Well, you have to draw the line somewhere. You don't have enough resources to fix all the problems in the galaxy, and frankly no exploration vessel is going to have enough resources to fix all the problems of a planet. There are over a thousand people on the Enterprise, but a single crowded world could be twenty billion people. Even figuring out what a planet's main social problems are could take decades.Lago PARANOIA wrote:So how would you guys fix the Prime Directive so that it became less immoral?
I mean, even beyond the obvious excess of the post-TNG viewpoint that the PD didn't allow you to intervene in planetary destruction the entire idea was pretty vile. I mean, yes, a vastly culturally, technologically, and demographically superior power interfering with your affairs can lead to some bad shit. But I don't think this protection is at the cost of having to endure centuries of, say, intraplanetary genocide and slavery.
Personally, I think that the PD should be scrapped and that Starfleet is henceforth run as a pure humanitarian organization.
Frankly, the Prime Directive is a pretty good place to start. You institutionalize inertia against getting involved in the affairs of people on other planets, and you institutionalize even more inertia against getting involved in the affairs of people on planets that don't have warp capabilities and are thus not people you are in any way obligated to ever talk to.
Yes, it would be moral and good to violate the Prime Directive left right and center. And you'll notice: Federation people actually do that. But you want them to agonize about doing it and know that they'll be brought up for disciplinary review every time they do. That way they;ll only do it when it's really important and won't create a giant drain on Federation resources trying to rationalize water use among the gorbthag herders of Hukaris IV.
-Username17