They started out at a military instillation working on a military project. The reason that civilians are there are either because of the visit that was going on, or because of the civilians who were at the base working for the military. On any given military base, there are a lot of civilian workers, usually because of their expertise (like Dr. Rush or Dr. Jackson) or because it's cheaper/easier to have a civilian be an office bitch instead of having a soldier/airman/marine/sailor do the same kind of work.. No doubt they are creating this conflict between the civilians an military for the reasons you brought up, though, which is why it's grating to me and comes off as forced.
hmmm.... Actually the military no longer runs the Stargate program. It is run by a multinational civilian oversight committee, the IOA. The Stargate itself, or the SGC, is run by the airforce under command of HomeWorld Security. I believe the spaceship fleet also operates under command of HomeWorld Security. Off World Colonies seem to answer almost directly to the IOA itself. There always seems to be an IOA representative hanging around. Icarus Base sure seemed like a civilian research operation. I don't know why it was played up so much as a military base in the pilot. Seems like the IOA should have had their own government 'commander' there. I don't know why they didn't. It certainly would have made this Destiny-power-struggle more interesting if the military took control once they gated to the ship, where as the civilians were in charge at Icarus Base. In fact, since the military has been incharge the entire time, you wonder why all the civilians seem to have such a problem with it.
It was played up as a military base because they realized just how vulnerable it was. If I remember the pilot correctly it was a US base as well.
Yes, they started out on a military base - but, from the get-go, we're supposed to believe that this was a complete evacuation - of everyone on the base, regardless of why they are they there. If I need to go over to Great Lakes Naval Base - for any reason, right now, and it has come up, I've been on the base occasionally in the last 15 years - and the entire base needs to be evacuated, whether back out into North Chicago or to another planet, I am still not in the military, nor do I have any intention of following the orders of any military personnel just because they have guns. I don't know how you guys watch a show or movie, but when I do, I try to imagine myself in that situation. and ..., quite frankly, I doubt most of you would quietly just obey the military if you were in that situation. Either way, having a struggle between civilian and military leadership has always been a point of contention throughout human history. I can't see it not being an issue here. Disagrees?!? seriously? is this show that important to you? Get a grip, dude.
You better believe you will do what they tell you to do. On a military base you are subject to their rules and procedures and if they say do X you better do it. [/QUOTE]
What possible fucking sense does it make to incite conflict against the people who are most likely to keep you alive?
Because the military mindset is not the same as civilian mindset. In the military, the minute you set foot at basic training you are conditioned to follow a chain of command, to obey orders no matter what. That absolute control is necessary. Life in the real world - civilian world, is not like that. There is no reason to incite a conflict, but there is reason to let the military know that they do not have control over civilians.
Defiance for the sake of itself? That setting is neither the time nor the place. I'm not saying they should act like unthinking drones, but they've got enough problems without fighting amongst themselves over who gets to be the boss.
The military should never have "assumed" control. It wasn't their place. They did so because they had "the power". Young should know that having the military is charge is bad for everyone. I'm pretty sure both General Hammond and General O'Neill would agree.
The military was in operational command of the base and the expedition. Fictional protocol aside, I'm not seeing any rational justification for shifting that control to a bunch of unqualified civilian observers and technical staff just because they had to evacuate the base, and plenty of serious problems with trying to run things as a democracy under those conditions.
And, would you, in that situation, sit by and let a few personnel who happened to be in the military take over all decision making concerning your life? I don't think any of the people who have jockeyed for control - Young, Rush or the IAO woman - have any ability to actually lead people without force. There needs to be control, yes. But, not from either the military nor the IOA - two agencies from Earth whose political agendas have nothing to do with where they are now. Neither from Rush, because ... , well, I kinda think he's insane. I think Young may make a good leader, but he has his own emotional issues to deal with and he isn't thinking about the people, he's thinking about military strategy.
Depends on how well they did at proving themselves to me. Based on what I know about this franchise, I would have no trust for a representative of the IOA, and it's painfully obvious that Rush is pleased to be where he is and has no desire to return. Despite his personal issues, Young has made the most consistently pragmatic choices, and that is what I'd be looking for. It's not like you have unlimited choices here, and "none of the above" isn't really an option. It's not a high school civics exercise we're talking about.
