- 12 hours ago
These alien societies will absolutely be on the wrong side of galactic history.
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00:00Star Trek has introduced us to countless alien societies
00:03over the years with all kinds
00:05of different cultures and laws.
00:07Of course, all of these societies
00:08have their own pros and cons,
00:10but it's clear that some are more progressive than others.
00:14Of course, we can't really judge a pre-warp society
00:16by the same standards as an interstellar empire.
00:19This is why the Federation waits to make first contact
00:22until a species has become warp capable.
00:24But sometimes a society can invent warp drive
00:27and still be regressive in other ways.
00:30So here we're gonna focus on alien societies
00:32who have made it to the final frontier,
00:34but hold onto harmful old-timey beliefs and standards
00:38that hold no place in the future.
00:40With that in mind, I'm Bree from Trek Culture,
00:42and here are 10 species who need to get with the times.
00:45Number 10, the Ferengi.
00:48The Ferengi are a notoriously hyper-capitalist society.
00:52They also have an incredibly sexist history
00:54of banning women from wearing clothes
00:56or participating in their society at all.
00:59They didn't even invent warp drive themselves,
01:02instead purchasing the technology from someone else.
01:04The Ferengi absolutely bare mentioning here,
01:07but unlike some of the others
01:09we're gonna be talking about,
01:10the Ferengi actually became much more progressive
01:13towards the end of the 24th century.
01:15Kork and Rahm's mother Ishka kickstarted a revolution
01:18in Ferengi society when she began helping Grand Naga Zak
01:21run the Ferengi economy,
01:23as his mind was slowly slipping from his old age.
01:26She stood up to sexist Ferengi customs
01:28by wearing clothes and participating in business,
01:31and worked to change her society for the better.
01:34Later, thanks to her input,
01:35Zak appointed her son Rahm as the new Grand Nagus,
01:38who, along with his wife Lita,
01:40further pushed the Ferengi people toward equality,
01:43and even future membership in the Federation.
01:45By the time we saw Ferenginar in Lower Decks,
01:48their society was still toxically dominated by corporations,
01:51but they were getting better,
01:52and gender equality was becoming much more normalized.
01:55Besides, on this list, we've got bigger fish to fry.
01:59Number nine, the Antideans.
02:01The Antideans are, of course, an incredibly handsome species,
02:06at least according to Worf,
02:07but they have deep psychological issues with space travel.
02:11In the Next Generation episode, Manhunt,
02:13two Antideans, one played by Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac,
02:17came aboard the Enterprise,
02:18and we learned that the fish-like species
02:21is so traumatized by space travel that they put themselves into voluntary catatonic states
02:27while in space for long periods of time.
02:29In this state, they are still conscious, but act strange and unresponsive.
02:33This species was eligible to join the Federation before they tried bombing a diplomatic conference,
02:39so they must have been warp-capable, but simply terrified of space travel.
02:43Going into this altered mind state would apparently help them cope with the stress of the ordeal,
02:48but come on, guys, it's not 1996 anymore.
02:52We don't need to go into stasis for a simple interstellar journey.
02:56We have warp drive now.
02:57With all the modern amenities aboard the Enterprise-D,
03:00you could hardly tell if it were a spaceship or a luxury hotel.
03:04Visit the beach on the holodeck for some fresh air and enjoy the trip.
03:08At least we saw some Antideans aboard Starbase 25 in lower decks,
03:12so they may finally be warming up to the idea of space travel at least.
03:16Number eight, the Vulcans.
03:19Vulcan society is supposedly built on logic,
03:22but they actually have a lot of arbitrary social rules and standards.
03:27Fellow Vulcans bullied Spock as a child because of his human heritage,
03:30and they generally viewed themselves as superior to other humanoid species.
03:35Another issue with Vulcan society is that they are incredibly resistant to change or being corrected.
03:41Their close-mindedness even led to denial about time travel and a stigma against mind melds well into the 22nd
03:48century.
03:49Since then, time travel was proved impossible to deny, and mind melds have proved useful in numerous situations,
03:56and saved countless lives ever since they became more normalized.
