On Sun, 18 May 2008 23:28:41 -0400, "80 Knight" <nospam@nospam.com>
wrote:
>"SAC 441" <SAC441@webtv.net> wrote in message
>news:24030-48306EF0-1316@storefull-3257.bay.webtv.net...
>> 80 Knight responded to a posting:
>> ----"Did you even watch the series? For starters,
>> "Enterprise" was set way before Janeway, or Kirk,
>> so there were no "tri-cobalt" devices.For seconds,
>> Starfleet had no idea where the Xindi homeworld was."----
>>
>>
>> Reply:
>> Point taken about the timeline....in any event however,my overall thrust
>> to the Xindi prototype
>> probe strike was the ethos of the Federation policy towards it.They
>> should have launched a "search and destroy" counterstrike from the
>> outset immediately instead of wasting time trying to investigate the
>> WHY's and the wherefore's of the attack.Sure,ultimately some other alien
>> species was behind the misconception that Earth was going to destroy
>> them,but with an attack like that they did NOT have the luxury to delve
>> deeper into the mystery like they did.
>> They should have used whatever technical means was available of that
>> day and attempted to annihilate the Xindi before the second attempt.If I
>> was an Earth bound politician in such circumstances,that is how I would
>> view it.
>
>So, you are saying when Starfleet figured out the "Xindi" (a
>never-before-heard-of species) sent the probe, they should have sent out a
>starship to destroy there home planet, no questions asked? No offence, but
>that sounds kind of foolish. I live in Canada, and if someone over here
>decided to be dumb and blow up Rhode Island, does that mean the USA
>government would send a bunch of nukes over here and kill us all? You need
>to figure out the why's. You need to know exactly who did it, and why.
>Only then can you decide what to do about it
>
>> Thermonuclear weapons WERE available in Archer's day.As to tri-cobalt
>> devices,Star Trek lore does not exactly make clear at what point in the
>> time line that tri-cobalt devices appeared.
>> As to the second contention,*EVENTUALLY* the NX-01 **DID** discover
>> where the Xindi homeworld was,and at that point they should have
>> annihilated it.
>
>I still highly disagree. You can't blame and punish an entire race for the
>actions of only a few.
Sure you can. Ask the American Indians about that. Doesn't make it
RIGHT, no. But it's the "Red Button" thing. Give people a box with a
Red Button. Tell them that if they push the button, someone in the
world they've never met and would never meet will die. They will not
be punished or prosecuted in any way for pushing the Red Button. There
would be no consequence whatsoever for pushing the Red Button.
A surprising number of people will push the Red Button. Now imagine
if they were told the person on the other end was named Osama bin
Laden. Part of why "morality" works as a civilizing force is that you
have to live with the consequences of your actions. If we nuke Russia
they nuke us back; if you shoot your neighbor a SWAT team pays you a
visit. If you blow up a planet on the other side of the galaxy
because they tried (and failed) to blow you up the consequences are
so, well, "inconsequential" that I'd be surprised it didn't happen all
the time. Perhaps SETI has failed thusfar because only the dumb ones
let anyone know they're there and they don't last very long.
--
The Stone Age did not end
because we ran out of stones.
Kweeg
Kweeg
