this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2023
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Risa
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Come on'n get your jamaharon on! There are no real rules—just don't break the weather control network.
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This is what I never understood. The principle of respecting the autonomy of other cultures is good imo, but what "cultural contamination" could be worse than the total extinction of the civilization you're trying to protect?
Applying the Prime Directive in such extreme circumstances turns it from an anti-imperialist ideal to a Social Darwinist one.
And yet if your teenage ensign is given a death sentence, definitely violate the Prime Directive. The needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many and all that...
Also they had already made contact, does the prime directive apply?
For their internal politics, yes the PD applies. For general interaction, no, the PD no longer applies. You can also land on a pre-warp world if they're already buying Romulan Ale from the Ferengi. It's not like you can make it any worse once the cat's out of the bag. Consider that Kirk was sent to negotiate with the Organians back when they were thought to be a pre-industrial species; that was fine since they had already been contacted by some other people, including the Klingons.