It is estimated that 1-3 million inhabitants die each year, but to the landing party's surprise this war is fought like none other they've ever encountered. Undetectable by sensors, no feeling of tremors on the ground and no visible view of destruction. For this war is fought mathematically through highly advanced computers. When an opponent strikes and hits the targeted area, the computer calculates the death toll by selecting citizens for authentic collateral damage. Once registered, they have 24 hours to report to euthanasia chambers, which are the disintegration machines. Spock even says
"There is a certain scientific logic about it"And the general replies, "Im glad you approve."
"I do not approve. I understand," said Spock.
This is a good point to anyone just because you understand something doesn't mean you condone it or agree with it.
But you're probably thinking "Genevieve, why are you thinking about drones? Get to the point already!
Well, reason being is the fact that these people were so desensitized of the severity war, that they were willing to line up voluntarily to be put to death. I think drones are a step to desensitizing war. If you think about it, mass bombings by an unmanned craft creates more distance between the human and war. You're not targeting individuals, you're not going face to face with them, and you're not hearing the sounds of death and destruction. There is distance between you and the conflict zone and this has sparked much controversy between nations. As much as there is an advantage to using this technology on our side, it's kind of like mustard gas. Sure we all tried it in World War One and it certainly did the trick of brutally destroying human lives, but what it really boils down to is "Is this how we really wanna kill other people?"
Horrible question, but surprisingly there are ethics on how to kill people. All in all, I think the more we disassociate ourselves from war, the easier it is going to be to push the bottom to release weapons of mass destruction. Imagine having that power at the push of a button, thats incredibly scary for the side getting bombed. And how are they controlling the people pushing the bottoms, how do you know they're not gonna snap and just bomb the shit out of everything WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE CONTROLLING THE DRONES? So many questions. It's like that book Enders game I read. At the end of the book, which was his final test, he thought he was playing a computer simulated war game (This kid is 7, he's in military training school read the book it's quite good) but in actuality, they tricked him. The final test wasn't a military game at all it was a REAL WAR, it was crazy. What a plot twist! And now he feels guilty for murdering an alien race and the reason they were having the war in the first place was because they couldn't communicate (So many quarrels break out from miscommunication). I know I can get a little paranoid but I'm just saying it is a possibility, there are some evil people out there. There are too many civilian casualties with his type of war fare and I'm not quite sure what's going to happen in the future but I'm worried.
Back to Star Trek though.
The philosophical content of this episode was ahead of its time. This show in general was so ahead of its time. What I love most about Star Trek is that it was always paralleling the issues of that time period and brought them to light. But not only did they bring them to light, in the end they always solved it justly and its that kind of optimism that gives me hope for the human race to do whats best, right, and just. I know one day we'll be living in that Star Trek universe and I may not live long enough to see it myself but I know damn well I'll contribute to it as much as I can.
"Don't you see?
We've admitted it to ourselves.
We're a killer species.
It's instinctive. It's the same with you.
Your general order 24.
All right. It's instinctive.
The instinct can be fought.
We're human beings
with the blood of a million savage years on our hands,
but we can stop it.
We can admit that we're killers,
but we won't kill today.
That's all it takes--
knowing that we won't kill today."
We're a killer species.
It's instinctive. It's the same with you.
Your general order 24.
All right. It's instinctive.
The instinct can be fought.
We're human beings
with the blood of a million savage years on our hands,
but we can stop it.
We can admit that we're killers,
but we won't kill today.
That's all it takes--
knowing that we won't kill today."
-James T. Kirk
I love what you've written here. People need to see that making things more automated is not the solution, as it distances us from the brutality of war and violence. In truth, there might be more humane ways to kill people, so as not to suffer, but is there really any 'right' way to kill someone? I think if every soldier who pressed a button to drop a bomb, or sniped someone far away, if they had to look into the eyes of every man, woman and child who he was going to murder, they'd probably think twice.
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