One of us is far more compatible with the other. The modern military is not just soldiers and those who lead them.Blood Brain Barrier said:And if you think the military's job is to conduct diplomacy, carry out peaceful scientific research and explore in search of new life to expand knowledge of the universe, your definition of the word is vastly overreaching.Saelune said:Let me know when half of the US population is given warships, advanced weaponry, and the blessing of the World's Government to go around and use that stuff on people.Blood Brain Barrier said:By that definition, half of the American population are "military".ObsidianJones said:It actually is. In the very sense of the word.Blood Brain Barrier said:Starfleet is not military in any sense of the word.
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/54154/is-starfleet-a-military-or-civilian-organization
Military [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/military]
Given that definition, having Warship... I'm sorry, "Tactical Cruisers that were only really designed for combat" such as the Prometheus Class [http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Prometheus_class] and the Defiant Class [http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Defiant_class] makes Starfleet the federation's de facto military. They are the ones issued the ships that can fight battles, they are the ones issued the phasers. They are what the Federation has and who the Federation uses when war breaks out.Definition of military
1 a f or relating to soldiers, arms, or war military discipline the country's military needs
b f or relating to armed forces; especially f or relating to ground or sometimes ground and air forces as opposed to naval forces military and naval affairs
2 a erformed or made by armed forces military operations
b :supported by armed force a military government
3 f or relating to the army the military academy at West Point
They can call them whatever they want, but by definition, they are a military branch. But as I've said many times before, and in the last time you quoted me, their actual position in the Starfleet is a hybrid of military peacekeeping exploring diplomats.
For me, it hinges on the aims of the organisation - to explore strange new worlds, to seek out life. Explorers are armed but not all of them seek to invade.
If you think a military's sole purpose is invasion, then you have a very medieval view of military.
The military are not explorers right now cause...we're past that on Earth. No new lands to discover here. But space? Do you really think the second we find other civilizations in space the military is not going to get involved?
And hell, we had military explorers. Namely the Romans and the Spanish. I hope when faced with space civilizations we wont do as they did, but still.
Starfleet is the fusion of services and programs and organizations, both military and non. They are what they are needed to be.
When Earth was threatened by the Borg, who did they send? Who headed the armada?
When Romulans start showing signs of actions, who is it they call to intercept?
If Starfleet is not 'military' then nothing is because they keep sending their 'non military' to do all the military work.
It is just a matter of what has become the ideals of Earth. Star Trek is an optimist's view of the future, where we dont jump to violent conclusions, where we value science and diplomacy over power, and so the military became more than that. But they do touch on how that could have been different when some time-shenanigans shows what would have happened if the war with the Klingons persisted and they instead forsake science and diplomacy. Was a good episode too, and gave us Sela Yar.