03:59Seeing the Vulcans reunite with their lost Romulan cousins in the 32nd century shows that they are capable of change
04:06and becoming more open to opposing ideas.
04:09But it's clear that there are a lot of unnecessary stigmas in Vulcan society that may be holding them back.
04:15Number seven, the Romulans.
04:18The Romulan Star Empire has a long reputation of cruelty and intolerance.
04:23They left their Vulcan siblings to live free of Serac's teachings,
04:27but ended up becoming far more oppressive than the Vulcans ever were.
04:31Shortly after colonizing the Romulan system, they enslaved the local population of Remans,
04:37forcing them to mine dilithium, construct weapons, and serve in the Dominion War.
04:42At times, even the Romulan people themselves suffered due to their actions.
04:47The secret Romulan organization, the Zhat Vash, was behind the synth attack on Mars,
04:52which crippled the Federation rescue fleet meant to evacuate the Romulan people when their planet was destroyed by a supernova.
04:59Even the destruction of their world wasn't enough to change their attitude towards other species.
05:04We saw a Romulans-only restaurant on the planet Vashti, and many blamed humanity for what happened.
05:11Just like we mentioned with the Vulcans, reunification of the Vulcan and Romulan people in the 32nd century
05:17signaled that the Romulans may finally be opening up to other cultures.
05:22Number six, the Hirogen.
05:24The predators of the Star Trek universe, the Hirogen, are feared across the Delta Quadrant for their deadly hunters,
05:30who would track down any prey they consider a good prize.
05:34Captain Janeway, during a conflict with the Hirogen, came to a truce with them,
05:39and offered them holographic technology in the hopes that they would stop hunting sentient humanoids
05:44if they had holograms to hunt instead.
05:47Unfortunately, as Janeway knows very well, holograms like the Doctor became self-aware all the time,
05:53and, of course, the Hirogen went on to specifically program them to be more realistic,
05:58and to actually feel simulated fear.
06:01Their suffering wouldn't even be relieved by dying, as they simply respawn over and over after each awful death.
06:08In the end, Janeway didn't really end the suffering, but instead passed it on to an oppressed group of artificial
06:14lifeforms,
06:15who Starfleet also has a long history of disrespecting and treating like property.
06:19We last heard about the Hirogen in the Picard episode No Win Scenario,
06:24when in a flashback near the start of the episode, Picard talked with a group of cadets
06:28about an encounter he had with the Hirogen while serving on the Enterprise E.
06:33Rumor has it that the Hirogen Alpha came to the Alpha Quadrant specifically to hunt Picard,
06:38showing that their ways haven't changed that much since Janeway's little experiment.
06:42Picard explained that Worf was able to construct a trap that turned the hunters into the prey.
06:47We still don't know how the Hirogen got to the Alpha Quadrant, or what their grudge was with Picard,
06:53but it's clear that they didn't come to make friends.
06:565. The Ocampa
06:58The Ocampa are in an interesting position of having incredible potential while being held back by
07:04complacency. Ocampa have highly powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities, but ever since the Nassine
07:11destroyed their planet and forced their society underground, the Ocampa grew dependent on the Nassine
07:16caretaker who watched over them to repay his debt to their world. The Ocampa's mental abilities
07:21slowly worsened as they relied more and more on the caretaker's gifts and began to worship him as a
07:27kind of deity. The caretaker feared that once he was gone, the Ocampa would quickly fall prey to the
07:32Kazon. There was, however, a small group of Ocampa who left their homeworld under the watch of the
07:38female Nassine Suspiria. These Ocampa were far more skilled with their abilities. Many could manipulate
07:44objects on the subatomic level and even enter a realm of pure thought. They also managed to
07:50increase their lifespan from 9 years to about 20 using new technology. It really seems like the
07:56caretaker was holding back the Ocampa on the homeworld from reaching their true potential.
08:01Hopefully though, Ocampa and society will be able to evolve even more without him.
