Dominion War : Life as a Dominion citizen 

Damar the leader of the Cardexit campaign.

Kinda like the Roman empire. Pay your taxes. Keep your gods. Just obey

He’s a dominion apologist! Lore reloaded is a dominion apologist! 😋

Well, as a civilian, I can say one thing that is absolutely horrific and a war crime about Dominion rule is... No gelato. All they have is Ice Kream, and only in one flavor. They say it's vanilla, but it doesn't taste like it.

Hey remember that time when a species stepped out of line and the dominions response was send the jem'hadar and then send a a gene modifying virus that force them to have shorter pain-filled lives.

But DS9 isn't a good representation of civilian life in the Dominion, just like how it isn't for the Federation. It's jointly controlled by the Bajorans, who were never part of either organisation. They just had a similar agreement with the Dominion as they had with the Federation. We never see what it's like on Cardassia (the only major Alpha Quadrant member until the Breen joined) until its populace has already been war-torn, and it doesn't look like the Dominion changed any of Cardassia's old oppressive policies (in fact they had a civilian-lead government for a short time before joining that was replaced with whoever the Dominion thought would be a good puppet). Meaning that in the *BEST-case scenario, the Dominion doesn't care if its local governments oppress their populace as long as they support Dominion at large. *Worst (and IMO more likely) case is that they actively try and make Dominion members more oppressive so they can maintain order more easily.

Well you can compare it to occupied France in WW2. As if your not its target your fine.

I live in the EU... so I am member of Dominion... and snorting ketracell

When the Dominion say jump, you jump. Asking how high is questioning orders

PMSL!!! "The EU is a real life dominion" Welcome to the Brexit camp. ;)

Going along to get along always ends badly. The loss of civil liberty is a gradual process.

Remember the Blight, the genetic disease that Bashir spent an entire episode trying to cure? The Dominion did that to those people and gave them a multigenerational disease as punishment for fighting to Dominion?

The eu is the dominion. I couldn’t agree more, from someone who lives in eu

Bajor never was a member of the Dominion. The have only a non agression treaty.

To live under the Dominion is to live under coercion, without consent, perpetually in fear, and the illusion of peace, happiness, and choice leave you in a state of cognitive dissonance which threatens to betray you, and all you care about, the moment your guard drops. From a civilian side, within the Dominion, you aren't allowed to disagree with any position of those in power because YOU are not a citizen - you are a subject, a slave, a commodity of property. Because of this, you have to guard your own speech at home for fear a child may speak out of turn or of being overheard. Being allowed to live and work and having your 'life' tolerated is not 'living'. Slavery is still slavery no matter how soft and gentle the shackles. The subjects of the Dominion are not permitted to express any sign of critical thinking skill which exposed the abusive and oppressive nature of the government. Subjects who were not politically correct were punished, vanished, or worse. There is no due process. There is no presumption of innocence. There is no right of appeal or jury of peers. YOU, as a subject of the dominion, are not in possession of any rights - only permissions. Your life has no inherent value aside from what resource your able to provide to the Dominion. We could see the Dominion was willing to bring plague to entire worlds, and even keep those worlds sustained to ensure they continued on, just because of the value provided by the fear it created on other worlds. It may be possible to fall into a pattern of acceptance, to grow callouses, and tolerant to the shackles to the point they go unnoticed. Tyrants like the Dominion are the sort to encourage slaves to compete to design their most beautiful and appealing shackles. But all the allowances, acceptance, tolerance, and beauty used to coerce will not change the one undeniable truth: there is no right to say no. The Dominion will do what it wishes with or without your consent. The Dominion will use violence, force, and brutality without regard or regret and YOU as a subject know this and EVERY choice of your life is actively coerced by it.

As Quark said, "As far as occupations go, this one's not so bad."

