Daily Star Trek Quote Challenge, 8/1/2006
- What a blind, narrow view you have. What an arrogant man you are. What do you know of Cardassian history?
- I know that once you were a people, that you had a rich spiritual life...
- And what did peace and spirituality get us? People starved by the millions. Bodies went unburied. Disease was rampant. The suffering was unimaginable.
- Since the military took over, hundreds of thousands more have died...
- But we are feeding the people. We acquired territory during the wars. We developed new resources. We initiated a rebuilding program. We have mandated agricultural programs. That is what the military has done for Cardassia. Because of that, my daughter will never have to worry about going hungry.
- Her belly may be full, but her spirit will be empty.
I always liked this exchange. Cardassia survived by invading and plundering other star systems. The people prospered at the cost of their souls.
- I know that once you were a people, that you had a rich spiritual life...
- And what did peace and spirituality get us? People starved by the millions. Bodies went unburied. Disease was rampant. The suffering was unimaginable.
- Since the military took over, hundreds of thousands more have died...
- But we are feeding the people. We acquired territory during the wars. We developed new resources. We initiated a rebuilding program. We have mandated agricultural programs. That is what the military has done for Cardassia. Because of that, my daughter will never have to worry about going hungry.
- Her belly may be full, but her spirit will be empty.
I always liked this exchange. Cardassia survived by invading and plundering other star systems. The people prospered at the cost of their souls.
posted by Perry Eidelbus at
9:44 PM
4 Comments:
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Episode 237: "Chain of Command, Part II"
MADRED: What a blind, narrow view you have. What an arrogant man you are. What do you know of Cardassian history?
PICARD: I know that once you were a people, that you had a rich spiritual life...
MADRED: And what did peace and spirituality get us? People starved by the millions. Bodies went unburied. Disease was rampant. The suffering was unimaginable.
PICARD: Since the military took over, hundreds of thousands more have died...
MADRED: But we are feeding the people. We acquired territory during the wars. We developed new resources. We initiated a rebuilding program. We have mandated agricultural programs. That is what the military has done for Cardassia. Because of that, my daughter will never have to worry about going hungry.
PICARD: Her belly may be full, but her spirit will be empty.
-
It is a good exchange. Did they ever say how long Cardassia had been a plundering economy? I have a difficult time believing that it could last for long before internal divisions and disruptions would tear it apart.
Dukat tried to impress Sisko in "Defiant" by claiming the Cardassian political-military system has "worked for over five centuries." Well, even Madred painted a picture of a glorious Cardassia with a rich artistic heritage. Such a civilization is not compatible at all with a planet dominated by the military and military endeavors (particularly mercantilism with conquered worlds).
Perhaps Cardassians really did find a way to be among the galaxy's greatest artisans, though under the military's thumb? If so, Dukat still forgot one little detail, just a tiny omission on his part. You know, the impoverished wreck of a civilization that Madred grew up in, which ended (sometime before his daughter was born) only when the military and CIA-equivalent took over Cardassian society.
By the same token, Mao's Great Leap Forward was a smashing success too...if you ignore possibly 70 million people starving to death.
It also depends on what you consider art. I remember the exchange between Garak and Bashir over great Cardassian literature where the work in question was considered a classic because of the main characters constant sacrafices to the state.
"When it comes to art, you're obviously a prisoner of Federation dogma and human prejudice." -Garak from ep 'The Wire'
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