The Ethics of Star Trek: Ethnic Cleansing

I look foward to learning more about ethics and Star Treks. In this debate*, I shall be arguing that Capt. Kathyrn Janeway's extermination of the Borg was ethically justified. This debate round will be divided into three sections, the Borg, ethics, and the ethical justification of the Borg's extermination. The Borg: "We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. " " Borg Collective, 2373 ("Scorpion") "The Borg were a pseudo-species of cybernetic beings, or cyborgs, from the Delta Quadrant. No single individual truly existed within the Borg Collective (with the possible sole exception of the Borg Queen), as all Borg were linked into a hive mind. Their ultimate goal was the attainment of 'perfection' through the forcible assimilation of diverse sentient species, technologies, and knowledge. As a result, the Borg were among the most powerful and feared entities in the galaxy, without really being a true species at all. " [1] Here is a quotation from the introduction of the Borg article of the Memory Alpha Wiki. This quotation describes the Borg as a "psuedo species" and a "hive mind" with one goal in mind- to forcefully assimilate species into the Borg collective. Because the Borg was a hive mind with the ultimate goal of assimilating all species, they were a threat to the Federation and other species of the Galaxy, who feared invasion and forced assimilation. Ethics: Ethical - conforming to accepted standards of moral conduct This definition of ethical raises a few questions, including, "How does one determine what is ethical? " One way to determine what is ethical or not is to determine if "an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone. " [2] This ethical system is known as utilitarianism. Ethical justification for Capt. Kathyrn Janeway's extermination of the Borg: According the utilitarian ethical system, Capt. Kathyrn Janeway's extermination of the Borg have to be a net benefit to the Galaxy rather than a net negative to the Galaxy. I shall be arguing that Capt. Kathyrn Janeway's extermination of the Borg is a net benefit to the Galaxy, and thus is ethically justified under the utilitarian ethical system. Exhibit A: The Threat of the Borg While it can be argued that the extermination of the Borg was unethical because Janeway exterminated an entire species, she techinically exterminated a sub-species who were themselves trying to exterminate other species via assimilation, with the ulimate goal of having all species becoming assimilated into the Borg, at all costs. Naturally, the Federation and other species feared invasion and assimilation. (An invasion would lead to uncessary causalties, possibily civilian ones. Forced assimilation would lead to becoming a part of the Borg without one's consent. On a massive scale, this could lead to the extermination of all ethnic groups, leaving only the Borg to remain. ) For these reasons (potential invasion and probable assimilation) the extermination of the Borg is justified, as their extermination would result in avoiding a massive invasion as well as removing the threat of assimiilation from the Galaxy, which, despite being a net negative to the Borg, would be a net benefit to the Galaxy. Sources: [1] . http://en.memory-alpha.org... [2] . http://www.iep.utm.edu... (Second 2c, Conquestionalist theories, utilitarianism) *Note, due to personal time constraints I was not able to construct a fully fledged constructive case and I appologize if this is a deterimate to the overall quality of the debate. I would also like the voters to take this into consideration when voting. Thank you for your time.