In the alpha quadrant they weren't so bad. But... In the Gamma quadrant they weren't so great. They ruled through fear and intimidation and committed crimes against sentient people. So they were not so good and their track record is what the federation was going by. In deep space 9 they were making a show of making an effort. They had the capacity for being fair but had not been so before. So there was no guarantee that they wouldn't go back to normal operations after the war had they won.

The Dominion is the Federation without the sugar coating.

Actually I always think of The Dominion as modern day China.

Eh I did the same thing in Master of Orion. Crush the aliens military. Take over their planets and give them a better life. Lol

If the EU is the Dominion then who are the Vorta? The Belgians?

Yes and no. The Dominion took resources instead of negotiating for them. Case in point, the control of Terok Nor which was a Bajoran Space Station. The difference is that Starfleet was invited, the Dominion was not. To the common citizen of Bajor, who lived under the Cardassian occupation, this would be a HUGE deal. This is like taking ownership of Okinawa at the end of WW2 and refusing to give it back just because the U.S. had a deal with the Okinawan people. Granted, it's more complicated than that, but the point is the same. Freedom of expression to the Bajorians is very important, otherwise, Winn would've never been given the opportunity to obtain or even keep her position. The only thing that saved the Provisional Government was the Cicso endorsed non-aggression treaty.

“Everything is perfect. Everything is fine. I worry about nothing because nothing is on my mind.” -totheark

2:40 WE HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED! We shall push the invasion of the U.S. to tomorrow morning, after breackfast

I always saw the Dominion as a futuristic version of the Roman Empire. The Romans demanded tribute, but they generally left the local client-state alone to manage their own affairs. But if said state rebelled, that state was wiped off the map, to be used as an example for other states.

Federation - Freedom came at a cost Dominion - Freedom comes at a cost

I live in the Dominion of Canada 🇨🇦

Well one downside is that you could be punished for another misdeeds. We've seen the Dominion punish whole planets because of a few people. In the final episodes they wiped a Cardasian city off the map killing millions for one failure. So you could be completely loyal and still be killed by the Dominion because your neighbor called the Founders "goopy-heads" and was in the blast radius of whatever weapon they used to vaporize their house.

Oppression IS oppression IS oppression. PERIOD. If someone's punching you repeatedly in the face it doesn't matter if it hurts or not.....YOU'RE GETTING PUNCHED IN THE FACE!

The fact that Jem'hadar rarely lived past fifteen shows that there was a high mortality rate even before the Dominion war, so either internal rebellions were common or the Dominion had other enemies in the Gamma Quadrant.

If we really want to get political about this, if the Dominian is the EU, the with its current leadership, UK is basically Bajor.

As Divinci posited to Janeway in Voyager, None of us have freedom. We have privileges and the only thing that really matters is what we do with what we have. Make no mistake that the federation for a civilian is every bit as bad as the dominion would be. I mean just ask the native Americans and the Maquis.

I agree with this mostly. The female changelings willingness to genocide cardassia and willingness to toss them under the bus for the Breen paints a more despotic view of them, however. I think most of those that were in the dominion lived in a constant state of fear, more than they let on. The only solid she showed any sympathy for was weyeon, and she even killed one of his clones. Makes you wonder how many other genocides they committed out slight annoyance or convenience.

The EU's not really technically a dominion, no. But Canada is! :D At least in the most literal way possible

The blight was certianly something this video at the very least should have been mentioned

You don't know how much I smirked at the EU comparison as a Brexiteer Brit.

It feels unfair that this video never mentions the Season 3 Opening; "The Search Parts 1 & 2". Where we actually see a simulation of life under the Dominion that a Vorta runs to see the extent of Resistance to expect. (Side Note; Apparently the writers hadn't yet decided that the Vorta were Genetically Engineered to be reverent to the Founders, or at least to Odo.)

Thank you for the content, sir.

Tbh, you're entering into tankie land with this video.

