Starfleet is for misfits

[ljwrites]

Watching Star Trek, I used to think Jem Hadar and Klingons being these fierce warrior races was something of an Informed Trait when they kept losing in face-to-face fights with mild-mannered Starfleet officers. It was only later that it struck me, Starfleet officers are just that tough.

Just how motivated and ambitious do you have to be, as someone coming from a post-scarcity society, to sign up for such arduous training and potential danger? I have to wonder what kind of people decide to go through years of rigorous education, constant work and travel, and the possibility of a nasty death when they are guaranteed lives without fear or want right on their home planets.

Could it be that Starfleet is, in fact, a place for malcontents? Not the kind of small-time malcontent that turns to destruction and exploitation, but the kind of malcontent that is stifled on some level by the cushy existence of their home planet (even while being willing to die to protect it) and wants something more. Something out there and anywhere but here.

Such people are dangerous to the preexisting system unless they have an outlet for their energies. Just to name a few headliner captains, leave the James Kirks, the Jean-Luc Picards, the Kathryn Janeways, the Benjamin Siskos, the Philippa Georgious with nothing to do but enjoy life, and chances are they’d get restless. You can see their innate drive in the paths they didn’t take and in alternate universes: Picard has a brother who was perfectly content to run a vineyard at home, living a comfortable rural existence. Picard could have had that or any of a million other career paths, but he still chose the uncertainty of the stars. The 20th-century version of Benjamin Sisko had a burning ambition to write groundbreaking science fiction despite being struck down over and over again by racism. Georgiou was goddamned Emperor in the Mirror Universe, and Burnham and Lorcas wanted her throne. Clearly these are not people who can sit content and let the world be; they shift the very earth they stand on and reach for the stars any way they can.

So what do you do with world-shakers in paradise? You could choose to kill them or lock them up and “reeducate” them, but that goes against the Federation’s ideals. You could let them live free and potentially climb to the top, but they might make too many changes and disrupt the whole comfortable arrangement.

Or, you could give them a way out–infinite ways out, in fact, into space. Their boundless energy would be structured and channeled in morally acceptable directions by the strict rules and directives of Starfleet, and their ambition to be better than others and be judged by their abilities would find expression in rank and promotions.

These are, of course, the same individuals who would die to protect the Federation when it is threatened by a race of fierce warriors, a mechanical collective, or vast theocratic empire. The same people who would have felt stifled in civilian life and could have threatened the whole system become its fiercest defenders. It’s a brilliant system, really, that meets everyone’s interests and turns a society’s potential threats into its greatest assets.

I don’t think it’s any wonder, looking at these incredibly trained and driven people who can take down Klingons in single combat and engineer their way out of alternate timelines, that non-Federation worlds–and maybe more than a few Federation ones–hover somewhere between suspicious and outright terrified of the Federation’s intentions. Starfleet is one of the major reasons one can make a case for the Federation being a “soft” empire, and I can see why peoples ranging from the Ferengi to the Klingons are so suspicious of them. Because you do not ever mess with Starfleet.

(This meta was originally posted to Tumblr and is reposted after light editing)

Comments

[redrikki]

I grew up watching Next Gen and Voyager and never really thought of Starfleet that way, but now you say it, it makes complete sense. It's not just the command characters either. All of them are these massive adrenaline junkies, even Picard who presents otherwise.

[minoanmiss]

Picard is SUUUUUUUUCH an adrenaline junkie and I really loved episodes (like Starship Mine and the archaeology vacation ones) that showed that.

[brithistorian]

This totally makes sense (and makes me want to join Starfleet more than ever). I've always loved how the open-ended nature of Starfleet's missions meant you never could tell what skills would be useful, so all of them are included: Not just the expected military and engineering types, but also sciences, and even social sciences and liberal arts.

We really need something like this - an outlet for people who want to learn/discover/create new things but lack the interest/skills for monetizing their discoveries. (If a government/foundation/eccentric billionaire wanted to hire me as a full-time researcher, I think they'd be surprised at how inexpensive it would be.)

[jesse_the_k]

I think that's a driving force for scientists--explore the unknown, building the road as you travel.

[brithistorian]

Exactly!

[shirasade]

I love this very much, I can totally accept this as headcanon. <3

[jesse_the_k]

IAWTC

[lb_lee]

I've watched barely any Trek, and none in a long-ass time, but I like this idea for sure!

[ljwrites]

According to responses I got on Tumblr there is canon/Word of God support for this notion, too, with novels mentioning that ordinary Federation citizens think of Starfleet types as less evolved.

[minoanmiss]

My inner 13 year old TNG fan is crying in delight at this meta, and my outer mumbly-years-old self is applauding! *adds to files*

[ljwrites]

I gotta say, I'm a little surprised at how positive the response is across platforms! So far no one has jumped up to defend the honor of Starfleet lmao.

[loopy777]

Honor? Qu'vatlh! What does Starfleet know of honor?

(Am I doing this right?)

[ljwrites]

You got a laugh out of me so you must have done something right!

[brithistorian]

Thinking some more about this reminded me of this Tumblr thread: http://beka-tiddalik.tumblr.com/post/150425828285/roachpatrol-deadcatwithaflamethrower (It's worth re-reading even if you've already read it.)

[ljwrites]

I love that thread. A classic!