Film Theory: Why The Star Trek Federation is Fascist

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This week I’m boldly going where Film Theory has gone before...straight into the Star Trek universe! This week, it’s all about what we REALLY know about the so-called “benevolent” Federation. Sure, we all want to trust the Captain Kirk will always do the right thing, or that Captain Picard’s shiny bald head is really a beacon of hope in the universe, but what it isn’t? Today’s theory shows that there’s evidence to point to the Federation as something other than a peaceful exploration mission. That actually, the Federation is a fascist system who’s set out to control other species in the universe and convert them to their own propaganda-filled perspective!

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Twitter: @MatPatGT

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[MrCMPUTR]

"You should always question the motives of the person telling you the 'facts'"


...


I'm on to you MatPat.

[wIzKid]

Opss. . . Wrong neighborhood *backs up slowly and runs away *

[flintmartin]

MatPat 2016: "I could have had facial hair."

MatPat 2020: facial hair

[skidez]

My dad was listening and said “not in deep space nine. They show it from both points of view in deep space nine.”

[VegetaAFH]

Quark: I want you to try something for me. Take a sip of this.
Garak: What is it?
Quark: A human drink; it's called root beer.
Garak: I dunno...
Quark: Come on. Aren't you just a little bit curious?
Garak takes a sip, wincing as he tastes it.
Quark: What do you think?
Garak: It's vile!
Quark: I know. It's so bubbly, cloying...and happy.
Garak: Just like the Federation.
Quark: And you know what's really frightening? If you drink enough of it, you begin to like it.
Garak: It's insidious.
Quark: Just like the Federation.

[TeeBar]

MatPat, for somebody who supposedly has a good understanding of Star Trek, you seem to be ignorant of some very obvious and important facts about the Star Trek Universe.
1. Star fleet is NOT the Federation, not even close. Star fleet is the Navy of the Federation, nothing more. It reacted to Kirk going AWOL as extremely as it did because Kirk's actions are equivalent to the Captain of a US Aircraft Carrier deciding to enter Russian waters in the middle of the Cold War. The show is from the POV of Star fleet because the show is, and always has been a Naval Drama, with Star Trek being squarely in the same genre as films like "The Hunt For Red October" and the like and therefore is going to, by it's nature, have the characters in a military setting.
2. The Elimination of money was not for some power grab by the federation, it was, and this is very clearly stated more times than I can count, because it was simply not needed. The society had no need for money because they had enough of everything for everyone, so they adopted a "to each a according to their needs" attitude on resources. With the use of replicators all they need was energy and hydrogen in order to produce everything they could ever want, making currency almost ridiculous in federation society.
3. Transport is far from controlled by the Star fleet alone, in the show ships for federation citizens are available and private ship use simply requires logging a flight plan with an FAA style organization, hell in the DS9 episode Explorers, Sisko builds his own ship by hand that he uses to fly all the way to Cardassia from DS9. Communication is equally open to anybody with a Subspace Radio, just because what is usually shown on the show is star fleet does not mean that it is only star fleet with any power over it.
4. The presumption that just because Star fleet has a mission of exploration means that they are equatable to the Conquistadors is nor simply laughable, but makes me question your trustworthiness. Of all of the moral dilemmas addressed in the show's long history, none is more fully addressed more than the nature of their exploration. It is possibly most thoroughly laid forth in the TNG episodes "Who Watches the Watchers" and "First Contact". The first of which shows how when the federation discovers a technologically backwards species, it does not conquer, enslave, or evict the natives, but studies them from afar. To let these people live and grow at their own pace. See, the federation's "resource" they want form this exploration is knowledge, not gold or some other bullshit that requires conquest, but to gain a greater understanding of the world around them. In fact in the latter episode it shows how the federation won't even try to make contact with other civilizations until they develop warp drive. They actively try to prevent their technology from polluting/damaging the alien society. This is not the act of a civilization of fascist colonialists, but the actions of a peaceful and benevolent people. Also the continuous expansion of federation settled planets are ones that are completely devoid of intelligent life. If there is even the smallest sign of sentient life forms in any point of the large amount of surveys that are conducted before a colonists are even sent the planet is declared unfit for colonization.
5. Section 31, The Federation's MIB, is a ROGUE organization from the founding days of the federation that has mutated into the dark organization that is seen in the show. Simply put it is so deeply covered that it's a part of star fleet that the federation doesn't even remember exists. It does not represent federation values and objectives in the 22nd, 23rd, or 24th centuries and should not be considered when debating federation ideology
6. The Abrams-verse Movies are not cannon for a reason. They completely miss or contradict the morals and philosophy of the previous star trek shows and movies. The bundle of sticks metaphor was used out of ignorance, not nuance, as these movies lack that level of nuance to begin with. This lack of nuance and understanding of the base material is actually noted in your comments where you mention how all three have the antagonist being a slight variation of a single character (Khan). Basically the new movies are there to piss on and ruin all that the originals stood for and as such are disregarded in most serious conversations on Star Trek philosophy.
7. The collectivist themes in the show are an endorsement of socialism, which was adopted in the federation because of the post scarcity economy formed in it. Also this is tempered by the existence and conflict with the Borg Collective. The Borg is a show of how pure materialist collectivism functions when not tempered by the democracy and individualism the federation has for it's civilians.

TL:DR by equating the Federation to star fleet and relying on non-cannon material you make a claim that the Federation is Fascist, despite your "evidence" being poor or outright false, and what evidence you do bring is cherry picked to a point of your picture of the federation being one of the worst strawmen I've seen in some time.

