Do you know what the trouble is?

The trouble is Earth. On Earth there is no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out of the window of Starfleet Headquarters and you see paradise. Well it's easy to be a saint in paradise.


The Federation regularly fails to live up to its ideals, even in TNG, the most idealistic of the Star Trek series, the Federation regularly fails its people. Tasha Yar came from a failed Federation colony that had fallen into such deep decline she grew up learning how to dodge roving rape gangs. The Enterprise was called upon to perform ethnic cleansing of people on worlds the Federation ceded under treaty to a hostile fascist power (the Cardassians).

Earth has paradise, Earth embodies what the Federation believes itself to be, but the Federation isn't just Earth and everywhere else isn't doing nearly as well. Quite a lot of the time, the upper echelons of Starfleet don't quite realise that.

As for the behaviour of ensigns out of the watchful eyes of responsible adults, go and watch Valiant again. Starfleet Academy's best and brightest turn out to be absolutely terrible at running a ship for reasons of ego and personal immaturity.