Planetary Union: Ethical or a Farce?

Hello, Fanaticals! I hope you've been enjoying this week's fandom, as I have had a lot of fun diving into it. Today, we are going to be diving into theories about the ethics of the Planetary Union itself.

Ethics is honestly one of the biggest things that runs the world. However, there is a difference between acknowledging cultural ethics, imposing your own ethics, and just overall turning a blind eye. The biggest problem when it comes to ethics is making sure that you aren't dictating and being hypocritical in the process. During today's theories, I may seem a bit hypocritical, but I will explain why as we go on; a huge part of it honestly has to do with my ability to see both sides of the coin. Let's get theorizing!

Ethics of the Planetary Union

Overall, the ethics of the Union can be called into question quite a bit. The best comparison I can make is that the Planetary Union is equivalent to today's United Nations, which can be very scary when we think about the discussion ahead.

The Union and the UN basically have the same goal; many nations living together in peace and harmony. While there is a lot about the show that I love the concept of and wish there were ways to integrate it into today's society, I would honestly be a bit nervous if the UN was run the same way as the Union. From everything I have seen, the UN truly does try to keep things fair and peaceful; but there are somethings that they do the Union seems to not do, which is keeping things ethical across the board. My biggest line of proof, is also going to be my own biggest hypocrisy; so, if you know me and my very strong opinions (or have your own in this) just bear with me as I explain why my proof comes in the form if the Moclans.

Unacceptance of Moclans

While I am very vocal about the questionable ethics of the Moclans and how they treat women in general, but also force infants into "corrective surgery" to keep themselves an all-male species, I also do have some empathy towards them and their views when it comes to the Union. Hear me out: the Union preaches acceptance, claiming that they all have to accept each other's cultural differences and respect them, correct? Well, while we may think it is unethical to do what they did to Topa, it is also their cultural traditions.

The Moclans are under the impression that their traditions and values are just as important as everyone else's and they are members of this Union that is big on allowing them to be them, but also have a voice in the overall government. I won't lie that Bortus' argument to Ed when requesting that he order Claire to do the surgery is not incorrect. While most of the Union, and especially us as humans, find it unethical to change a gender as an infant and do not consider it to be a "genetic defect", the Moclans DO. His argument to Ed that to the Moclans, being born female is like a human being born with a cleft pallet is a legit argument for their culture, even if as humans we disagree with it.

In this case, the Union is literally telling them that they will not force their own Medical Officer to do the surgery and that she is upholding her ethical oath while at the same time still preaching acceptance of all species and their traditions. If they are really accepting of everyone, then Claire's oath of ethics should have included the surgery. Therefore, Gordon and John forcing Bortus into seeing things their way via Rudolph was actually unethical but accepted.

Now, on the flip side of this, the Moclans were technically on the verge of a Civil War when it comes to the female colony. Most governments that are outside of whichever government that is having a Civil War will stay neutral, sometimes helping both sides and sometimes neither. The Union stepping in and trying to help with negotiations was them being ethical and unethical at the same time; it was ethical due to the desperate attempt of seeking Sanctuary by one side, but it was also unethical as Civil Wars are generally something dealt with in house which is something the Union was not considered in this case. The male Moclans had more than enough reason to be fully fed up with the Union.

So, while I personally agree with the Union in the fact that I extremely disagree with them in every way, I also can see their point of view as well. A lot of people's problems is coming in and messing with traditions, even in real life. Funny enough, in a lot of fanfictions regarding Harry Potter, that is a widely common theme; the Purebloods hate that the Muggleborns come in and attempt to eradicate tradition. Look at it like America, we are the melting pot and the place with the most immigrants; we were once entirely made of immigrants, and now it is only 13%. We claim to be accepting of other cultures and their traditions, but in the same breath cut those traditions down. It makes it even worse for the Moclans, as they are even persecuted on their home soil for traditions.

Am I a fan of the Moclans? Absolutely not. However, I also can empathize with their anger towards the Union because as I learn more about where my family came from, I wish to incorporate those traditions back into my family and have people dump on me for it because they're not "modern". The idea of a Planetary Union where everyone lives in peace, still seems to be a pipe dream as they continue to still have their own forms of racism. Although, to be fair, even without changing Bortus' mind about the surgery, he is still more tolerable of women of other species than Klyden is which shows the Bortus is probably the most understanding of Moclans and actually does understand the Union's preach of overall acceptance.