I find the Dominion good villains, theyre not really "evil" but they arent "good" either

3:55 You’re more husky than fat in my eyes.... at least until I decide I don’t care for your brand of center-right iconoclastic belligerence. Signed, A Fellow Husky Gentleman

I guess you're pro-Brexit. Lol

As far as Occupations go, this one isn't that bad. - Quark

Do you think part of the reason for the better treatment for the people on Deep Space 9/Bajor may have to do with the fact that it had a non-aggression pact with the Dominion rather than having fully joined?

@Lore, like I said earlier, it was very bad diplomatic move to allow the Cardassians to control DS9, a neutral puppet governor like Odo with Weyoun's assistance and an army of Jem Hadar would have lessen the racial animosities between Bajorans and Cardassians. Hell, Gul Dukat was a narcissist, imagining himself the conquering hero with Kira as his trophy "girl" (Knowing his relationship with her mother later in the series, it makes it kind of sicker as to his fascination with Kira). Your point would make a lot more sense if the Dominion operated with a semblance "soft power" projection, like the Federation nominally operates with by using local leadership on colony or member worlds to govern rather than introduce an antagonist element like Cardassians at the outset.

Some dictators act in the same way, building new infrastructure like "Autobahnen" and let the people live, trading and do what they want as long as it is conform to the government. Ok, some people will disapear but not you, as long as your skin is not green or your eys are blue? ;) I mean, the eurpean union is not the best solution also not the united states of america. But I would not equate them with a totalitarian regim. The thing is, modern totalitarian regims do not build Autobahnen like Hitler did. They have ohter technics to force you in line. Think about it. Watch The Orville, "Majority Rule". LLAP.

It's kind of like in Star Wars when the Empire took over, the economies of the Core Worlds bloomed and life was generally pretty good. For the Inner Worlds at least.

Now that my country is leaving the EU I am worried that I am going to get the blight!

Bajor does not exactly get a good deal being in the Dominion Alliance. Before leaving Deep Space Nine, Captain Sisko tells Kira to have Bajor sign up because the Federation cannot protect the planet at that time. This move is more a delayed act of protection.

I forgot how tasteful the vedek suicide scene was shot.

The Dominion structure reminds me of the Mafia. It also reminds me of the EU now (Thanks Lore Reloaded). General Idea: Do us favors when we ask. Oh, and pay for our protection.

The Dominion did nothing wrong!

Imagine a Galactic Dominion of peace and prosperity, with the Jem'Hadar acting as peacekeepers and the Vorta happy to help client states achieve their dreams. Damn you Sisko!

Glamours the Dominion is very impressive. You can live your life and be safe just for the price of not expressing your opinion thoughts or feelings or concerns no thank you but for other people who are not Fighters at all highly intelligent and advanced it would work for them

Let's hope that all the changelings here arent listening

If the EU is the Dominion, where the fuck is the Jem'hadar equivalent re: England, Poland, Hungary and the other defiant national governments?

To judge if EITHER side was the actual good guys in the Alpha Quadrant powers-Dominion War would or even could, if it came down to it would they be able to combine forces to combat an extremely powerful and dangerous mutual threat say an unprecedented Borg invasion or Species 8472 doin similar to wipe basically EVERYONE out to take over??? Who'd do more to aid Resistances, Evacuations, or Rescues an who'd be willing to wage desperate brutal battles to allow those conducting such ops to succeed?? Little things like that in such scenarios would go far in figuring such things out.. then questions like who's citizens got it easier can be more conclusively answered

Was there a negative impact? I imagine that the answer might be largely no.. for the worlds that didn't step out of line. Dominion rule was a seductive prospect; but being ruled by a species that cares nothing about whether solids live or die, is a very, very dangerous gamble. "That other planet got destroyed by the Dominion for reasons that would never happen on my planet." The people that might disagree, and want to speak out aren't around long enough to be heard. Is that living? Maybe for some people.

