Virginicus, 8 months ago

@lydiaconwell I’m reminded of Cordwainer Smith’s Norstrilia, where no honest person would ever aspire to any rank higher than Vice Chairman.

lydiaconwell, 8 months ago

@Virginicus It that book good? It looks super retro!

urgentletter, 8 months ago

@lydiaconwell this may be the most realistic part of the show

lydiaconwell, 8 months ago

@urgentletter You're right!

hyc, 8 months ago

@lydiaconwell There is a rule on the ships, but they're out there on the frontiers, and the central command back at HQ don't really understand the situation. Plenty of times the central command was irrelevant, because by the time they got a message thru to Starfleet Command and got a reply back, the situation was already resolved.

Captains have to have the latitude to make decisions as needed. Crew must obey or risk losing the ship.

lydiaconwell, 8 months ago

@hyc Yes, but what I'm saying is the captains hate their orders being disobeyed but then they go and disobey orders themselves.

Higher ranks are often portrayed as out of touch and viewed with suspicion from the crew.

But if a crew member disobeys the captain, it's seen as insolence. And the dissenter is portrayed as naive or blinded by ideology.

TheSaanichDaily, 8 months ago

@lydiaconwell It's a military organization and they are all inherently fascist and authoritarian.

Is there any sci-fi show that has imagined a space exploration organization that isn't a "space army"?

I have equal gripes with all the acquiescence in sici-fi and fantasy fiction to monarchs, kings and other rulers.

Aren't we past this sort of thinking? Surely in the future humanity could get past the need for the "strong man" ruler?

lydiaconwell, 8 months ago

@TheSaanichDaily Yeah, Star Trek is pretty much the (US) army in space.

Although Alien does depict a corporate space exploration (before it depicts a more military side)