Star Trek: All of Em

[Malvolio]

They do at least revere a fictional POC scientist, Dr. Richard Daystrom. I mean, sure he had a mental breakdown in The Ultimate Computer, but in the 24th century, we find several institutes named for him.

[ChrisIII]

Roddenberry himself had a number of conservative beliefs (at least by the standards of our time)

Roddenberry, like Steve Ditko, apparently was a bit of an Ayn Rand fan. Rand also kind of liked Trek a bit-especially Spock; although I think she kind of missed a bit of the point there.

[Pinsir]

I've never bought this idea that Star Trek was an extremely left-wing show. All these shows take place (except Prodigy I guess) in social environments that is extremely hierarchical. Even if Star Fleet itself is mostly a non-military organization, it's culture and structure strongly reflects real-world military systems and a lot of conservatives like that element. A good way to understand conservatism is its relationship to hierarchy and a desire maintain it, like Jordan Peterson openly speaks in favour of hierarchy for instance. You could have had Star Trek take place in a less structured setting, like a commune or something, but it remains today essentially a military show.

[thwhtGuardian]

I've never bought this idea that Star Trek was an extremely left-wing show. All these shows take place (except Prodigy I guess) in social environments that is extremely hierarchical. Even if Star Fleet itself is mostly a non-military organization, it's culture and structure strongly reflects real-world military systems and a lot of conservatives like that element. A good way to understand conservatism is its relationship to hierarchy and a desire maintain it, like Jordan Peterson openly speaks in favour of hierarchy for instance. You could have had Star Trek take place in a less structured setting, like a commune or something, but it remains today essentially a military show.

That the ships have ranks doesn't make it a conservative show, literally every philosophy espoused on show is very left wing.

Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations: Liberal.
The abolishment of money: Liberal
"People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of 'things.' We have eliminated hunger, want, the need for possessions": Liberal
"We work only to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity.":Liberal

Heck, at the time the original series was produced just having an African American woman like Uhura serving in a position of power on the Enterprise was a HUGE statement, never mind the kiss she shared with Kirk.

No, it's always been liberal and "woke" and if conservatives missed it then it just means they weren't really paying attention because it was far from subtle.

[Malvolio]

And remember that Roddenberry originally wanted a female first officer and an ongoing relationship between Spock and Uhura, but the network executives wouldn't allow such "woke" aspects of the show.

[Pinsir]

That the ships have ranks doesn't make it a conservative show, literally every philosophy espoused on show is very left wing.

Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations: Liberal.
The abolishment of money: Liberal
"People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of 'things.' We have eliminated hunger, want, the need for possessions": Liberal
"We work only to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity.":Liberal

Heck, at the time the original series was produced just having an African American woman like Uhura serving in a position of power on the Enterprise was a HUGE statement, never mind the kiss she shared with Kirk.

No, it's always been liberal and "woke" and if conservatives missed it then it just means they weren't really paying attention because it was far from subtle.

The IDIC thing is something invented by the fanbase though, like, I only ever heard of it when I read a paper on Star Trek and religious pilgrimage and I had already watched every series and movie by then. I think its a good example of the community, or at least a large piece of it, being more left-wing than the source material. Also, I'm pretty sure conservatives would agree with the sentiment; "We work only to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity." There are clearly conservative Star Trek fans and I don't their adoration for the show is because they misunderstand it, I think its because the show has elements to it that appeals to them.

[nx01a]

I'm pretty sure conservatives would agree with the sentiment; "We work only to better ourselves."

That's how I'd phrase it.

[Jokerz79]

The IDIC thing is something invented by the fanbase though, like, I only ever heard of it when I read a paper on Star Trek and religious pilgrimage and I had already watched every series and movie by then. I think its a good example of the community, or at least a large piece of it, being more left-wing than the source material. Also, I'm pretty sure conservatives would agree with the sentiment; "We work only to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity." There are clearly conservative Star Trek fans and I don't their adoration for the show is because they misunderstand it, I think its because the show has elements to it that appeals to them.

To quote Jonathan Frakes "Gene was a proud card carrying liberal".

Star Trek was always Left hell far left. But you can't run a ship or organization like Starfleet by committee there has to be structure that's not conservative or right wing it's just reality.