I'd say the best comparison to the Dominion would be mainland China. You can do a lot of the same shit in China as you can in America. Except when it comes to having political thoughts. You can buy American fast food, you can buy any number of pointless bullshit that you could buy here in America (smartphones, adult toys, etc.) AFAIK, there's even mostly the same amount of freedom of movement. You just can't express opposition to the powers that be, or do things they don't approve of. The situation in the Alpha Quadrant, and especially Bajor in particular, is likely analogous to Hong Kong. Putting up a facade of peace, stability, and prosperity is the PRC's main goal, which is why Hong Kong has yet to be turned into Tienanmen 2.0. This is likely the same sort of approach we see with the Dominion in regards to Bajor. However, when push comes to shove, the Dominion engages in genocide against its own citizens when things don't go their way. The closest comparison to the Cardassian genocide I can think of for China would be the way it treats Uyghurs. Of course, the comparisons cannot truly be one-to-one, but the pattern is quite similar.

_Me, watching this video on January 1st, 2020, after Brexit is all but a done deal thanks to the latest UK election._ "Lore's making the Dominion sound a lot like the European Union, which is a bit unfair... to the Dominion. The Dominion's much more competent than the EU could ever be."

I mean I can't see much of a disadvantage from this personally...but that said, something about it rubs me the wrong way. I think you hit it on the head: even a gilded cage becomes intolerable after a while. To me its like the specter of "real" oppression (and by that I do mean the gulags, concentration camps...basically anything we actually think about when we think evil authoritarian regime) sort of lurks around the corner constantly. I like Alan's Roman Empire comparison. "Play nice and we all get along. cross us, and you will be destroyed." Basically, everything's nice unless you step out of line.

Amicable totalitarian state = contradiction in terms (in real life, anyway). Just saying. Still liked the video. Note: "The EU is the Dominion." You speak sooth. ^^

The thing about the Dominion is that you are NEVER actually a citizen, you are one of either a slave like the majority of the member civilizations, a tool/drone like the Vorta and Jem Hadar or an example as the blighted / as they would have made of the Federation. If you're a member civ, yeah you can do lots of things and have a great and prosperous life... but you always know in the back of your mind that if a Founder is in trouble you, your family, heck your entire civilization is worth absolutely nothing compared to that one Founder's life... and the same will happen if you offend just one and the rest don't care enough to argue against it. And as the Founder leader said to Garak, the Cardassians were dead, in a Dominion wins the war scenario, the Cardassians (and probably Romulans as well) get scoured from the galaxy as soon as the Dominion is able... heck the Founder was ordering the extermination of the Cardassians at the cost of the Dominion's entire position in the Alpha/Beta quadrants since neither she nor the Vorta nor the Jem Hadar as extensions of her will alone gave a single flip for the lives of any 'solids' in the Dominion in the gamma quadrant... If the Founders died then what did she care if the Alpha/Beta quadrant powers invaded through the wormhole to put the Dominion down for good?

A good example of dominion ways is one scene during the 2nd battle of ds9 were ducat n damar talk of invading Bajor and weyoun reminding them of the treaty which in dukat words "the dominion may have but I didn't " n weyoun saying as a member of the dominion you will honour it as well, with dukat responding were the dominion leads cardassia will follow

The question heavily addressed, though I don't think it was directly asked, is does a benevolent dictatorship work? The answer is yes, but the government has to play it very exactly. That is possibly the advantage something like the Dominion has over real human nations that attempt to engage in the same practices. The leaders are The Founders, the changelings who link together and so cannot hide anything and thus generally reach full consensus more often than not, the politicians and diplomats are the Vorta, clones who are programmed and sworn to obey the will of the Founders alone and only act in service of the Dominion and not to self, and the soldiers are the Jem'Hadar, also clones, accelerated growth, constant conflict and rarely live beyond 10 years (can someone give me that line between Jadzia and the Jem'Hadar from the Iconian gateway episodes) and force an addiction on them so they must obey. Now there are obviously cracks, the rebel Weyoun in one episode and the rebel Jem'Hadar in another, but this rarely, if ever, reaches the civilian populace. Because the civilian populace is left unaware of their benefactors failings, all they see is unity and perfection. As stated this comes at the cost of a soul (Vormir anyone?), but in most civilian eyes this would be a small price to pay for otherwise ensuring all (other) freedoms stayed in tact. I don't think Ben Franklin could have imagined this particular method of freedom and security.

