[extropy-chat] Spike, father of Ferenginar

[Dirk Bruere]

On 12/23/05, David Lubkin <extropy at unreasonable.com> wrote:
>
> Spike wrote:
>
> >Do not worry Brett, my profit motive is immune to
> >injury, as is that of humanity in general.  Humans are
> >the ancestors of the Ferengi.
>
> I've seen analyses of the primary species in Star Trek: The Next
> Generation as based on long-standing human stereotypes that most
> people find offensive.
>
> Ferengi, ugly, short, with prominent nose and ears, boorish, and
> obsessed with money, are Jews.


 Actually, on DS9 Quark made a very good case for the moral superiority of
the Ferengi

Klingons, large, brown-skinned, aggressive, violent, and relatively
> dim-witted, are blacks. (Versus the original series, where Klingons
> and Romulans were analogs for Communists (Soviet and Chinese,
> respectively).)


Vikings perhaps (The Rus did 'found' Russia)

Vulcans, exotic-looking, with slanted eyebrows and tinged skin,
> smart, hard for humans to fathom, are Asian.



Japanese, specifically


I suppose the Betazoids, dark-haired, hot, and emotion-driven, are Hispanic.


More likely the Maquis/Bajorans of STV

Humans, mostly white, good-looking, noble, and evolved compared to
> everyone except maybe the Vulcans, are white.


I rather like the Romulan way of doing things:-)


This patterning in ST:TNG seems consistent enough to be deliberate,
> at least for Ferengi and Klingons, although I suppose it could be
> unintentional.
>
> None of this had occurred to me until it was pointed out, but I tend
> to be oblivious. Has anyone else noticed any of this?


Definately.

I once thought of writing an essay/book entitled: "The Federation - Darker
Than It Seems".
What kind of society puts its families aboard military vessels in what
amounts to almost continuous warfare? Or whose major exploration vessel is
also the military flagship of Starfleet? And what about the lack of a
Federation army? The only way that works is spacebased bombardment amounting
to genocidal warfare. Then we have telepathic 'counsellors' instead of
political officers. Not to mention an allegedly peaceful federation that has
somehow managed to hold off two highly militaristic empires for centuries...
The list goes on. I suspect we are not being told the whole truth about the
Federation!

Dirk
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