Star Trek and the World of Today
Like millions of others, I am more than a little excited to see the news of a new Star Trek series with former Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) starting…fairly soon. The advent of a new Star Trek series is a special occasion, maybe something like what a World of Tomorrow exhibition at a World’s Fair might have been to people decades ago. And as an optimist (a long-term optimist, I have to say now), I have always appreciated optimistic science fiction, and Star Trek has always delivered. The Next Generation may have been the purest form of optimism, showing late ’80s and ’90s America (and countries around the world) just how far humanity might go in about 380 years (or now about 350 if you count from today). Deep Space Nine, set at about the same time, followed a similar model, but with a bit more moral ambiguity and a little more of a spotlight on a less-than-utopian world, along with the kinds of foreign policy intrigues we might have expected to see…in the ’90s.
Star Trek for Today
But after 30 years, I think it is healthy to raise our expectations. And necessary. For the record, I am fan of ALL the Star Trek series (the series especially), and Star Trek Discovery has gone a long way in presenting a more socially advanced and diverse society a decade before Kirk and Spock ran the Enterprise. But the experience of these last two years on our Earth tells me that there really is a lot more to talk about through the lens of +380 years. Here are the main issues that I would most like to see addressed in the new Picard series:
- Xenophobia and Ethno-Nationalism/Racism
Two related but distinct phenomena, but ever critical for America and even more so today. Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America is an extremely comprehensive — and damning — look at how racism emerges and morphs over time to serve economic needs. The book includes a lengthy early section on the European origins of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the early western colonial period. How Democracies Die, by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, compares the rise of elected and unelected autocrats in Europe, Latin America and, yes, the USA, focusing on the steps leading to government and constitutional breakdowns. Finally, a book about my hometown, Washington, DC, which examines the historical development and perpetuation of racism and disenfranchisement, and the ways the local and the national (and eventually global and galactic) come together in a capital city, and who decides which priorities take precedence. Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital by Chris Myers Asch and Derek Musgrove. I think all of these books provide big ideas for a new team of Star Trek writers thinking about the issues our new Picard might be dealing with at the turn of the 25th century. Societies always remain susceptible to chaotic social breakdowns given the right conditions. There is always a diversity of peoples and interests, and utopian worlds with unitary world governments are not a given.
2. War and Peace:
Nothing new here, of course. War always stalks civilization, waiting for an opportunity to strike when some combination of fear, cynicism, hatred and hopelessness tilts the scales far enough. Support for war or opposition to it can have a lot to do with one’s station in life. Politicians who authorize a war (particularly an offensive one) frequently become its most aggressive defenders. Thanks to the costly Federation-Dominion War (depicted in Deep Space Nine) and the Federation-Borg War (depicted in David Mack’s Destiny Trilogy), Federation citizens experienced significant death in the 2370s and ’80s. They should be more reluctant about war in the ’90s.
3. Frontiers of Life:
Artificial intelligence has generally played a pretty small role in Star Trek. Beyond Data, Lore, and a few mysterious, isolated beings — and, oh yeah, the Borg — we have never seen the Federation deal with a true AI civilization. But robotics is a much bigger thing today than 10 or 20 years ago. We’ve seen the evil AI and the obedient/friendly/tame AI. Maybe it’s time for a more unpredictable AI that is unaccustomed to (or at least dissatisfied with) simply taking orders. An AI with no real connection to any of the 3 Laws of Robotics.
Late 24th Century Values
In The Next Generation, Picard and his crew displayed a pretty healthy level of progressive social values by 1990s standards, along with some insights into the post-currency, post-market economy and jobs based on personal interests rather than income potential (or desperation). But the crew, and Captain Picard especially, often displayed a somewhat disproportionate affinity for classical European culture: Shakespeare, classical (European) music and European Renaissance literature. I do think this should be re-examined in a new series, both in terms of recognizing a broader definition of “classical” and recognizing just how “alien” the values of (wealthy) European white men in the 14th-18th centuries would be even to an older European white man in the 24th. I like to think of Picard as being someone whose love of learning (amateur archaeologist, musician, reader, etc.) and extensive travels make him an exceptionally open-minded man at basically any age. And I’d like to think that the people around him would only reinforce that.