The EU is not the Dominion. The Dominion was functional and prosperous.

if the EU was anything like the dominion then the brexit vote never would have happened. german or french troops would have appered in parliment before the vote happened and executed the entirity of the british parliment. of course the entire Brexit likely never would have happened as the UKIP and the sucessionist MPs within the British Conservitive party would have been dissappered. That's the thing about totaltarian governments vs normal ones. Totaltarian governments don't give you a choice.

The Dominion were a much more effective version of the Empire from Star Wars- they kept rebellion to an extreme minimum if not eliminated but didn't overtly strangle everyone under their rule which likely also further quelled rebellion. They knew to keep those who were loyal happy enough to not complain yet were more efficient in getting rid of the complainers before they could organize. They were also smart and bred their "officers" and "soldiers" to be loyal, rather than having some angry loon in a life support suit randomly killing both of them for even tiny mistakes because he was having a bad day. The Founders never would have allowed someone as unhinged as Darth Vader to have a high rank.

Dominion is closer to the British Empire and their territories are like colonies. They basically have taxation without representation. EU at least has a representative body with members from each country. The EU has far more freedom of speech (not as much as the US, but it is protected). In fact, the dominion is closest to the worst aspects of the British Empire (while colonies, the American colonies were better off than British African colonies and British India). The EU never punished a member with a disease, while I am sad to say that someone who is normally a hero and role model to me, Winston Churchill, let India starve. At the same time the British brought their system of laws which were kept by many former colonies which were relatively progressive compared to the colony before it was a colony. Thus, the dominion is not like the EU. I hate to be accusatory, but I think your bias is showing.

I have disagreed with you on a number of things BUUUUUT I get and agree with the EU/Dominion comparison.

There was a huge negative for the civilians...the smug self-righteous jerks who spoke down to them from their distant ivory towers were now Vorta rather than bald humans. It's only acceptable if a bald human is the one talking down to you while dismissing all your concerns.

I literally had this conversation with someone two weeks ago. and I will say from the civilian side to Dominion was actually a calming Force

as a black man I must say I felt more free living in China then living in America .... i literally started looking younger and losing weight and being healthier once I was free of American style hostility ... watching a police officer drive by or going into a government office was just relaxed

Well considering that the entire basis of the Dominion is a criticism of ccorrupt corporatocracy such as what currently is the state of affairs for the bulk of the American job market....

I think the big counter to keep in mind was Weyoun’s talk of destroying Earth pre-emptively for fear of rebellion and the Dominions increasing oppressive actions against the Cardassians as they became less trusted. There is evidence that the Dominion generally likes to rule with the carrot rather than the stick, but they carry a big stick and living under Dominion rule means living under the threat of it being used. Keep in mind, many Cardassian civilians who had nothing to do with the rebellion were killed, so it’s not enough for you to keep your head down and follow the Dominions rules, you also have to hope that everyone else is doing the same because when the Dominion starts using the stick, they don’t care much about who they end up hitting.

Under Dominion Rule everything had a limit. In the first season before they were even introduced Quark couldn't reach a trading deal with an alien species from the Gamma Quadrant, because it was too lucrative for the Dominion to allow it to happen.

One way of looking at it, it would better to live under the federation than Dominion, but the Dominion is better than living under Cardisians, Romulians, or Klingons.

There is a fine line between authority and tyranny. Authority is a social contract between the people and the government. One does not unnecessarily cross certain lines, and all is well. Tyranny is going out of your way to impose authority over those below you for the sake thereof, out of malicious intent. I think the Dominion understood that. Where the EU does not.

