Is Modern Liberalism Gene Roddenberry's Fault?

One thing that seems to be overlooked is that the Enterprise is a war machine, not politics.
But nevertheless, it is an interesting comparison and thesis. And hey, Star Trek is always an interesting diversion :)

To this I'd add a few things in Star Trek which the lefty liberals would sure to attack...

Kirk is the ultimate 'Maverick' (reference: McCain)

Many episodes - crewman are apparently expendable for exploration, it happened all the time. (reference: Iraq)

"The Enemy Within" - Kirk, the hero, is split in two. We learn that to be a good leader, we must have a good side and a bad side, and good judgment to keep track of the two. (reference: Bush)

In "The Corbomite Maneuver", kirk used a poker hand to beat Spock's chess position (reference: WMD)

Enterprise routinely kicks the heck out of Romulans and Klingons (reference: evil empires)

Kirk routinely makes mistakes, but he is forgiven because he is a cowboy who 'get's it'

In "The Return Of The Archons", why did Kirk break the Prime directive and interfere with the society of Landru?
a). because otherwise he and the Enterprise would be destroyed.
b). because it was not a living, growing society.
c). because the society was being directed by a machine.
d). all of the above.
The answer is d): all of the above. (reference: Iraq, Hussein and Weapons of Mass Destruction, WMD)

"Court-Martial" - where kirk is accused of murder, later acquitted. (Bush derangement syndrome)

In "A Taste Of Armageddon", what was Spock was destroying a disintegrator chamber when he said he was practicing a peculiar variety of diplomacy. Kirk put an end to their 'liberal' version of a war, where people simply marched into the chambers based on a computer model. (ref: global warming, and others)

and last but not least:

Kirk routinely gets the girl

The liberals might like these:

For centuries humans have glorified organized violence, but imprisoned those who employ it privately" - Spock

"Space Seed" - Khan's rebel uprising is squashed (Ref: civil war)

"The Devil In The Dark" - environmentalists save the Hortas

"Errand Of Mercy" - the Organians, a race a million years ahead of earth, steps in to stop the Federation and Klingons from waging war (one of my favorite episodes,not because of this message, but it's just a great mind exercise in alternate hypothesis)

As in "All Our Yesterdays" these and many other journeys are possible...

I used my trivial trek questions to research this :)
javadoug.googlepages.com/trivtrek.txt

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September 28, 2008

Is Modern Liberalism Gene Roddenberry's Fault?

Ah, now this is my kind of article. Western Chauvinist tooted her own horn over at Gerard's place when he linked to us, and I'm glad she did. To the sidebar she goes. It's a little difficult to tease this posting the way she's structured it; I'll do my best...

Is Modern Liberalism Gene Roddenberry's Fault?

Anyone old enough to have seen the original Star Trek series created
by Gene Roddenberry might recognize the utopian ideals of today's
liberals in it. Think about it. On any major policy we debate, Star
Trek is the fulfillment of the liberal playbook.

Start with environmental policy. No fossil fuels burned in GR's
world. Nope - only dilithium crystals and warped space needed. Isn't it
grand? No CO2 emmissions at all...

Next up, how about economic policy? Capitalism or socialism? How
primitive. As far as I can tell, no currency ever changes hands.
Everyone in the Federation seems to "work" for the Federation...

How about health care? Well, Star Trek gives a whole new meaning to
"universal healthcare"! I never saw Bones turn away anyone...

And finally, we can wrap up social policy, civil rights, race
relations, international relations conveniently in "the prime
directive". This is encompassed by today's liberal ethics of
multiculturalism, political correctness and moral relativism...

...

The other thing WC forgot is Star Trek's mission: To explore strange
new worlds, and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has ever
gone before! Back in the sixties, liberalism loved to talk a good game
about this, and according to the evidence that has come to my
attention, had not yet directly contradicted itself here. But nowadays
it's a whole different century; liberalism is all about not doing this. It is about bathosploration:

Opposite of Exploration.
A progressive movement over time which endeavors toward an ideal,
rather than toward a frontier. This makes fulfillment of the Exponential Growth Instinct absolutely impossible over the long term.

Bathosploration is about doing less instead of doing more. It is about
making things clean and sanitized instead of finding out what's
possible. It goes down instead of up, inward instead of outward.

...
This is what bathosploration is. Can we polish what's already been
polished, and make it even smoother and shinier and more sanitary?
Surely, there must be a way. Forget about exploring. Go inward instead
of outward. Trudge toward an ideal instead of toward a frontier.

Liberals embrace this warts and all. You see it everywhere. You see
it in the offshore drilling controversy. Don't drill that! Something's
endangered. Buy carbon credits instead...bring your net carbon
emissions to zero, like Al Gore said. Be a zero. Stop existing
meaningfully. Abort your baby, show your patriotism by paying higher
taxes, and when you die have a green funeral.

Star Trek is about the polar opposite of that. Oh sure, the
individuals are likewise diminished...bridge crew notwithstanding,
everyone on the Enterprise is just a nameless extra wearing spandex.
It's the exploration part of it. Reaching for the stars, finding out
what's out there -- forget it. Liberals like to talk a lot
about what could be out there. Stepping on out, once the technology is
available, to find out for sure? Not on the liberal's watch...not while
he has anything to say about it. That disastrous episode Force of Nature
in which Starfleet imposes a Warp 5 speed limit due to this discovery
that the warp drive damages the fabric of space...that would end up
being your pilot episode, right there. Omigod!! By existing and doing
bold things, we're damaging the environment! Again!

Funny how that never, ever seems to change.

Liberals think humans are so special, in our own way. Killer whales
bite seals in half, or swallow 'em whole. Lionesses strip chunks of
bloody flesh off the bodies of antelope that were frantically running
away just moments before. Spiders inject venom into the bodies of flies
that dissolve them into a ghastly milkshake from the inside out, while
the flies are still alive, writhing in agony. That's fine. But you, you
human schmuck, are destroying the world simply by driving to work.

So if modern liberalism is Star Trek's fault, the monster seems to
have turned against its creator since being first animated. Perhaps
that part of the Star Trek culture never was terribly well thought out.
After all, what good does it do to seek out new civilizations and new
worlds, and then once you find them...make extra sure you not have
anything to do with 'em because of your revered Prime Directive?

Cross-posted at House of Eratosthenes.

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