08:064. The Kazon
08:08The Kazon are unremarkable to the point where the Borg literally refused to assimilate them. The
08:14different Kazon sects are deeply divided and constantly fighting with each other over natural
08:19resources. Ever heard of post-scarcity? Their technology was so very limited that before Voyager
08:25arrived in the Delta Quadrant, the Kazon had never seen a replicator or a transporter. Kazon society
08:31was also highly patriarchal. Kazon women were excluded from most positions of power and treated as lesser
08:37than their male counterparts. Seska was, of course, allowed to hold positions of power as a woman but
08:43only because of her knowledge of Voyager and their advanced technology. Unfortunately, the Kazon never
08:50got the chance to naturally develop into a spacefaring society. They were used as slave labor by an alien
08:56species called the Trabe and were only able to escape by stealing their oppressor's ships and technology.
09:02Hopefully, given enough time, they will grow more enlightened and stop terrorizing their small corner
09:07of the Delta Quadrant.
09:093. The Changelings
09:12Long ago, the leaders of the Dominion, the Changelings, were subjugated by a group of solid
09:16lifeforms, creating a deep resentment in their culture towards so-called solids. This hateful
09:22philosophy was a major factor in the Dominion War, as well as the Dominion's harsh treatment of species
09:28in their control. When the war with the Federation ended, the Dominion retreated back to the Gamma
09:33Quadrant and Odo returned to the Great Link both to cure his people and to convince them to treat
09:38solid lifeforms better. It's unknown to what extent Odo was successful in changing his society's
09:44bigoted views, but we do know of an anti-peace faction that broke off from the Great Link to form
09:49an alliance with the Borg Queen of all people. This group, led by Vatik, experienced horrific
09:55trauma at the hands of the Federation, so their anger was understandable, but their revenge plot
10:00of helping Earth be assimilated was ridiculously evil. We can only hope that the broader Great
10:06Link has become more kind towards solids.
10:092. The Malon
10:12Malon society is incredibly dystopian. Unlike most warp-capable species, they do not recycle the
10:19antimatter waste created by their industries. Because of this, Malon space is extremely polluted
10:25with theta radiation. Entire industries were created to transport this waste away from Malon
10:30Prime, and they would often dump it in uninhabited areas, poisoning the local population. Janeway
10:36offered a Malon waste exporter the recycling technology, and he denied her, explaining that
10:42this technology would destroy his business. Clearly, many Malon were economically incentivized
10:47to maintain this status quo. Transporting and dumping antimatter waste across space not only poisons
10:54vast regions of space, but also the Malon crew aboard these ships. They would often develop sores and
11:00other health problems from routinely being around toxic substances. It's clear that Malon society could
11:06easily change its ways by developing cleaner technology, like the rest of the galaxy uses,
11:11but many of them have a profit incentive to keep the waste export ships running.
11:161. The Humans
11:18As the Q, the Organians, and many others have said, humanity is improving quickly, but still has a lot to
11:26learn. Humans have done a lot of evil stuff. Alongside their aforementioned experiments on changelings during
11:32the Dominion War, they continued to use artificial lifeforms like holograms and synths for unpaid labor,
11:38even after learning that Data, Voyager's Doctor, and many other artificial lifeforms could become sentient,
11:45not to mention all the potential sentient holograms killed daily on the holodeck. The Federation's ban
11:51on genetic manipulation could also be seen as a backwards policy, largely inspired by humanity's
11:57bleak history with augments. In addition, the human-dominated Section 31 has committed countless
12:03crimes against the Alpha Quadrant, manipulating the Romulans into joining the Dominion War being just one
12:08example. These problems persisted after the 24th century, and humanity later went through a period of
12:15increased isolationism after the burn, eventually even leaving the Federation for a short period of
12:20time. Still, just like every other species on this list, we have the potential to be much better
12:26and learn from our mistakes. And those were 10 species who really need to get with the times.
12:32If you enjoyed this video, go ahead and give it a thumbs up and let us know what alien species
12:37you
12:37think need to get with the times in the comment section below. If you never want to miss an update,
12:42then go ahead and subscribe to us here on YouTube. And if you want to keep up with us on
12:46other social
12:47medias, you can find us on Twitter and Blue Sky at TrekCulture and on Instagram at TrekCultureYT.
12:54You can also find myself on all three of those platforms as well under the handle TrekkieBree.
12:59And with all that being said, I hope you all have a great year and don't forget to live long
13:04and prosper.
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