A quote about the problem of getting a free people to accept domination from Machiavelli's history of Florence, "That time can neither destroy nor abate the desire for freedom is most certain; for it has been often observed, that those have reassumed their liberty who in their own persons had never tasted of its charms, and love it only from remembrance of what they have heard their fathers relate; and, therefore, when recovered, have preserved it with indomitable resolution and at every hazard. And even when their fathers could not remember it, the public buildings, the halls of the magistracy, and the insignia of free institutions, remind them of it;"

Opposing viewpoint: The Dosi were not allowed to sell the Ferengi large quantities of Tulaberry wine. (Rules of Acquisition) The Skrreeans were fleeing the Gamma Quadrant, as they found life under the Dominion to be oppressive. (Sanctuary) Colyus fled his homeworld, because conquest by the Dominion had changed their entire way of life. (Shadowplay) Seems to be a decent amount of evidence pointing to the Dominion being a state that provides everything you need. Unless you need freedom.

I find it hilariously rediculous that you think the EU is like the Dominion, the UK can leave the EU and by law will have left it after midnight on October 31st, now I think the Dominion would have acted far more aggresively towards the UK than the EU currently has. The UK has deals with lots of countries outside the EU, if anything the Dominion is a lot more like China, what with the authoritarian leadership, inability to protest, etc. Comparing them to the EU is silly.

The freedom of speech and thought is what everyone truly want. Without it, it's not like living your life. You're just existing

Nah, the EU isn't the Dominion. The EU doesn't have an army.... _Yet._ But they're chomping at the bit to get one even they're not supposed to ever have one.

From the civilian perspective, the EU is NOT like the Dominon.

I actually thought the fact they appeared nice on the surface is what made them the most evil empire. The Dominion was so much more well rounded than any other faction in Star Trek outside of the Federation. They had warriors, they had infiltrators, they had diplomats, they had scientists and all of them were top tier.

Bajor under Dominion was just one large Potiomkin's Village - Basically a giant PR stunt nothing more :P

The dominion is know for their replicators. And their Kanar. And what about their safe space stations?

Youy can see how cardasians were treated - i would imagine the same was for any nation in gamma quadrant that was subdued by the dominon - aka those ships dominion had on the other side of the wormhole had to be build - so i would imagine the subdued nations were put to work soviet gulag style - aka worked to death to pump as many ships as possible. they were slaves nothing more nothing less - albeit with a biit longer leashes.

Nooo... Don't upset the Americans!!!

Except the Dominion was willing to give away territory from their "client states" without any sort of approval from those client states or even telling them about it. The Dominion also didn't even care how many Cardassians or Breen were killed in their war with the Alpha quadrant. That doesn't sound like a good deal to me.

One problem. Saying anything against the founders gets you death by Vorta order.

Ask the Vorta and the Jem'hadar how life is for conquered civilians. Expect some GMO Bajorians shortly.

I mean I always thought they let Jake Sisko do whatever he wanted cause the Founders were scared of the Prophets.

One little advertised factoid that separates the EU from the Dominion is that each state has total veto over everything, so everything the EU does that the daily mail hates is something all the states involved have said yes to. Total veto is something you can not underestimate

The freedom to travel the freedom to have ones own thoughts if it goes against the dominion then your an enemy of the state or your hold planet might be punished by given a illness or your planet cut from the rest of the dominion

It was all good and dandy, until Weyoun discusses genocide of an entire home world to "quell any potential rebellion"

On the one hand the Dominion did nothing wrong but on the other hand the Dominion is the EU. I am conflicted.

The dominion as a whole wasn't a bad idea. They are like Starfleet in that they respect the cultures, they control, to remain who they are as long as they give all for the dominion.

I was never a fan of the Dominion or the Dominion War. They and their motives never really made much sense.

As totalitarian empires go . . . .the Dominion wasn't all that bad.