Then again the SGC has a policy of sharing supplies and rendering humanitarian aid when they can afford to but not sharing military equipment unless they really think it’s for the better. Starfleet should give them at least some credit for that; it’s remarkably close to common Starfleet practice.
In the end, though, it really demonstrates how the Prime Directive is a flawed measuring stick and always has been. People like the Klingons (hyper-aggressive), the Ferengi (hyper-capitalists who bought their way into space), and the Cardassians (space Nazis) are cool but the Tau’ri are sketchy because they bring guns when they explore space.
I’m pretty sure O’Neill would be happy to comment on how Starfleet and their equipment sure look military from the outside even if they bring civilians on their combat-ready vessels equipped with weapons of mass destruction. And how his humanity didn’t nuke itself. Well, except those Genii guys but they don’t count. Different humanity.
By the time the Ori have been dealt with, the Tau’ri have been outright declared the worthy successors of two of the most advanced civilizations their galaxy had ever seen. And each of those civilizations had lasted for millions of years so it’s not like it’s power-hungry psychos giving each other pats on the back. That still doesn’t change Starfleet’s point about their cultural advancement but makes it that much harder to cleanly argue.
It’s like they were made to turn the usual Federation talking points into complicated messes.
(On the other hand they can only hope the Federation never hears about how many solar systems they managed to destroy, usually by accident. Now that’s a good reason not to trust them with advanced technology.)
Then again the SGC has a policy of sharing supplies and rendering humanitarian aid when they can afford to but not sharing military equipment unless they really think it’s for the better. Starfleet should give them at least some credit for that; it’s remarkably close to common Starfleet practice.
In the end, though, it really demonstrates how the Prime Directive is a flawed measuring stick and always has been. People like the Klingons (hyper-aggressive), the Ferengi (hyper-capitalists who bought their way into space), and the Cardassians (space Nazis) are cool but the Tau’ri are sketchy because they bring guns when they explore space.
I’m pretty sure O’Neill would be happy to comment on how Starfleet and their equipment sure look military from the outside even if they bring civilians on their combat-ready vessels equipped with weapons of mass destruction. And how his humanity didn’t nuke itself. Well, except those Genii guys but they don’t count. Different humanity.
By the time the Ori have been dealt with, the Tau’ri have been outright declared the worthy successors of two of the most advanced civilizations their galaxy had ever seen. And each of those civilizations had lasted for millions of years so it’s not like it’s power-hungry psychos giving each other pats on the back. That still doesn’t change Starfleet’s point about their cultural advancement but makes it that much harder to cleanly argue.
It’s like they were made to turn the usual Federation talking points into complicated messes.
(On the other hand they can only hope the Federation never hears about how many solar systems they managed to destroy, usually by accident. Now that’s a good reason not to trust them with advanced technology.)