Actually, I said in my first post that an alternate civilian leader should be brought forward. It may be to late for the series now, but ... I think they should have ... fleshed out a civilian character - not Chloe - who could be the 'liason' so to speak for the civilian population.
Sure, let's sideline the people with survival and combat training, not to mention actual off-world experience, so that civilian tech support douchebags and the chick who grows vegetables can feel represented in the decision-making process.
What "off world experience" do any of them have in this universe? Not to mention the entire group of SG1 during the movie and first season of the series. and living on the ship, they aren't getting a lot of 'off world' adventures anyway. All they're trying to do right now, is survive.
They didn't go from the base to someplace else within the country. The military was in charge of the evacuation, and until they get back home they are still in charge. They aren't in charge because "they have the guns", they're in charge because they have the training and experience for what was and still is a military operation. This is why it makes no sense at all for the civilian characters to be whining and antagonizing the way they are on the show. From day 1, the military personnel have done what they can to keep everyone on that ship alive and as safe as possible, and all some of the civilians can do is whine about how the military has guns. Actually I would, but then I actually have experience with the military. With Young I would definitely be more inclined to cooperate. The only way I wouldn't would be if someone like the other colonel were in charge. It just doesn't make much sense here. First off: :repwhine: But to be frank it isn't about the show as much as it is about you whining about the military the way you were.
My take would be that, having evacuated in the most life-threatening of circumstances from a military base, and now occupying that which can only realistically be considered as either occupied territory or government property (a defacto military instillation) that the civilians are, essentially, under "marshal law" because of the extreme nature of the circumstances. in fact, I strongly suspect that if this were a real life situation there would be an order from the appropriate government official declaring it such.
I don't know about that. Rush made the decision as to what gate address was dialed - and... if you want to argue that the military led that evactuation, allowing Rush to pick the gate address or the reasons he did, was a monumental mistake. Their first priority should have been to ensure the safety of the civilians. Only because they have guns. Dude..., you have some serious issues. Had you watched the first episode, it was apparent with ... whatshisprettyboyface's entire body language. He's holding up a rifle telling everyone that Young has put him in charge, period. Looked to me like he was using that gun as a show of force to take control. Not saying there wouldn't be people inclined to follow the military. I'm just saying if someone shoved a gun in my face, I'd be more disinclined to follow his direction. I disagree.
They can do anything they want. The are alone and stranded millions of galaxies away from Earth. If it werent' a tv show and the end already a given, I'd say none of those people are ever going to make it home. So, the only authority 'the military' has, is their guns.
Of course they were still in charge of the evacuation. They would've gone to the ship had they been able to, but they couldn't. Rush was ordered to dial to a set evacuation site, but he knew he'd never get another shot at dialing that 8 chevron address ever again and just went ahead and did it. Or did you think they'd planned all along to evacuate to a place they'd never dialed to before? Didn't you get that sense of confusion when they ended up in an unfamiliar gateroom? No, because they have the training to deal with the situation. You, like the show's writers, sure do seem to be obsessed with guns. Or to discourage any whiny losers from trying to give him any trouble while they figured out just what the hell to do. And I've noticed that the only ones to get shot or even threatened have been the troublemakers who have threatened the safety of everyone on that ship with their stupidity. Whatever. You seem to think that either there should be complete anarchy on board or that the civilian IOA rep would be any better at running things than Col. Young is. The episode before the hiatus kind of illustrated otherwise, because she basically let Rush do what he does best by manipulating her into doing his bidding, just like he manipulated one of his fellow scientists into sitting in that chair. Young saw right through him ever since Rush showed him the chair and told him what it was. IMO them whining comes off like a bunch of leftists who just have a problem with the military as a matter of course.
Rush was ordered to dial Earth. If I remember correctly he mid-halted the Earth Dial and started dialing Destiny instead.
Pretty sure he discussed with it another person standing there. He convinced them to let him dial the 9 chevron address - told them it would be the only chance they got.
They are now on a military ship. Anyway Young does listen to the civilians. Just because he might not implement everything they want doesn't mean he's running things like the Gestapo. And frankly it is a good thing Young is in charge and not Rush cause Rush has shown he doesn't give a flying crap about anyone.