The New Picard Series
So, love it or hate it, here’s my vision for this new series:
The setting is a large Federation space station (“starbase”) not far from the Neutral Zone (the longstanding DMZ between the Romulan Empire and the Federation). The station is located by a planet which recently joined the Federation, and which is now experiencing some complicated political and social turmoil.
Picard is long retired as a Starfleet captain. Now he is basically a roving ambassador and lecturer at the station, specializing in diplomatic history and occasionally archaeology. He remains “on call” for exceptional situations.
Preferring to remain out “in it” vs. retirement on Earth, Picard has made his home on this station for a number of years, a station that has hosted some of the first classes of cadets ever to receive their training so far from Earth and the core Federation planets. The planet is renowned for its energy and technical achievements, despite more than a century of occupation by the Romulans (some years in the past by now). Many of the planet’s people have come to the station to live and work in a variety of roles.
But there is growing concern about tensions between the two largest factions/parties/ethnicities on the planet, roughly corresponding to the inhabitants of the two largest continent-nations. They are increasingly focused on ensuring that each faction is represented equally in all of the station’s business, and highly suspicious of one another. Things become more difficult after the world government is suspended indefinitely following a series of moves that force the Federation to recognize the two factions as coequal governments in all matters going forward. The Federation doesn’t understand the conflict very well initially, but soon learns.
The planet is divided primarily between an “Isolationist” faction and a “Cosmopolitan” faction (as described by the Federation). The man known as “Rectifier,” the acknowledged/unofficial/unelected leader of the western continent-nation, heads the Isolationists (a former backbencher in the lower house who served for less than a year before the suspension of the world government). His ever-changing theory about the subversion of the world government, and then the national governments, drives much of the debate. He tells his followers that their rivals on the eastern continent (who, unsurprisingly, speak a completely different language and differ slightly in appearance, are the descendants of aliens (either the Romulans or some other group) and therefore a separate species with no real link to the planet. The leader of the eastern continent, going by the title “Sovereign,” the same title used by the former leader of the world government, angrily denounces the Rectifier’s (evidence-free) claims. Yet both the Sovereign and the Rectifier play to public opinion, which is decidedly hostile towards the Federation, accused of having held secret talks with the deposed former leader to plan an attack on the Romulans. The planet’s people despise the Romulans, but doubt the Federation’s ability to protect them in a war.
Picard is tasked with helping manage the negotiations between the Federation and the factions. Although he is respected by the factions for his understanding of the planet, he is still considered a product of the Federation, and therefore needs the assistance of others who did not spend their lives in Starfleet. Picard is also tasked with finding a solution to an emerging refugee crisis, as various residents of the planet seek the Federation’s help in relocating from the planet to the station or to other Federation worlds. Picard is troubled by a treaty with the planet that seems to limit the Federation’s ability to grant asylum.
That’s about enough in terms of the basic setting. Like any good Star Trek series, there are always a number of long story arcs. It seems as though the Romulans, the long-looming but little-understood adversary of the Federation, should finally get their due in a story that explains just what they’re really all about. I like the idea, suggested in the initial announcement about the new series, that we may get a chance to see Federation society from the perspective of a (more or less) private citizen, rather than a Starfleet officer. As such, many/most of Picard’s closest friends and acquaintances should be private citizens too.
Cast (main cast):
Jean-Luc Picard — Ambassador, instructor, part-time archaeologist
Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) — Chief Medical Officer, professor (possibly Picard’s partner)
Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) — Bartender (officially), part-time lecturer, advisor (longtime close friend to Picard)
Picard’s “great niece/nephew” — Graduating Cadet (child of an old friend, now finishing her/his studies at the station’s academy)
“Colonel” Kira (Nana Visitor) — Ambassador (retired Bajoran Militia leader and government minister working with Picard to resolve the diplomatic crisis)
[X] — Instructor, scientist (native of the planet, good friends with Crusher and Kira in particular)
[Risan woman] — Station’s Counselor (famous for her upbeat attitude)
Tuvok (Tim Russ) — Strategic Officer, part-time instructor (3rd in command on Station, meets with Picard semi-regularly to discuss Starfleet intelligence)
[Human woman] — Commander/First Officer (2nd in command on Station, shares Picard’s deep interest in the history and cultures on the planet)
So that’s about it. This helped me to focus my Star Trek anticipation malady, and I hope it will help encourage more people to help make this new Star Trek series the mirror on today and the source of inspiration we truly need.