Very interesting article. tl;dr the Federation is a not a political union, its a human-dominated protection racket. Non-human worlds pay Earth for protection a

Very interesting article. tl;dr the Federation is a not a political union, its a human-dominated protection racket. Non-human worlds pay Earth for protection and Earth maintains a post-scarcity economy from living off the proceeds of tribute. In this context, the Prime Directive ensures ambitious captains don't takeover planets that are likely to be a net drain on resources.