Memory Alpha’s riot timeline:
Early in the morning of September 1st, a fight between a guard and a dim sparked a riot, wherein the ghosts led by B.C. attacked the Sanctuary guards and quickly captured the Sanctuary Processing Center as well as the rest of the district. Armed with the weapons of the overpowered guards, the ghosts took six center employees hostage, including Vin, Calvera, and Lee. They were joined by “Gabriel Bell” and Michael Webb, who acted as the voice and face of the riot while dealing with police negotiator Detective Preston.
Chris Brynner, who owned Brynner Information Systems (which operated Channel 90 on the net), was convinced by Dax to break the law and to reconnect the Processing Center after the police cut it off. Reconnected on September 2nd, many Sanctuary residents (such as Henry Garcia) were able to tell their stories of imprisonment to the outside world. As a result, the American public became aware of the great injustice that had been hidden from them and further riots broke out in Sanctuaries across the US.
Despite protests from Detective Preston, the governor of California ordered National Guardsmen to retake the Sanctuary by force on September 3rd at 0500 hours. In the melee, hundreds of Sanctuary residents were killed, including B.C. and Michael Webb. “Gabriel Bell” was shot, protecting Vin and the other hostages (all of whom remained unharmed).
So despite knowing that there are reasons to riot — even good ones — you’d prefer that society stay in the state that it is in?
“Pls maintain status quo, I’m scared of change”
No, but Star Trek shows us we can change for the better. I’m not saying I have a solution to offer, but violence shouldn’t be encouraged or pushed higher up in the list of things to try…
Whops I responded to a wrong comment before.
Anyway.
Data on political violence
Lt. Commander Data : But if that is so, Captain, why are their methods so often successful? I’ve been reviewing the history of armed rebellion, and it appears that terrorism is an effective way to promote political change.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Yes, it can be. But I have never subscribed to the theory that political power flows from the barrel of a gun.
Lt. Commander Data : Yet there are numerous examples when it was successful; the independence of the Mexican state from Spain, the Irish Unification of 2024, and the Kenzie Rebellion.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Yes, I am aware of them.
Lt. Commander Data : Then would it be accurate to say that terrorism is acceptable, when all options for peaceful settlement have been foreclosed?
Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Data, these are questions that mankind has been struggling with throughout history. Your confusion is… only Human.
Well, you replied to the original poster so that’s hardly a mistake :)
The thing is that I agree. I don’t see Star Trek being a realistic future in any way, unfortunately. Now, the Terran empire on the other hand, minus the space faring stuff? Can’t be too far away. Doesn’t change my thoughts about violence though.
Based on nothing else than “nothing ever goes well”? You do remember that even in Star Trek, the early 21st century was garbage, historically?
There’s the post-atomic horror, but we get to meet a few aliens who will help us slowly get back on track.
Just like with the bad predictions about the internet, if one were to jokingly interpret ST as prophecy, one could say that maybe they had the gist of it, but the details wrong. It’s probably not Vulcans we’ll meet, but perhaps we can manage to upturn the prohibition of ecstasy, LSD, shrooms etc and through that, we’ll notice a marked difference in the world when people aren’t getting drunk anymore and fighting, but rolling, being nice to everyone, etc. Deep cultural paradigm shift that’s comparable to meeting Vulcans (who are more or less human).
Maybe don’t give into the apathy and it won’t win as easily.
This is a far larger discussion than I’m willing to get into, and I know it’s not one that’ll cheer me up too, so I’m going to bow out of it while in agreement with
That’s why in a many countries we still have a right to vote. :)
Elections don’t make a democracy. Fair ones can do, though.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-parliament-elects-xi-jinping-chinas-president-2023-03-10/
Because I said you shouldn’t give into apathy…? No. Because you think people haven’t given into apathy? “It’s not as shit as it COULD be”? Because I think that is a somewhat strong indicator that you’re already an apathetic pessimist.
“I’m not willing to get into it” <— case in point
I don’t consider voting just for show as actually voting, so when I say that I mean fair elections. Voting is how you don’t give in to apathy (about this stuff anyway), as the entire concept is there to allow some action, a push for change.
Quite the sugar coating, but yeah. That is correct.
So would you that for instance in the US, most people vote “for show”? (As a reminder the US doesn’t use direct presidential elections unlike other western democracies, but uses the electoral college, and has had several presidents who have lost the popular vote.)
Because I shouldn’t think so, and I know there’s several states which have/are getting legislation saying their electors will be bound to follow the popular vote. Which would all but do away with the electoral college.
Why’d you omit the “apathetic” part about the pessimist? Because it is what you are. You’re an apathetic pessimist, even if you say you’re not.
I’m not sugarcoating anything. I’m trying to make you stop sugarcoating this to yourself. You’re apathetic, even if you go and vote every 4-6-8 years.
You need so much stuff besides the elections that it’s not even clear if elections are the result or a causal element of democracy.
You do realize that the Bell Riots are what led to that change. Right? It also took a Eugenics War, and WWII to get to the Federation and Starfleet.
Yes, and I also realize that there’s a message about being better, even if we’re going to have ups and downs. Past that, it’s an entertainment product: what tells you that hypothetical Bell Riots wouldn’t just lead to increased surveillance and armed law enforcement?
It almost certainly would. The Bell Riots were successful because they exposed the conditions in the camps which earned sympathy from the masses. Our society has no sympathy.