The pro-relocation argument makes more sense if the movie is supposed to be set during the Dominion War (the happiness of 600 neo-Luddites versus the lives of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers trying to keep the quadrant, including those Luddites, from being overrun by a foreign power less inclined to leave them alone afterwards, makes for a pretty solid "needs of the many" argument), but I've heard conflicting information on the movie's date.
Well... based on dialog at the start of the movie with the diplomatic thing, it sounds like it is shortly after the end of the Dominion War, and I believe it is accepted as taking place in 2375.
And what really hammers it home for me is this:
Admiral Matthew Dougherty: We'll simply be restoring them to their natural evolution. Captain Picard: Who the hell are we to determine the next course of evolution for these people?
EVOLUTION DOESN'T HAVE A COURSE! IT IS NOT A SENTIENT FORCE, YOU NUMBSKULLS!
Ahem. Earth hominids haven't followed any kind of "natural" evolutionary path since we invented agriculture and clothing. We completely defy natural selection because we accidentally developed these abnormally huge brains capable of developing technology further than "build nest" and "use stick to reach object". If Dougherty's statement had any basis whatsoever in reality, we wouldn't be having this conversation because nobody would've come up with Star Trek to begin with.
Goddammit, Insurrection is such a frickin' stupid movie...
Why I would probably be willing to agree that we're not on a"natural" evolutionary path anymore, I think we can't really escape evolution, either. Our current environment supports us (and we helped manipulate it to support us better), but if the environment changes to no longer work so well for us and we can't compensate... well, evolution won't spare us either.
Anyway, there is no need to ever consider "natural" to be something benign or positive. It can be good or bad. There are "natural" remedies for diseases, but there are also natural diseases and poisons. They are no better than the unnatural ones. And unnatural remedies for diseases still get rid of the disease. In that regard, technology and nature are not different...
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Comments
Me : Tactical stand by full spread torpedos on my mark
XO : Uh captain thats the admirals personal latrine
Me : Noted Number one , tactical prepare to fire
XO : Captain ....the admiral is still in there
Me : tacitcal full spread FIRE!! , Comms send a message to the admiral ask him " U mad bro?"
Anyway, there is no need to ever consider "natural" to be something benign or positive. It can be good or bad. There are "natural" remedies for diseases, but there are also natural diseases and poisons. They are no better than the unnatural ones. And unnatural remedies for diseases still get rid of the disease. In that regard, technology and nature are not different...
I really do love it, the episode's not bad either (perhaps the most helpful higher-technology species encountered)
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My forum single-issue of rage: Make the Proton Experimental Weapon go for subsystem targetting!