Now this is cute. Star Trek is usually castigated by overly-serious libertarian types (like VodkaPundit, circa 1996) for presenting a socialist/Utopian future. At Tech Central Station, we have noted captialist Sonia Arrison praising the show:
Freedom is another re-occurring theme in Star Trek. For instance, the “prime directive,” which says that the Federation is not to interfere with the development of alien cultures, can be interpreted to show value in the idea of self-determination. And often, at least in the Original Series, when Kirk and his crew discover a people who are not free, they break this directive.
In the episode “The Apple,” the Enterprise discovers a planet whose people are living in what appears to be paradise, but it only lasts so long as they serve their god, Vaal, with blind obedience. Spock defends the society in a somewhat relativist way, but Kirk and Bones are horrified. They work to destroy the controlling Vaal, and after succeeding, Kirk says, “That’s what we call freedom — you’ll like it a lot.”
Matter of fact, I got back into watching Enterprise this season. Loved the first season, but Year Two lost me, as they forgot the show was supposed to be set in a time before the Federation do-gooders hamstrung everybody’s fun.
This season, we get a real war, against a race using terrorist tactics against Earth. Enterprise has finally found it stride, and become exactly what science fiction should be — thoughtful, and relevant to our times.
Well — that, and have you seen the rear view on those blue pajama bottoms T’pol wears at night?
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