astrangergivingthestrangewelcome:

DS9’s overarching story about societal retribution is pretty damn revolutionary actually. It took several generations and the better part of a century, but eventually the same Cardassian political and social hubris that led them to enslave and exploit a whole world led to them making a series of decision that led to th Dominion alliance which wrought a level of devastation on Cardassia far greater than anything Bajor experienced. While this is cosmic karma and in some ways immensely satisfying, it’s also clear that the majority of Cardassians suffering were not high war criminal facists but just regular people. Every Cardassian deserved it and no Cardassian deserved it. The message of DS9 is not, well sucks that innocent Cardassian children are gonna die of starvation now but that’s what happened to lots of Bajoran kids so payback time bitches. It’s that since Cardassia was led by fascism, greed, and corruption all of Cardassia will eventually come to bear the burden of that. The fury of that reckoning cannot be controlled or limited to those who “really deserve it” it will come to all. It takes your breath away as a viewer, and. As an American watching an American show. I’ll never forget that message.