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Of course, you could always run into the 'Trek equivalent Douglas Adams' Krikkiters - a race who finally becomes aware of life outside its own world, and decides that it will all have to go.

The point is that the morality behind the Prime Directive cannot be applied arbitrarily and still remain a valid morality. If you're going to intervene and save a race who is at a lower technological level than yourself, you must do that for EVERY such race, be they 10 years or 10,000 years behind you. And vice verse.

As far as surreptitiously helping someone, without their knowledge; great idea in theory, but shown in 'Trek to be REMARKABLY hard to effect. E.G., the Mintakans, the Ba'ku...

Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of "Hey, theres an asteroid going to wipe out all life on that planet, lets go help!" If they can help themselves, then fine. If the planet is still in the neolithic period, then why not? They'll never know you're there, so what could be dificult about helping them?

Normally, you should be able to help without being seen. In 'Trek, however, your captain ends up stranded on the planet, thinking himself to be a native, and calling himself "Kirok."

Rochey wrote:And why should the developement of a warp drive suddenly make a race worth saving? If anything they should be more dangerous than saving a bunch of cavemen.

i agree, if anything its the civilizations with warp drive that typically are the greatest threat to the federation. and, really, first contact with a civilization that just developed warp drive should be intrinsically as dangerous as first contact with a civilization that just developed nuclear weapons. if you're going to disrupt an alien belief system and upset their civilization and order by revealing to them that they're not alone in the universe, might as well do it when all they got are sticks and rocks rather than wait until they've got advanced spaceflight and matter/anti-matter reactors.

If they just got warp chances are in a few years at most they are going to find aliens by themselves. Thus it makes far more sense to talk to them first.

Remember, the aim of the Federation is to conquer everyone nonviolently and with their consent. The Feds have to get their hooks into newly warp-capable civilizations quickly, before they get any of their own ideas and may perhaps think twice about signing up.

I agree, the fleet should move quickly to surround the new races and bring them up in the federation. By 2410 the feds own half the alpha quad. They are going to need more races and people to help keep it under control. The klingons are only of use when we let them kill people and the cardassians are still rebuilding. Bajor is awaiting the retun of Sisko before they do anything more. The breen got schooled so they aren't bothering anyone. Whats left is the romulans, well they just got to go guys, sorry.

If they just got warp chances are in a few years at most they are going to find aliens by themselves. Thus it makes far more sense to talk to them first.

Indeed it does. The last thing you want is a rival power gaining more allies ( or even conquered territory) for themselves.

Teaos wrote:The Vulcans didn't save us from anything. They contacted a species that had just started warp flight. They aided in our advancement and survival they didnt save us. In fact we could have used their help 20 years earlier to prevent the war yet they choose not to.

I am not too sure about your interpretation. As I seen it, the Vulcans simply were slightly guiding humanity into the interstellar community - while keeping them at bay when it came to wide exploring (because we DID just came out of a massive global conflict) -.

But I don't see how they would have done anything like "saving" humanity by providing them anything. The political unification explained in FC was probably the (logical) reaction created by the realisation that there are peoples *out there*, which would be a hell of an incentive to drop squabbles.

And eventually, with trade route settled in with neighboors, you could eventually gain technology.

But I don't see how the Vulcan's part would be anything more than the introducers. "Denobulans, I present you the humans. Humans, here are the denobulans" and/or the advice-givers.

Anyway, since how poorly Vulcan ever understood human culture back in the 22th century, I'd be surprised if they managed to solve our problems...

For some reason, however, they seemed to have regarded themselves as humanity's court-ordered legal guardians. They may have claimed that they were "saving us" but I think there motives were rather ones of fear of taking a galactic back seat to this up-and-coming species with such vast potential.

They may just be control freaks. Wanting to squash our emotional nature since we can handle it and they cant.

Sounds like it'd fit in with their mentality.
Bloody Vulcans...

One of the few thinhs I liked about Enterprise was its willingness to portray the "perfect, superior, benevolent" depiction of Vulcans which had plagued the rest of Star Trek. I found that in this point, at least, it was able to present adifferent point of view, without actually contradicting prior canon.

Indeed, that was one of the few things I liked about it.

Funny thing is all the die hard TOS fans hated it.