How do we get to the Star Trek future?
- Thread starter wildsulu
- Start date
We have the technology to feed every living being on this planet.
What stands in the way are the (insert preferred nomenclature here) that intercept food and supply delivery to those who need it and use it for their own purposes.
Eliminate that obstacle and we could educate the world's population to be self-sufficient.
If the self-appointed elite in third world countries did not exist, the people in those countries would be free to either thrive or die. But it would be their choice.
(The same goes for first world countries, if anyone is wondering. The difference is in most first world countries, the elite did not murder hundreds, thousands, millions to get there. At least not directly.)
Those of us who are able to help the less fortunate, with a few exceptions, do. Those of us who wish to rule, promise the moon and stars. When those people gain power, they tend to rule with an iron fist with little regard for the people.
I don't understand the yearning by some for a government that supplies everything. A wise man once said that, paraphrasing, a government that can give everything to the people can just as easily take it away.
People are more valuable than profit, but profit is the thing that enables people to live in better conditions than would be possible otherwise.
There is nothing we have today that was not created or made better by people seeking profit.
If you don't believe me, try throwing down your iPhone and walking away. Forever. Otherwise, please don't lecture about the benefits of a non-profit society.
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I admire entrepreneurs, but that statement is false
You don't know the effect until you try it. I hear there's a nice comic or novel with Bones writing a letter by hand and having it delivered by courier.
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Sources, please.I admire entrepreneurs, but that statement is false
I lived for a long damn time without a bunch of this tech we have today.
But please, no comics, no novels, just real world.
"Nothing unreal exists."
Thanks.
Well, that's not a remotely creepy thing to write; why do you ask?Who gets to decides that you're too senile to live? I'll volunteer for that one.
In case you're not aware, senility rarely just strikes out of the blue. If I show signs of becoming so, I'll gladly take measures to appoint someone trustworthy and qualified to consider the prospect of my eventual euthanasia. And if I were in some freak accident that left me comatose tomorrow, with little to no hope of recovery, I'd trust my parents' judgment on when to pull the plug.
I don't see that as an inherently bad thing. I'd rather elect a reasonable euthanasia than endure (and inflict the need for care on others) excessive infirmity in certain circumstances. I'm just a mammal; my life is not sacred.
"Not pleasant"?! Try unimaginable holocaust, as countless millions die from dehydration alone, let alone starvation and assault, or worse. Congratulations on producing a staggeringly useless piece of trivia.
We need a Surak to set us on the right path. When humans can control their emotions and govern their desires and passions, things will change for the better.
Yeah, there will always be incessant negativity.
+1
And...we don't have a population problem. We have inefficient distribution and utilization of available resources.
No thanks. Star Trek wasn't about the Vulcan way being better.
LOL, no we don't.
Both are real problems - and just because we could theoretically feed the world's population with current technologies doesn't mean there aren't more humans than would be ideal.
There are currently about 7.3bn of us... I think 2-4bn would be a good long-term norm.
It's not about negativity. For all we know, the real 24th century Earth could be a utopia too, but we wouldn't recognize it with our 21st century frame of reference. What's idyllic to us may not be the same tomorrow. Values change and evolve just as much as science and technology because it's still knowledge in the end.
TOS/TNG isn't perfect. Some of their tech from decades ago is debated now, as seen in their respective boards on TrekBBS. But those shows were made with a 20th century mindset, too. There just simply is no way to predict accurately what 24th century technology would be, because whatever technological, economic, philosophical mix there may be to facilitate future space exploration would most likely be different than anything we can conceive of here and now through Trek. We'd have to step outside of Trek in order to do that.
The CEO of Nestle has gone on record saying that his fellow human beings don't deserve clean drinking water unless they pay for it. What he really means is that humanity has to pay *him* for it. So heck yeah there's a distribution problem.
A
Amaris
Guest
The CEO of Nestle has gone on record saying that his fellow human beings don't deserve clean drinking water unless they pay for it. What he really means is that humanity has to pay *him* for it. So heck yeah there's a distribution problem.
I just want to emphasize this point, that yes, this is the world we live in now, and yes, waste, spoilage, inefficiency in production, unsustainable practices, these are most assuredly a global problem.
Very though provoking topic! 
You qualified the thread topic with "...as related to space programs."
In that spirit:
I voted "other"' and here is why. A combination jus of three of your choices would do it.
1. A Space Race:
Look how much and how far and how relatively quickly we got, in terms of technology and products and landing on The Moon. Of course, there were all kinds of social and political and environmental costs, but those are not the topic of this Thread, as I understand it.
2. More Daring and Ambitious projects.
Space is not for the faint of heart. As Kirk said, "Risk is part of the game if you want to sit in that chair." We MUST be willing to risk. We do it in the many wars we fight. We do it in the streets of our cities.
3. More cooperation Internationally.
Strength in Number. Safety in Number. 2n Heads are Better Than One. Globefunding. Yes, I know we have oodles of trouble here on Earth. But that is not what this is. And, if we really had the will, we could easily do both.
Now, my answer outside of the Poll parameters:
We must cut out the divisive, unproductive, wasteful, heinous, stupid, achingly Wrong shit we are doing in our own lives and in our immediate circle and community and area and country and planet. I hope you can extrapolate some of those things from those descriptors, because they are way to numerous to mention. We all, all of us who are rationally conscious beings, know what to do. It's called The Force, The Golden Rule, Do Unto Others, What Comes Around Goes Around, by any other name.
