[narf poit chez BOOM]

I think the reason for the Federation and why it came from Earth is because of our history. We are a diverse culture and once we realized who each culture made the whole stronger when we all worked together, provided the premis for the Federation.

yes, but why would we be the most diverse culture in ST?

personally, i'd like to see a book written where earth joins a larger, well established galactic community as simply the newest member and not a victim or the most capable. there's an anthology series called Isaac's Universe that does this, but i havn't seen any new books in a while. that series, although it does focus on the humans, does a good job of portraying humans, not as an underdog, but as a newcomer, perhaps regarded with a little hesitation because there only the seventh race to develop space travel and there hadn't been a new race for, i think, thousands of years.