On my political blog, I’ve made more than one posting about how Star Trek relates to the current administration. But, it brought me back to thinking of a more Trek-oriented question and commentary, instead of political, more relevant to this site.
What, exactly, is preventing us from achieving the vision set out by Gene Roddenberry in Star Trek?
Now, I’ve seen a number of commentaries by numerous people concerning this topic. Invariably, though, it degenerates into discussions about psychology. Some point to our adherence to religious beliefs. Gene, many of you know, called himself agnostic. His son, Rod, is more atheist from my understanding. Christianity, Islam, Hindu, etc. religions do have issues when confronted with science, as do all sorts of other belief systems. I, personally, am one of those labeled a ‘quack’ as I’m firmly in the ‘Intelligent Design’ camp on this – and honestly, since Star Trek the Next Generation did an entire episode about progenitors seeding all the various races in Star Trek so a majority of them are bipedal humanoids, I think if the theory was out back when he was alive, Gene may have endorsed it as well.
But, it all comes down to my take: religion is not what’s holding us back in general. Religious scholars have contributed to our progress. It was an Islamic scholar who introduced the concept of a zero, for example. How far have we come just because of that inclusion? If you doubt that statement, let me continue the path. Zero developed into the concept of negative numbers. Negative numbers eventually developed into imaginary numbers (taking the square roots of negative numbers). Without imaginary numbers, we would have missed hitting the moon with the Apollo program. Religion is a road block in some cases, yes, but it is not what is preventing the vision.
Next thing that is normally brought up is money – our greed is what is holding us back. We are too fixated on making a buck than progressing. Except, that does not hold up under even mild scrutiny. Almost every major industrial innovation has occurred because someone wanted to build a better mousetrap, and not out of the goodness of their heart. Marconi, Bell, Edison, etc. were all looking for funding from either contracts or other sources with every invention they made. Even Einstein and other scientists are looking for grants, so they may continue research.
But I feel you are heading down the right path with money being the problem. You just are not basic enough. Why did monetary systems come about in the first place? What makes gold so precious, and worth so much? Scarcity. It is the lack of resources that makes something more valuable. Money is just a numeric expression of just how valuable people feel an item is worth. As I type this, I’m eating a meal that cost around $7.50. Star Trek Online lifetime membership is $250. So, the people who end up setting their prices feel STO is 33 1/3 times more worth the cost of this meal I’m chowing down.
But let’s take it even one step further. Why is money not an issue until the Ferengi show up on Star Trek the Next Generation? It comes down to the unlimited resource generator equipped everywhere, the replicator. Anything anyone wants can be replicated, so if you want a fancy dress, you just tell the computer to make you one. This changes when the Ferengi and their latinum arrive, as latinum cannot be replicated. Suddenly, there is an item that can be scarce and now we’re back to a currency system based on that item.
No hunger, unlimited medicines, no need to hoard items creates the utopia envisioned by Gene Roddenberry.
I’m going to take it one last step, though. Really, the thing that makes this all possible is the replicator takes energy and forms whatever a person needs. The replicator needs power, as does the ship to move, the living quarters to stay at a comfortable temperature, and all the other things needed to sustain a happy existence. It is unlimited amounts of energy that can produce Gene Roddenberry’s utopian vision. Right now, though, there is no such thing as unlimited power. We cannot develop the replicator, the warp drive, control the climate, or anything else without that unlimited supply. In Star Trek, they had dilithium crystals, which since they could be ‘grown’, became that power source. There is nothing like that on Earth we can exploit to provide such a thing.
Unfortunately, there are some in the community, and in the halls of government, who just do not understand this final point. However, in their attempts to make an utopia, our basic rights are trampled into the ground. Our money, which we have to use to purchase those resources to survive, is devalued, taken from us, and wasted. Only one place exists where an unlimited power source can be found, and even that exploration is being curtailed.
Space, the Final Frontier