We know it.
But, will we do it?
That is how we get to the place to which this Poll refers.
Make it so.
You qualified the thread topic with "...as related to space programs."
In that spirit:
I voted "other"' and here is why. A combination jus of three of your choices would do it.
1. A Space Race:
Look how much and how far and how relatively quickly we got, in terms of technology and products and landing on The Moon. Of course, there were all kinds of social and political and environmental costs, but those are not the topic of this Thread, as I understand it.
2. More Daring and Ambitious projects.
Space is not for the faint of heart. As Kirk said, "Risk is part of the game if you want to sit in that chair." We MUST be willing to risk. We do it in the many wars we fight. We do it in the streets of our cities.
3. More cooperation Internationally.
Strength in Number. Safety in Number. 2n Heads are Better Than One. Globefunding. Yes, I know we have oodles of trouble here on Earth. But that is not what this is. And, if we really had the will, we could easily do both.
Now, my answer outside of the Poll parameters:
We must cut out the divisive, unproductive, wasteful, heinous, stupid, achingly Wrong shit we are doing in our own lives and in our immediate circle and community and area and country and planet. I hope you can extrapolate some of those things from those descriptors, because they are way to numerous to mention. We all, all of us who are rationally conscious beings, know what to do. It's called The Force, The Golden Rule, Do Unto Others, What Comes Around Goes Around, by any other name.
We know it.
But, will we do it?
That is how we get to the place to which this Poll refers.
Make it so.
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Sources, please.
I lived for a long damn time without a bunch of this tech we have today.
But please, no comics, no novels, just real world.
"Nothing unreal exists."
Thanks.
Thus spake Urban T'Plana-Hath Default
IrishNero
Commodore
You know, as I was reading some of these posts, it occurred to me that we are potentially overlooking the one thing that will keep us from getting to a Star Trek future. -Ourselves.
We need to learn to peacefully co-exist, control our population, think rationally, prioritize our global climate and find alternative fuel sources before they become a very real issue that engulfs the planet and sends us into a global conflagration that will make WWI and WWII seem like two picnics. As it stands, I don't see a Star Trek future in the near term (the next 200 years or so) as a matter of fact, I believe we are more likely to devolve into a planet with a massive population and no means to maintain them.
Maybe World War 3 needs to happen before we start to wise-up and take real issues seriously. Maybe we need a viral outbreak to cull the herd. Maybe I'm just too much of a pessimist. I guess it's a little discouraging to me that I can watch a Star Trek episode that provides a glimpse of a potentially bright future, and then when I turn on the news, heads are being chopped off, kids are begin killed in the streets and rain forests are being decimated.
If we are ever to become the role model of a species that is suggested by TNG, we don't need massive investments in science and technology, we need to invest in ourselves, or more specifically, our thought processes. And if you think this planet if full of arse-holes now, wait and see what it's like when they have the technology and means to control the entire population physically as well as mentally. And if we can't get our ducks lined up, we don't deserve the means to potentially subject other planets to our BS.
Anyway, I'm probably speaking to the wrong crowd. Trek people are a highly intelligent lot, and understand better than most that there are massive problems that need to be solved. That's my rant.
We need to learn to peacefully co-exist, control our population, think rationally, prioritize our global climate and find alternative fuel sources before they become a very real issue that engulfs the planet and sends us into a global conflagration that will make WWI and WWII seem like two picnics. As it stands, I don't see a Star Trek future in the near term (the next 200 years or so) as a matter of fact, I believe we are more likely to devolve into a planet with a massive population and no means to maintain them.
Maybe World War 3 needs to happen before we start to wise-up and take real issues seriously. Maybe we need a viral outbreak to cull the herd. Maybe I'm just too much of a pessimist. I guess it's a little discouraging to me that I can watch a Star Trek episode that provides a glimpse of a potentially bright future, and then when I turn on the news, heads are being chopped off, kids are begin killed in the streets and rain forests are being decimated.
If we are ever to become the role model of a species that is suggested by TNG, we don't need massive investments in science and technology, we need to invest in ourselves, or more specifically, our thought processes. And if you think this planet if full of arse-holes now, wait and see what it's like when they have the technology and means to control the entire population physically as well as mentally. And if we can't get our ducks lined up, we don't deserve the means to potentially subject other planets to our BS.
Anyway, I'm probably speaking to the wrong crowd. Trek people are a highly intelligent lot, and understand better than most that there are massive problems that need to be solved. That's my rant.
In other words we might end up in Judge Dredd's future instead of Trek's future if we're not careful 
I just hope we don't end up in The Road's future.
Personally I think technology is the reason TNG's earth has the luxury of being enlightened. Once everyone is fed and not worried about the essentials, and everyone's relatively well off there's a way better chance of people sitting around becoming enlightened. Sign me up for the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout.
Honestly though I think The Expanse might be a more realistic future. We're spread out in space, but still having wars between colonies, Mars & Earth, and we never invented warp drive.
I just hope we don't end up in The Road's future.Personally I think technology is the reason TNG's earth has the luxury of being enlightened. Once everyone is fed and not worried about the essentials, and everyone's relatively well off there's a way better chance of people sitting around becoming enlightened. Sign me up for the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout.
Honestly though I think The Expanse might be a more realistic future. We're spread out in space, but still having wars between colonies, Mars & Earth, and we never invented warp drive.
