All too true. ET would look upon the human race and shake his/her head in sadness. In my novel Earth is not represented simlpy because wat is now is represented in that future time as well. Greed and the accumulation of material wealth is rampant. The society I'm trying to create lives by one simple rule...no one loses.
In this future time there is a group of young women led by a single male whose sole dedication is to see their happiness fulfilled. He does this by backing them up with all the power at his command which is considerable. Their desire is to see that everyone without exception is able to enjoy the same kind of quality of life they have. They want for nothing. There is no poverty, no hunger, no one who goes without all the basic necessities that give life meaning.
Sounds like utopia but it is far from it. These ladies had to fight hard for what they have. Their beginnings were horrific being held as sex slaves and suffering the abuses that go along with it. They fought and died for their freedom and now are in a position to use the enormous resources granted them by their benefactors to rid this galaxy of those who would deprive the innocent of a just quality of life.
I've tried to put into this novel all comparisons to those evils that exist in our world. The solutions they've come up with are nothing short of contraversial in that they use the power they have to effect change. Tyrants are taken down. Totalitarian states are engaged to change their way or risk being blasted to the far end of nowhere. Some do and those that refuse are simply done away with. One of the most important aspects I've tried to emphasize is collateral damage is to be avoided at all costs.
This is accomplished by first isolating the innocent under a protective umbrella where no harm may befall them. Their oppressors are then dealt with. Sometimes harshly but always with one outcome in mind. Total elimination, a permanent end to oppression.
Doctors treat symptoms, rarely the cause of those symptoms. My people look for the cause and when found it is obliterated. When there is no longer a cause then there are no symptoms to 'treat' as it were. They do not walk away when they accomplish a goal. They remain to insure that those oppressed are given all that is needed to reclaim their lives and their dignity.
I believe that an all inclusive policy is necessary to ensure an objective approach. To this end they refuse no one. All are entitled to the same considerations be they friend or foe. A potential enemy is never treated as such. Always is the benefit of the doubt given. Some recognize it for what it is and reap the benefits and no longer are thought of as being a potential enemy. Those who do not are simply swept aside in favor of something that works to the benefit of all people not just a select few.
One thing I did stress is this. Politics are considered anathema. To often people die before a consensus can be reached. Issues are debated to death and that is a waste of precious time. If a thing needs doing you do it. You don't wait, you don't debate. And you do not under any circumtances whatsoever take for granted that someone else will do it first. Borders are not recognized. Sovereign territory is not recognized where the health and well being of the people are concerned. They can do this because not only do they have the will but they also have the power to back it up.
Demonstrated when these women take on one of the great powers in the galaxy, The Terran Federation, and kick their sorry asses to hell and back again. It didn't matter that their numbers are few. It didn't matter that they were outnumbered nearly a hundred to one. What did matter is the fact that their technology is lightyears more advanced and impossible to counteract. But one thing that has been drilled into them is this: With great power comes an even greater obligation an even greater responsibility to those who have less than you, those whose need is great. One of my characters put it this way...
"Why should people not have what I got? I got a home. I got a full belly and all that good stuff. I can lay me down to sleep at night all nice and toasty warm. Why should I have all this and nobody else. It's not fair".