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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 14th, 2023

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  • FRIENDLY NOTE: I don’t mean this to sound combative, I just want to offer a different (more optimistic) perspective.

    What’s missing here is the central conceit of Trek: that humanity grew up. We could have a utopia now if people would just stop being greedy little shits, and decided to embrace empathy and forgiveness. There’s nothing stopping every single person in a modern conflict from dropping their weapons, but we still want vengeance and punishment. and I’m not saying I’m above that: someone kills someone I love, and I’m going to want blood. On paper I’m against capital punishment, but I know if I was faced with a war on my doorstep, bombs being dropped, my morals may not hold.

    In Star Trek, they had WW3/the Eugenics Wars, and after that…humanity finally had enough. Never again, but for all the ills of humanity, in a way.

    So very few people in the Trek world would actually complain about working a shit detail, because they’re in it for the greater good. We saw in TNG episodes that randos from the 20th century could just waltz around the ship at their leisure, and how lax security is…because people just generally behaved well. Humanity really did bind themselves to a stronger social contract, if that’s the right term.

    As for needing ships: there seem to be plenty of civilian ships out there, from trading and light exploration to proper science vessels. Not all Starfleet, though the shows have focused on them. So I can only imagine there’s plenty of opportunity for non-Starfleet folks to get out there.

    Granted, DS9 pushed back on all this a little, as the Maquis are comprised of a lot of Federation members that went feral/colonial and don’t hold themselves to the Federation ideals that seem to keep the rest of humanity and others acting in good faith at almost all times. Likewise still plenty of BadMirals out there, and they do show the Tom Paris-es of the world in some kind of prison, so it’s not all roses, and could definitely be spun as drops of dystopia in a utopia, but we’re also told (and have no reason to doubt) that it’s all well-above board, humane, and focused on rehabilitation instead of punishment.

    Also, all that said, I do wish it wasn’t so hierarchical, but that’s my anarchist streak flaring up.


  • There are some damn cool Karen-looking folks out there.

    When I was a gawky high schooler, I worked in a pet store. A lady came in demanding a refund for a broken bottle of flea spray. I apologized and took a look at it: turned out she hadn’t flipped the little fiddly bit on the end of the nozzle around correctly, so it was actually functional.

    She still didn’t want it, and demanded a cash refund. Small independent pet store, so we didn’t do that for credit card purchases, or ones without a receipt: store credit only, unfortunately. She started to get mad, and I told her she could talk to the manager first thing on Monday. She wasn’t having it.

    Behold the entrance of a Savior sandwiched between spiky dyed-blond hair and leopard-patterned pants. Summoning the strength of all the Karens out there - but wielding that power for good - she put herself between us. She started by simply telling her to “leave this poor kid alone, he doesn’t make the rules”, but when it was clear that the lady wasn’t going to budge, she advanced on her prey and said “if you’re too stupid to figure out how to use a spray bottle you don’t deserve a refund anyway”.

    Wish I could thank her again: it defined the best and worst of working retail.



  • Yeah, I’m reminded of one of the things the Emissary himself tried to explain to the Prophets. In this case, however, the past experience guiding Pike’s choices in the present is already in the future…

    Prophet - OPS OFFICER: You have no regard for the consequences of your acts.

    SISKO: That’s not true. We’re aware that every choice we make has a consequence.

    Prophet - CAPTAIN: But you claim you do not know what it will be.

    SISKO: We don’t.

    Prophet - JAKE: Then how can you take responsibility for your actions?

    Sisko: We use past experiences to help guide us. For Jennifer and me, all the experiences in our lives prepared us for the day we met on the beach, helped us recognize that we had a future together. When we married, we accepted all the consequences of that act, whatever they might be, including the consequences of you.

    Cited from: http://www.chakoteya.net/DS9/401.htm











  • You just don’t realize how good we have it here, even if it means we have to work hard sometimes and get up early and spend five days a work working for someone else. That’s an opportunity millions of other humans can only dream of having.

    Do you ever reflect on the fact that “we” have it good “here” because other people are suffering?

    We are incredibly fortunate, but it comes at a serious cost. The cheap electronics and clothing and tchotchkes we drown ourselves in is made on the backs of folks less fortunate (not to mention the biosphere as a whole). We didn’t sign up to be on the side of exploitation, and we don’t want to live in ignorance of what supports our way of life.



  • Sorry, I took a more international route with the terminology: I meant state as in The State, not an individual state in the USA. Federal laws restricting the purchase of a firearm is IMHO the State interfering with the Second Amendment, if you’re taking a severely strict interpretation of it.

    So that’s my question: is it OK to have the Federal restrictions on what you can buy (e.g. requiring a permit!), and from disallowing Felons? I’m a gun owner myself, but if you go back to what I opened with: the discrepancy between “The state can’t then come through and require a permit to own a gun” and seemingly OK with some Federal oversight is a hangup for a lot of us. If a handful of laws are common sense (no felons), why can’t we enact other common sense laws?


  • If I can barge into this comment chain, the confusion seems to stem from your initial comment.

    It’s not really “common sense” though. The Constitution clearly says you have a right to own a gun.

    The state can’t then come through and require a permit to own a gun.

    It’s a Right, not a “right”*.

    Isn’t the application of an FFL the state requiring a permit to own a (certain kind of) gun? Likewise, the state telling folks they can or can’t own guns just because of a few measly felonies…isn’t that against a strict interpretation of the Second Amendment? Doesn’t that deny them a “Right”?