The Problem with Star Trek...

I have a problem with Star Trek.

Okay, I have three problems with Star Trek.

The first problem I have is that Star Trek: The Next Generation is not still running and that Patrick Stewart is not still delivering weekly five minute dissertations on the fundamental value of life itself or the inalienable rights of every sentient individual.

The second problem is also that TNG is not still running.

It's a big problem for me.

My third problem, and I guess you would call this the "serious" one, is with the narrative of human progress that the collective Star Trek mythos presents.

I'm not the most careful observer, but the general idea that the original series put forward was that the UN dissolved around the 70s or 80s, there were some eugenics wars around the 80s or 90s, and then, as chronicled in First Contact humans discover warp-level technology, and then they more or less become better at not being awful to one another as more technologies are implemented as as technology allows them access to better, more peaceful cultures.

It's a cool story, and thank God it's not (so far) the situation into which things have devolved.  Nonetheless, the conclusion the narrative seems to present is that it's more or less REALLY science and technology that will variously inspire or enable us to stop hating each other and killing one another.

Note that it's not the slow, painful matter of working through deep-seated ethnic, cultural, religious and historical issues between persons and groups of people.  It's not the careful, calculated and coordinated efforts of hard-working, like-minded people making hard compromises that forges a long, lasting and just peace, it's the magic hand of science and technology reaching down and bringing humanity out of the swamps of diplomacy and, quite literally, into the future.

Granted, that's not the narrative of technology presented by the whole series, and several episodes centered on the "prime directive" emphasize that technology does not equal progress.  Nonetheless, what could be called the creation narrative of Star Trek does at least have pieces of that philosophy.

My bigger point here is that technology is not going to save us.  Certainly, it helps: it can and it will.

The only thing that can save mankind from itself is the careful cooperation of brave men and women across faith lines, borders, embargoes and other artificial boundaries.  We can make the world a better place, we have that ability, but the only way to do that is to cooperate with one another, slowly and carefully, one person to one person at a time.