It's pretty hard to make the case that we "need" any work of fiction.
At SDCC CBS sent us a synopsis, essentially a workplace comedy on a vacation planet – not Risa, not in the Federation. So are those fundamentals are still the same?
Those fundamentals are the same. But what I can tell you is what we’re really working on exploring, are the sort of overlooked sections of what happens when a world and a culture that is not that was not [sic] in the Federation. What happens when they decide to be?… So Federation outsiders and what’s kind of the nitty gritty involved with joining the Federation and involved with… yeah, I’m really struggling [to avoid spoilers]
That's an interesting adjustment...
Well you see, she doesn't support sovereignty, and has to stop them from starting their own party, so obviously she has to give them what they want, stoke the flames, and make it easier to hold a referendum.
It's so simple!
At this point, "one crank neurologist" seems to be the most likely explanation by far.
This was an independent study, not the government investigation.
The difference is, unlike the Prime Directive, we want these principles to be followed.
Defederation isn't the only option listed there - the other options can be, and have been, deployed across a number of instances that are still otherwise federated.
I'm by no means suggesting that the FDA cuts are good (they are, to be very clear, dumb and bad), but in theory, food is still being tested at the state level.
I can only hope that the Government of Canada is aware of the state programs, and whether they are suitably robust.
Here's to those 14 years of complete mismanagement...
Just wanted to make sure - I stumbled over that sentence when reading it!