[JamesP81]

If there really are aliens, I find it hard to believe they would not have tried to conquer us or exterminate us. The human race is a dangerous bunch.

Now you're really getting into something speculative: xenopsychology.

I can easily foresee a situation in which an advanced species would be unwilling to conquer a primitive one. In fact, I doubt very much we'd do it if we were the advanced species. Can you imagine the hellraising in congress if one of our spacecraft found a bunch of stone age primitives on a world full of useful resources? The liberals would be screaming "imperialism" until they turned blue in the face...

[rbg81]

I dunno. I had assumed that if they had mastered interstellar space travel, they would have put liberalism aside long ago. IMHO, a society dominated by liberals will eventually find itself back in the Dark Ages.