More of a stir than Darhe’el, who they were willing to arrest? (Though obviously that situation was much more complicated in light of who he actually turned out to be, it just serves as precedent)

Oh definitely. I think everyone writing Ferengi episodes had this in mind.

But at some point in DS9’s run, I think someone (probably Ira) realized that the worship of the “free market” was becoming even worse than the fictional and cartoonish economics that they invented for the sole purpose of making fun of capitalism, to the point that they somehow got away with giving Quark, of all characters, the moral high ground when criticizing human history.

The butterfly effect is overcome by something in Star Trek. But what characters perceive as time ‘correcting itself’ or ‘pushing back’ may be an emergent property of whatever mechanism allows them to manipulate events outside the constraints of normal spacetime in the first place. I’m not even sure the math involved in chaos theory applies when operating non-linearly. Math and physics nerds; Feel free to correct me.

I’m also not sure that Anarox’s perception of time as having moods or intent is correct, but it may be useful to believe and act as though it does, in lieu of an explanation that is not forthcoming, even in-universe.

Does this mean I’m an ensign again?