Taking Advantage of Xelayans

This one is a bit tricky, but it still shows the potential that the Union is not as ethical as they claim. While the Moclans may have the biggest argument for the Union's questionable ethics, I wonder if the Xelayans may not have a solid argument base as well. To see this, we have to look at both Alara and Talla in their positions as Chief of Security.

Now, the timeline that I am going to be using comes from the Orville Fandom Wiki[1]. To whoever (or all the people) that put this together, this has been such an amazing source for me, and I have used it even for my own fanfictions! So, thank you to all who contributed to it.

When we meet Alara around roughly September of 2419, she is only 23 but is already the Chief of Security. It is only about ten months later that she returns to Xelaya due to "gravity sickness". While we don't know her direct birthday, she is still 23 or 24 at this point as she was born in 2396. Ed asks her how old she is during that first meeting, and at his incredulous reaction to her age she mentions that when a Xelayan joins the Military, the Union has a tendency to fast track them. However, considering her age, it seems like they fast tracked her within a year or two at most to become Chief.

Meanwhile, when we meet Talla in 2420 we gather she is probably somewhere between 26-28 as the following year in 2421 is when "younger/past Kelly" pops up who is somewhere in her 20s as well, as she is 7 years younger than the "present Kelly" who is somewhere in her 30s; considering the friendship between Talla and Kelly sparked when the younger Kelly shows up, it makes you believe they were roughly about the same age. Although we don't know the exact date that she joined, we do know that she was an Ensign in 2416, which is 4 years before she joined the Orville meaning her "fast track" was a bit more reasonable to get her to Chief.

Now, while Alara states that the Union "fast tracks" Xeleayans, this seems like a HUGE difference in "fast tracking". If it seems like it only took Alara a couple years, but it took Talla twice as long, the question is WHY? My theory is that the Union took advantage of Alara and her family-and maybe even other Xelayans-in ways that they couldn't take advantage of Talla. You may ask how that would be possible, and the answer lies in the history of Talla's family.

Alara makes it well-known that her family (and even most Xelayans) frown heavily upon joining the Military, they are considered "black sheep" of the species; but yet Talla admits that her entire family are considered black sheep, as she comes from a long line of Xelayan Military.

Having Talla's family be a part of the Military for so long, they would know what a proper fast track would look like which means if the Union tried to fast track her too quickly, her family would probably raise all sorts of noise if they thought she was being tracked up to Chief too fast. On the flip side, with Alara's family frowning upon her joining (as well as this possibly being a normal thing to frown upon), she would have no one to advocate and raise all sorts of noise if she was promoted too quickly.

Is it possible that the Union takes unethical advantage of Xelayans who have no Military background? Being a Chief at 23 versus 27 can be a big difference in times of crisis just based on the experience that came with working your way up, even if it is a bit quicker.

Alara at 23 got thrown into Command when Ed and Kelly went out and got captured at the same time that Bortus was on parental leave to hatch his egg; she quite obviously did not have a good handle on things, even going as far as trying to get Claire to claim that she was medically unfit to be in Command. In this instance, she wasn't even in an actual battle; but it makes you wonder what would have happened if she had been in one.

Meanwhile Talla, who was in charge while Ed was at Union Central and Kelly and Bortus were down protecting the female Moclan colony, kept a completely cool head and didn't need help from Claire or freak out at all. In fact, she had zero issues handing out orders while literally in a battle with the Moclan ship. This came with the fact that she had time to see what it was like dealing with a Command position, where Alara really didn't.

So, the question really comes down to did the Union fast track Alara quicker than Talla because of their difference in backgrounds, despite being the same species? If they did, was this really an ethical thing to be able to do?

While we can all admit that most governments have their own form of ethical questions pop up, when you watch something that depicts the future where supposedly all of those problems no longer exist, it's super questionable when you do see some of those issues that were "a part of history" come back up. For a time that is supposed to have eradicated those issues in their governments, it's really rough to see the "we learned from past mistakes and accept everyone" only to see them pushing their own ethical views onto others but claim it's okay.

Today was a bit of a complicated day, but what do you think? Is the Union as squeaky clean in their ethics as they claim to be? What are your thoughts on these theories? Join our community and come share your thoughts with us! Until tomorrow, keep on theorizing Fanaticals!

[1]"Timeline." The Orville Wiki, Fandom. https://orville.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline