How Stark Trek gave me an insight into the Trump phenomenon

 Lockdown and self isolation drove me to spend my weekends and much of my evening streaming movies and series. A new experience for me as I was previously a reader and rarely relied on video production for entertainment. Being an aficionado of science fiction, it was normal to turn to Star Trek. First Deep Space 9 then Voyager, then Next Generation, and lately The original series.

It was really nice to look back on what was in the end of the 1960s their predictions for the future starting the 1990s and beyond. They got somethings right but could not imagine computer with voice like Alexa. Their computers had mechanical voices. The computers, though with lots of functions prediction had switches and blinking lights. They could not imagine touch screens or let's say the science for it was not yet possible. Yet what hit me most was the social aspect, the culture, the customs.

In the original series, though they made their best to be diverse and gender conscious, the series is full of gender stereotyping and racism. Racism in the sense of a clear boasting about the superiority of the human race, it's ingenuity and cultural ethics. Almost reaching bigotry. They tried their best not to be, but could not eradicate the culture of the era. New life forms were frightening and the first reaction was to draw your phaser. The prime directive was casually applied but demonstrated that 'our way' was better. The captain, though talking compassion and understanding was a macho man who in most episodes entered into hand to hand combat and won. The strong man, The lady's man, The superior culture, 'Our culture against theirs' characterize the original series. 

Not to say that I did not enjoy the original series, it is refreshing to go back to a 'black and white' of the world. 

Then as you go from series to series until Discovery, aside from the technological side, society clearly changes, and they become overall more 'politically correct' as we call it today. Often alien races have more advanced cultures. The captains are no more stereotyped as strong leaders, rather their strength is in their ethics and intelligence. Women are in real leadership positions. There is consideration for personal freedom of choices and self determination rights of all sentient beings, even rights for AI in the form of androids or holographic characters. It is another world, another society, another social order.

This is the evolution of Star Trek and many assume that it mirrors the development of our societies. But is it true? Maybe part of the society, but not all of it. The extreme right and what is called Trump base is much closer to the society depicted in the original series. Same applies to Brexiteers, National socialism in Europe, Marie le Pen, and other movements that consider themselves preservers of a culture that is pure, and purely engrained in the original Star Trek.

It is not a value judgement, just an observation. 

But it is an observation that made me wonder and ponder on what the future holds and if there is a way to bridge the divide to make society whole again.