I love Star Trek, it’s aspirational and a rare representation of a positive, potential future for humanity. It’s a future we should all be striving for right now.
Earth is a utopia, money has been eliminated, but people still work because they want to, something I strongly believe would happen. Lock downs during the Covid pandemic revealed that people would still be productive and do ‘stuff’ simply because.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: “The economics of the future are somewhat different. You see, money doesn’t exist in the 24th century… The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity”
People have replicators, a piece of technology that provides food, clothing, whatever. Nobody is homeless. Fossil fuels don’t exist, new methods of transport allow free movement around the planet.
People are free to stay on Earth or live on other planets.
Diversity is celebrated! Finding other cultures and learning from them is what Star Fleet is all about. Exploration, education and cooperation is the mission.
In the original series, they put Chekov at the helm, a Russian during cold war times. Uruha the communications officer was a Black woman who featured in the first instance of a kiss between a Black person and a white person on U.S. television.
Star ship crews are made up of all kinds of races, aliens, disabled people, queer people, trans people and even dolphins!
Differences are embraced, explored and respected.
The United Federation of Planets is a democratic, federal republic comprising over 150 member worlds, designed to uphold liberty, equality, and peace. It is governed by a President based in Paris, Earth, and a legislative Federation Council, while member planets retain significant autonomy. Starfleet acts as the executive, exploratory, and defence branch under strict civilian control.
My favourite description of Star Trek is:
‘Fully automated, luxury, gay, space communism’
I first saw it used in Star Trek groups I belong to online and it’s pretty accurate in my opinion.
Of course it’s not perfect, nothing is! I disagree with the Prime Directive of non-interference a lot of the time… but so do many Star Fleet captains. They break the Prime Directive all the time, often with good reason.
This utopia is possible because of technology, the redistribution of wealth and elimination of money. So socialism/communism.
Seems pretty good right?
If anybody asks, this is the future the Left wants.
However, this idea has come to be considered ‘Far Left’ and ‘Extreme’.
I think it should be the standard for life on Earth. The bare minimum we should all expect, because it is achievable. Not the technology yet, but certainly the resources and equity.
Then came the Borg!
It was Season 2, episode 16 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, aired in May 1989 that we meet the biggest villains to date.
The Borg are cybernetic organisms linked in a hive mind called ‘The Collective’. They absorb technology and individuals through a process of assimilation, forcibly transforming their victims into drones by injecting nanoprobes into their bodies and surgically augmenting their bodies with cybernetic components.
They all look more or less the same, speak with one voice and decisions are made together in what could be considered an extreme version of democracy.
Their end goal is to achieve perfection.
They have superior technology to the Federation and they adapt quickly to any attacks. Their ships are gigantic cubes or spheres and they all look like they’re on their way to an industrial club night and bought outfits at Cyberdog.
They are scary and formidable villains. I remember feeling tense every time they appeared on screen.
The Borg actually do represent the idea of an extreme Left ideology and I find it interesting that the Federation vs the Borg is a Left vs Extreme Left battle.
The Borg absorb people into the collective, stripping away any sense of self and individuality, you become a cog in a machine or cell in a body. Everything you do is for the greater good of the hive.
You are expendable, replaceable. You will be left behind, left to die and another drone will simply take your place.
The Borg are homogenous, even though entire planets are assimilated by the Borg, none of these cultures are expressed. The information and knowledge is simply stored and used to help them achieve their goals.
To be part of the collective is to be a slave.
Being forced to conform, not allowing any sense of self, freedom of personal or religious expression are all things the Right are afraid of when fighting against the Left.
They are legitimate fears.
However, the Overton window has shifted so far to the Right now, that the Federation is considered ‘Far Left and extremist’ when in actuality, it’s a very mild and dare I say, a common sense way to live.
I think everyone, Left and Right would agree that assimilation by the Borg is undesirable.
But wait, there’s a punch line!
In the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact (my favourite ST film by the way) we are introduced to a new character.
The Borg Queen!
Boom! The Collective all obey and answer to her. All our previous assumptions about the Borg being an extreme Left democracy are blown out of the water.
It is now revealed to be an authoritarian dictatorship/monarchy.
The Borg, who function using extreme Left wing ideology are suddenly re-categorised and revealed to be extreme Right.
This is an example of how individuals usurp and where the extreme ends of political ideology connect to form a circle rather than a line.
The Borg were Right wingers all along and they would’ve gotten away with it, if it weren’t for those pesky writers who wanted to give Captain Picard a single antagonist to fight against.
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