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<blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 914647" data-attributes="member: 463">Hi Mallus - you're right about the X-Files-inspired Section 31; I haven't seen enough of DS9 to see if the episodes genuinely question the Federation power structure, but I doubt it -&nbsp; in Trek elections &amp; even the concept of democracy seem to be as dead as capitalism, moreso really in that capitalism survives on the fringes of Federation society, as in the USSR, and we occasionally see merchant types like Quark operating in Federation territory, while I don't think democracy has ever even been mentioned since TOS.From what I've seen of the Maquis, they've always been presented as noble-but-misguided.&nbsp; There to demonstrate that The Federation Knows Best.Villains within Starfleet in current Trek have ceased to be nincompoop admirals, now it's gung-ho field officers who are presented as the bad guys, as in a Voyager episode where they meet another Starfleet ship with a 'rogue' leader - Captain Ransom, I think his name was (although I keep thinking Captain Carnage!) <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I don't think Voyager's Starfleet would publish an organ called 'Truth' - I get the impression they don't publish _anything_, and the existence of a newspaper called 'Truth' would imply there could be such a thing as 'Lies'.&nbsp; Starfleet-Federation seem careful never to enter into any kind of self-justificatory debate that could cause doubt in people's minds.&nbsp; Rather they must simply be accepted as the Only Possible Way.&nbsp; The system aims to make dissent literally inconceivable.&nbsp; I expect that dissenters are not argued with, or punished.&nbsp; They are, rather, _treated_ - as the mentally ill ought to be, for their own good...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="S'mon, post: 914647, member: 463"] Hi Mallus - you're right about the X-Files-inspired Section 31; I haven't seen enough of DS9 to see if the episodes genuinely question the Federation power structure, but I doubt it - in Trek elections & even the concept of democracy seem to be as dead as capitalism, moreso really in that capitalism survives on the fringes of Federation society, as in the USSR, and we occasionally see merchant types like Quark operating in Federation territory, while I don't think democracy has ever even been mentioned since TOS. From what I've seen of the Maquis, they've always been presented as noble-but-misguided. There to demonstrate that The Federation Knows Best. Villains within Starfleet in current Trek have ceased to be nincompoop admirals, now it's gung-ho field officers who are presented as the bad guys, as in a Voyager episode where they meet another Starfleet ship with a 'rogue' leader - Captain Ransom, I think his name was (although I keep thinking Captain Carnage!) :) I don't think Voyager's Starfleet would publish an organ called 'Truth' - I get the impression they don't publish _anything_, and the existence of a newspaper called 'Truth' would imply there could be such a thing as 'Lies'. Starfleet-Federation seem careful never to enter into any kind of self-justificatory debate that could cause doubt in people's minds. Rather they must simply be accepted as the Only Possible Way. The system aims to make dissent literally inconceivable. I expect that dissenters are not argued with, or punished. They are, rather, _treated_ - as the mentally ill ought to be, for their own good... [/QUOTE]

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