[Anthony W]

In the context Elon Musk's name was used, it was intended to be positive, even though at the time this episode was written, 2017, Elon Musk's credibility was already shaky. Apparently there were people on the Discovery writing team that followed the personality cult of Musk and believed he was 'rl iron man.' Musk doesn't even invent this technology, the people he employs does so they weren't even celebrating a real scientist, but a business man. This is genuine incompetence on behalf of the Discovery team and the lowest point in the entire franchise.

Remember when Elon Musk had a cameo in Iron Man 2 and Tony Stark was happy to see him?

[thwhtGuardian]

The IDIC thing is something invented by the fanbase though, like, I only ever heard of it when I read a paper on Star Trek and religious pilgrimage and I had already watched every series and movie by then. I think its a good example of the community, or at least a large piece of it, being more left-wing than the source material. Also, I'm pretty sure conservatives would agree with the sentiment; "We work only to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity." There are clearly conservative Star Trek fans and I don't their adoration for the show is because they misunderstand it, I think its because the show has elements to it that appeals to them.

...It's the literal driving force behind the show. It's why you have a black woman on the bridge, why there's an asian man and a russian on the bridge. Though fictional it's why they have an alien on the bridge. And it has been carried on in every single iteration of the show from tos on.

If a person can watch Star Trek and all they get from it some militaristic, frontier power fantasy and can't see all the messaging about equality between gender, race, sexual preference and identity then yeah they are misunderstanding the show. It's one of those things that points to conservatives either being one issue voters or just plain uneducated.

[DrNewGod]

I've never bought this idea that Star Trek was an extremely left-wing show. All these shows take place (except Prodigy I guess) in social environments that is extremely hierarchical. Even if Star Fleet itself is mostly a non-military organization, it's culture and structure strongly reflects real-world military systems and a lot of conservatives like that element. A good way to understand conservatism is its relationship to hierarchy and a desire maintain it, like Jordan Peterson openly speaks in favour of hierarchy for instance. You could have had Star Trek take place in a less structured setting, like a commune or something, but it remains today essentially a military show.

Aside form its utility in carrying military adventure and recognizable relationships, at least initially, the naval hierarchy made some internal sense. TOS's Enterprise was intended to operate far from central authority, and it would make sense that the Federation would require a chief representative to basically be their authority avatar in the remote reaches. As time has passed, however, and the show made it easier to phone home, it perhaps makes less sense than once it did.

[ChrisIII]

Kind of funny that in the original series Earth was only visited via time travel, but in the movies pretty much every single movie starts on Earth. TNG, of all things, broke that pattern in it's films a bit-Pretty sure GENERATIONS's TNG segments don't take place near Earth (Unless you count the Nexus fantasies). Ditto with Insurrection. Also there's almost a running joke of Enterprise being the only ship nearby to help stop the current crisis, when it was practically away all the time in TOS. Funny thing in Discovery the Enterprise is ordered to stay away from the Klingon conflict (Which also nearly claims Earth). The "Enterprise War" novel has Pike pretty much trying to head back anyway, but he gets really, really distracted....

[WebLurker]

The IDIC thing is something invented by the fanbase though, like, I only ever heard of it when I read a paper on Star Trek and religious pilgrimage and I had already watched every series and movie by then.

No, it was invented for the TOS episode "Is There in Truth No Beauty" (admittedly, so Gene Roddenberry could sell plastic badges, but still). IDIC was also cited in the TAS episode "The Infinite Vulcan." Fandom and the subsequent shows may have run with it, but it was not a fan invention.

So far as Star Trek having an inherently liberal worldview, that's not really up for debate.

The "Enterprise War" novel has Pike pretty much trying to head back anyway, but he gets really, really distracted....

That was a good novel.

[ChrisIII]

Enterprise takes quite a beating in it too, arguably worst than in the movies; although part of the reason the ship was unsalvageable in III was because Scotty had pretty much automated the whole ship to pretty much just the bridge (making it overload pretty much), and engineering and weapons were pretty much already badly damaged from the battles with Khan.

[Malvolio]

Enterprise takes quite a beating in it too, arguably worst than in the movies; although part of the reason the ship was unsalvageable in III was because Scotty had pretty much automated the whole ship to pretty much just the bridge (making it overload pretty much), and engineering and weapons were pretty much already badly damaged from the battles with Khan.

But remember Scotty's repair estimate in III: "For a job like this, it usually takes eight weeks, but you don't have eight weeks, so I'll do it for you in two." And Kirk asks, "Why, Mr. Scott, have you always multiplied your repair estimates by a factor of four?" And Scotty replies, "Of course, sir. How else can I maintain my reputation as a miracle worker?"