What is Japan? It was an isolated state while Europe was advancing technologically for 100 or so years. Yet they caught up. Can't a nation that get's warp 1 meet the Feds with Warp 7 or 9 or whatever, and catch up with them?
There is a lot wrong here. First off a primitive tribe COULD overtake the US. What if the Klingons bombed the modern US to the stone age? Why do you assume that states can only progress and can't be destroyed and lose all they have? Second there is the stagnation. Once a nation reaches a tech plateau they can't go any farther. Now true in Star Trek it's pretty far even the future Federation hasn't gone there, but we know there is a limit to advancement the Q reached it. Once you become a God, the others can catch up because then you stop and even if you got there first, as long as you aren't pushing everyone down others will eventually come to your level. Also again the Japan example Warp 1 society finally meets Federation, and has tech exchange and trade deals and they rapidly advance in decades what it took centuries or millennia for the Federation itself.
So violate bodily autonomy and commit gross medical malpractice? Yeah they could do that, just like they could genocide or enslave other races.
Many people would pick using the veil of ignorance to have a world where larger powers don't invade and occupy weaker ones, where they are forced to abandon their customs and beliefs. Also you seem to misunderstand what the veil of ignorance is. It doesn't mean you look at your current circumstances and say "Well this is favorable towards my population so I like it. You are supposed to be blind to EVERYTHING race, sex, religion, politics, philosophy, etc. Because while you might be willing to help the UFP conquer your world and impose your ideology. You probably wouldn't be happy if the Klingons come to enslave you for being a weakling, or Cardassia decides you need to go to a camp for being a "degenerate" and a "threat to society" or some other Empire coming to force primative worlds to convert to their faith(but they will provide technological marvels in exchange)
Question can you define what you think a fascist is? Cause in Star Trek the only nation that are fascists or remincient of Nazi Germany is Cardassia. Klingons are a Feudal Empire not fascist. Romulan's are a corrupt Oligarchy not fascist. The Ferengi are hyper capitalist/libertarian not fascists. Maybe the Dominion?
I'm not a fan of moral systems where the ethical thing to do is let people die when you can, with relatively few efforts on your part, prevent that.
Hmm, that has a logic to it, but I can think of some complicating factors:
The Prime Directive is basically the Zoo Hypothesis, which was suggested to explain why aliens haven't visited us. So I think if I were writing Star Trek, I might suggest that the Federation's Prime Directive is a continuation of a much older tradition that was already long established when Zephram Cochrane built the Phoenix. Like, maybe more-or-less non-interference with societies incapable of interstellar travel is enforced on the entire galaxy by the Preservers, and the Prime Directive is the Federation's version of affirming they're a signatory to that part of galactic law and telling starship Captains "whatever you do, don't do anything that might get the aloof mysterious super-advanced galactic hegemon aliens angry at us!" That would give a different perspective to the debate, as the Preservers might be blue and orange morality aliens. This idea would fit well with my headcanon that most Star Trek "aliens" are really descendants of humans and hominids transplanted to other planets by the Preservers.
There is also as always the example of Kevin Uxbridge. When the repercussions of fucking around may involve finding out that your entire species just got wiped from existence, it may encourage a certain degree of circumspection in your dealings with apparent primitives that gets baked into the general interstellar culture.
1) doesn't solve the issue of being completely at the Federation's mercy. The power imbalance is the issue. It doesn't matter how good the Federation's intentions are.
This is also just plain canon like the Precurser thing. The Prime Directive was Vulcan explorer policy before it was the Federation's or Starfleet's. That's the entire plot of the movie First Contact and a major source of tension between Earth and Vulcan during Star trek Enterprise.
My position remains that people should be free to choose their fate unburdened by the circumstances of their birth. While attaining this option does not require the destruction of less developed cultures, it would nigh inevitably lead to it. What do you think would happen if by fiat every modern state would accept any immigrant? The answer is that the already extensive flow of immigrants out of developing would be greatly magnified, resulting in a drain of those with education, money, talent, or gumption. If we expanded this fiat to "and would provide the resources to support their move and establishment" it would be more egalitarian but also lead to an even more decisive drain. In the end you'd only be left over with people who value the culture and family that indoctrinated them moreso than they value moving to a non-imploding non-failed state.
Well I guess if you wanted to be really bad at PR you could do it like that. Which I guess mostly makes my point for me. The only way a feudal society is going to have most anyone outside the aristocracy not choose the spacemen is if they are denied the ability to make an informed decision on the topic, either by denying all information about relative spacemen quality of life, or simply indoctrinating them to hate spacemen and prioritize the traditional way of life over all quality of life metrics.
