Here we have a species centered around peace, love, collective happiness and selfless dedication to the pursuit of knowledge, a species whose sole mission is the betterment of life through science and (re)education.
Yet they seem to encounter resistance (however futile) at every sector by every species they come across, species so hindered by ignorant, shortsighted traditions like freedom and individual will that they refuse to imagine the distant utopia promised by a Borg ascension. Envision a perfect Collective, undistracted by the mundane, trivial desires and resultant bickering that lesser species so often fall prey to, a Collective ever maturing, ever improving, ever striving to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations… it is a noble, beautiful goal, is it not? A goal, perhaps, that even aligns with the lofty dreams of more primitive cultures, the Federation included.
So why the resistance? What better way is there to learn, to understand, to evolve?
Granted, there are on occasion minor costs associated with assimilation: Collateral damage here and there, small losses of colonies and species, the reduction of ways of life into memories… but are these not mere growing pains on the path to something much greater?
Why doesn’t anyone ever willingly join the Borg, and how would you attempt to diplomatically convince them before resorting to… less efficient methods?
Join the Borg: You will never have to listen to another stupid, gibbering cretin ever again. That is, unless you’re making him whimper as he pisses himself in fear in front of you.
Gather a few members of the sentient species – peaceably if possible. Determine from them (by assimilation, naturally) the arguments most likely to sway their culture/species. Send them forth as diplomats.
I’d recommend less visible external cybernetics (hoses are SO unfashionable) and more apparent personality or charisma. A pasty guy with hoses coming out of his neck monotoning that this culture is the shiznit is somehow unconvincing.
Better still, from the DS9 Season 4 episode “The Way of the Warrior”:
Garak takes a drink of root beer
Quark: What do you think?
Elim Garak: It’s vile.
Quark: I know. It’s so bubbly and cloying and happy.
Elim Garak: Just like the Federation.
Quark: And you know what’s really frightening? If you drink enough of it… you begin to like it.
Elim Garak: It’s insidious.
Quark: Just like the Federation!
Tired of your personal problems? Join the Borg!
We guarantee that you’ll never have a personal problem again.
I can envision an entire campaign, based on slight lies and the withholding of key information* to convince people that being Borg is much better than their current lives.
*In other words, not at all different from any other ad campaign.
Tired of tossing and turning at night? (scenes of someone tossing and turning in bed) Join the Borg! (scene of Borg quietly standing in their regeneration chambers. Say goodbye to nightmares, insomnia, lack of sleep and back problems!
“Imagine - every time you play Halo, you get better. And now, imagine that your entire life you are hooked up directly to an even larger, more user-friendly Live network!”
So didn’t the Borg ever figure out a way to get their nanites airborne? Or shoot tiny little hypodermics at people?
