Aside from an episode of Strange New Worlds (and possible in Wrath of Khan, depending on your perspective), space pirates aren’t brought up as a risk to the Federation starships, presumably because they usually aren’t. Shields alone should be sufficient for debris and asteroids, since shields appear to stop physical objects as well as certain forms of energy (obvs. not certain bands of light though, or whatever bands their sensors use). Non- and quasi-sentient species shouldn’t pose any risk to a starship at all (aside from possibly omniscient comets, thank you Stanislaw Lem). The weapons on a starship are appropriate to direct against planetary settlements, bases, and other starships.

Fundamentally, I believe Mao was correct on this; the ability to use violence effectively is the lowest common denominator for all power. Everything else is a veneer of civility intended to disguise the violence that is inherent to all forms of coercive rule.

…And yet, the Enterprise is armed. If power does not come from the ability to effectively use violence, but from some other means, then why would the Federation arm it’s flagship?

You look like a cut of fuckable meat. Are you?

For a solid 25+ years, I’ve been saying that the second it’s viable, I would happily replace all of my meat with machine. When you fuck your back up as an organic, congrats, now you get to have pain for the rest of your life. As a cyborg? Just replace the damaged part.

I would absolutely line up to be assimilated. I’d be guaranteed a job that mattered, I’d always be with family and friends, I’d be part of a group that was always working towards a common goal, and I’d be happy; the borg that are disconnected from the collective are clearly deeply distressed by the experience. Plus, I’d be stronger and more capable as a borg than I can even imagine right now.

As long as people are making the choice to join the collective, why is it anyone else’s business?