March 5 , 2003

Utopia

I'm sure it's happened to many of us. Upon viewing an episode of Star Trek
where a friend, a loved one, or a passerby asks "What's so great about that
future, it looks as bad as today's world" and we give the anticipated response.

It's a utopia. Yet what does that mean? Consulting our good friend Webster we find - Utopia, any place, situation, or state of perfection. Sounds
good enough. Was our answer really compatible with the earlier question then?
Immediately the film "First Contact" comes to mind. According to Counselor
Deanna Troi, war, poverty, and hunger would all be gone by the twenty-second
century. Two out of three isn't bad, I would say. There rarely seems to be
anyone who is hungry without food, or poor without someplace to turn to in our
visions of Star Trek. The last, and perhaps the worst, seems all too present.
War with the Supermen of Khan Noonien Singh, War with the Eastern Coalition,
War with the Romulans, War with the Klingons, War with the Tzenkethi, War with
the Klingons again, and then again, War with segments of Starfleet who declare
martial law on Earth, War with the Dominion, War with the Borg, War with a
myriad of other beings across time itself.

We start to get the feeling that conflict is just as common in the perfect
future as it is in our imperfect present. And what is the conflict for,
resources, land, territory, influence, governance, ideals of wrongs done and
rights to defend? These seem like the very imperfect primary causes we
recognize in our world today. At least we can find solace that it will be an
equal society, free of racial stereotypes and discrimination. In a roundtable
discussion, Bele from Cheron remarks about the differences between himself and
his prisoner Lokai. Captain Kirk and Science Officer Spock note, one is white
on the right side, the other is white on the left side; as far as they are
concerned; a trivial difference. Humanity, and indeed those of the Federation's
Utopia have moved beyond those matters. Or have they? This same Captain Kirk
finds no Klingon to be amiable, Doctor McCoy finds Vulcans collectively dense
and contemptible. In other series', the stereotypes and discrimination seem
confined to the other races, and mutually with humans. The friendly Chief
O'Brien retains his bitter stereotypes of Cardassians up till and beyond the
very end. Is insular racial harmony the perfection we imagine; as long as a
group does not discriminate within the group, it doesn't matter how they act
with regard to those outside the group? That would seem to be the very thing
that brought about racial disarray in our past.

Not to easily concede, there must be something about the future portrayed in
Star Trek that could be described as utopian. Idealism and politics seem to be
a cause of conflict, if only verbal and in government. It would be perfect
then, if everyone eventually understood the truth and could then conclude that
they believed the same things. Then there would surely be no conflict. In
looking for examples, one might find the assassination attempt in the
Federation Council, a murderous Vulcan sniper, terrorist organizations along
the demilitarized zone, plots of destroying the Borg Collective and
disagreements to save it, criminals beyond enumeration.the list goes on. It
would seem upon reflection that there are many different opinions and ways of
thinking in the future, just as there are today. Moreover, these differences of
opinion still seem to lead to conflict in various forms.

What is it about the future portrayed in Star Trek that we feel approaches
perfection, and attracts our hopes and dreams? Could it be that the drive for
individuality progresses in every era, as does the drive for consensus,
conformity, compliance; but neither is sufficient by itself. Perhaps the
attraction of this future we enjoy so readily lies not in perfection, but in
intention. As long as we strive to better ourselves, we should be able to deal
with the problems, the inevitable complications that are likely and almost
certain to present themselves. So when the question is asked again, "What's so
great about that future?" our answer may more correctly be - It
shows we can always do better.

by N. Richards

Back to main.

Discuss this article at The Observation Lounge BBS.

 

 

Site Requirements: Optimal viewing with use of Internet Explorer 5.5+ with 1024x768 screen resolution.

Star Trek ® is copyright of Paramount Pictures. Copyright © 1966, Present. The Star Trek web pages on this site are for educational and entertainment purposes only. All other copyrights property of their respective holders.

®2002 Lowerdecks.com