faces who cannot control their temper. The Federation has different enemies and it is politically convenient to demonise others. The Dominion, for instance - such a similar word, but with such different connotations! Why did the Federation choose *that* term to translate it? This is like something out of 1984; there is always an enemy, and although the name of that enemy will appear to change from time to time it will *always have been* the enemy. Once you start to consider what truth lies behind the instructional tapes released by the Federation (via its local embassy, Paramount) you will start to realise that it is nothing more than an attempt to soften us up for takeover. Resist! They wouldn't be trying these methods if they were confident of success. Even now, brave resistance fighters who *know the truth* are trying to contact Captain John Sheridan aboard Babylon 5. Help is on its way!