[bahinman]

"The needs of the few do not out weigh the needs of the many" is Utilitarianism, not Fascism. The many is not necessarily the state--e.g., the needs of three people out weigh the needs of one person according to Utilitarianism (i.e., the Utilitarian mantra quoted by Spock), despite the three people not necessarily being a state. Utilitarianism may lead to Fascism but it does not imply necessarily Fascism.

[markuslemont]

matpat: from my point of view the federation is evil

star treck: then you are truly lost

[Ropsuguy]

we have not seen civilian court cases. only military ones. and of cource the officers and crewmen of the military owned vessels will use the communicators made by the military. us army wont use iphones for their communication. what im saying is most stuff we see in star trek is happenings with military personnell and ships. we cant expect everyone on planets to be adhering to the same rules as military personell. after all even colonies have the right to do what they want without any involvement with the federation (exept for protection and possibly communications).

[bottleoftide]

This is a fun theory, I was entertained, and then I went to the comments section. I saw a lot of people contradicting the video, and I found them right, so I will present it here.
1. Cashews not pecans
2. Starfleet is the navy for The Federation, military action from Starfleet does not pertain to The Federation's entire governing system.
3. Citizens under the Federation still can practice their religious beliefs freely, like the Vulcans with their philosophies of logic, humans with their belief systems, like Native American beliefs shown in Voyager, by Commander Chakotay.
4. Section 31 is a rogue organization, with select admirals knowing of its existence through membership.
5. There are many private companies in the Federation, like Ezri Dax's parents' company, Jennifer's cargo ship from DS9, Picard's brother, Robert Picard, who ran a private vineyard, etc.
6. Gold-pressed latinum was often used by the Federation and Federation personnel alike to pay people, this was mainly shown in DS9, as Federation species like Tellarites were paid in latinum for bounties, and others paid Ferengi, like Quark, for their services as well.
7. Throughout the entire Dominion arc, not one member of even Starfleet was concerned with conquering the empires weakened by the Dominion after the war, save for members of Section 31.
8. In Voyager, Janeway had the choice of leaving an entire civilization to die in order for her crew to go home, and another choice to upset the balance of power in the Delta Quadrant for personal gain, and even in the future, to gain an alliance between Starfleet and the Kazon. In both instances, she went with the route that upheld Federation principles, which was to withhold technology to abide by the Prime Directive, and to sacrifice her own crew to protect the Ocampa.
9. A facist rule would not explain how the Federation has a council, an elected president, and if I may add, a president that was hesitant to take full control over Starfleet in the DS9 episodes "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost."
10. In the original series, one episode presents a member of Starfleet, Professor John Gill, violated the Prime Directive, and transformed a planetary government into Nazi Germany, who killed offworlders on sight. As the episode continues, it is revealed it was not John Gill's original intention to bring up the racist, xenophobic traits of Nazi Germany, and simply wanted to us traditional Facism to bring stability. With his dying words, he told the entire world that the one who made him a puppet, the one who made racism and xenophobia mainstream, did not follow his vision. The one who corrupted the people was arrested, and John died later from being drugged too much. The reason I bring this episode up, is because Kirk asked the professor why he chose Facism. The professor explained, that in the lawlessness of Ekos, the planet, he believed Facism was the most efficient in bringing it into order. And in that episode, there was no president. There was no council, no star fleet indoctrination. If the theory was correct, and people in Starfleet knew they had the power, they would've indoctrinated Ekos, and recognized their own system as Facism, even if they do not admit it to outsiders. But they did not, they used Nazi Germany, instead of their own government, which would've been easy to replicate, instead of diving into history to find another Facist government.

[unclebullseye]

Ah, yes, my favorite star trek villain:Bill ney the science guy

[Shua_]

Star fleet is a military branch, like the navy. We’re not seeing much about how civilian life is.

[MathMasterism]

Before anyone starts bashing the many flaws and holes in MatPat's theory, know that the point of this video was not to prove that the Federation is Fascist, but rather to make you the viewer understand that you should always question where the facts are coming from.

[captainhergain]

DEAR GOD MAT PAT! Starfleet is a navy, (if my memory serves me right) and a branch of The federation. There are also many ships not owned by starfleet ( cargo ships etc.) also, we don't usually see the life of a federation citizen because the shows and movies were focused on starfleet not the citizens of the federation.

[dudewatches]

Here are the problems with your theory as concisely as possible.
1. The Federation Empowers its citizens even to a Fault. Examples are plentiful, just look at Seven of Nines parents.
2.The Federation does not crush its citizens under the power of the state, if it did, Data would have lost his trial and would have been taken as Starfleet property, or it would have been irrelevant, because in a fascist state, people are the property of the state anyway.
3. The United Federation of Planets is Governed by a Federation Council, whom are shown to be Democratically elected. While Starfleet may be a Military of some sort, no argument there, you can be a Military and not be fascist. Given that this effectively makes The UFP a Grand Republic, I don't see how you can call it a legitimately fascist state, especially given everything else I've added.

[CastironWhisky]

Welp this was painful... Like as everyone else has said Starfleet isn't in control of the Federation... So I hope at some point Matpat revisits it with that in mind

[devingendron]

Did anyone else notice the nuts in the opening are Cashews, not Pecans.

[BosnBoi]

All the comments are about Starfleet vs the Federation, or Communism vs Fascism, but no one mentioned the real discrepancy: at 00:10 those are cashews, not pecans...

[seanmcquaig]

by this logic, isn't the rebellion in Star Wars fascist too?

[sidharthcs]

"Capitalism is designed to give common man money"
Oh, boy