Earth and STAR TREK

[RobertScorpio]

It is strange that TOS never showed modern Earth, outside of the Mojave desert scene in The Cage, until TMP. And then TMP-TWOK-SEARCH FOR SPOCK-VOYAGE HOME-FINAL FRONTIER-UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY all have scenes on Earth...but nothing is really said about the politics or how life is on Earth..

We get a few more glimpses with TNG, notable Family episode. DS9 shows even more, I guess...but I would like to see books, or a new series, that depicts what is going on back on Earth. Yeah, there would be no space battles, but I think Trek has covered that angle enough.

Are there any books that delve into these matters? Would any of you like to see books, series, depict stories that took place on Earth of the future?

Rob

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

That was deliberate. The ST Writers Guide for the original series stated explicitly that they were backing off from depicting Earth in political or economic terms and that they would never return to Earth for a story (obviously excepting those accidental forays into the past).

 

[greenmystik]

There's KRAD's Articles of the Federation that takes place on Earth. It is a very good read. It deals mostly with the politics that go on behind the scenes and about the Federation electing a new president.

 

[Gotham Central]

It is strange that TOS never showed modern Earth, outside of the Mojave desert scene in The Cage, until TMP. And then TMP-TWOK-SEARCH FOR SPOCK-VOYAGE HOME-FINAL FRONTIER-UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY all have scenes on Earth...but nothing is really said about the politics or how life is on Earth..

We get a few more glimpses with TNG, notable Family episode. DS9 shows even more, I guess...but I would like to see books, or a new series, that depicts what is going on back on Earth. Yeah, there would be no space battles, but I think Trek has covered that angle enough.

Are there any books that delve into these matters? Would any of you like to see books, series, depict stories that took place on Earth of the future?

Rob

I would say that its more than just Earth. Of all the societies we've seen over the last 40 years, it's the Federation that's the least developed. We know very little about the Federation outside of Starfleet and the occasional ambassador. Its this ambiguity about the Federation that has led some people to conclude that it is a quasi facist state. We see Starfleet making political decisions, signing treaties etc. Even the "Federation Council" that we saw in ST:IV was full of people in uniforms.

I've always felt that they needed to spend more time fleshing out the Federation as a empire/civilization.

 

[alicelouise]

The Federation may be the worst political construct of its time..excepting all the others. The Klingon Empire seemed to mirror warring Scottish Clans. The Romulans and Cardassians seemed to mirror modern day Communist dictatorships. The Feds seemed to offer stability and material comforts against the other entities.

In DS9 the Dominion War seemed more of a conflict between GM and Ford than say the US vs. Communism/Fascism.

Earth at the time of DS9 and Voyager probably is a self satisfied Blue Planet/State. Sounds a lot like California.

 

[raleighrob]

With the exception of Vulcan we learn very little about the various Federation planets throughout the five series and movies. And yes that includes Earth of course.
Novels did better...there's at least one or two good books for just about every major Federation planet. For Earth, "Articles of the Federation" pretty much completely takes place there. The Picard/Troi short story from "Tales of the Dominion War" is also on Earth (during the Breen attack)....I can't remember the title of it. There are probably a few others but for some reason I just can't think of them right now.

 

[Triskelion]

Interesting. If Trek were to examine Earth more closely, it would likely be more of a source of political arguments and polemics, and Trek would tell a different story. A story not of humanity, but of governments.

I always thought the Federation was actually a small turnip. I've yet to see it refuted to my satisfaction.

 

[alicelouise]

Earth is probably a planet of universal prosperity and peace in the 24th and 1/2 century. Whether you're in Mali or Maryland, it's great. Of course when everyone has great food, great clothing and great shelter at the touch of replicator switch; it's easy to be a non racist, religiously tolerant people when that is the case.

They are in all likelihood smug as heck.

 

[erastus25]

I always thought it was smart not to depict Earth. Trying to guess what the planet's going to look like in the future is a lot more difficult than just making a new place up altogether.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I always thought it was smart not to depict Earth. Trying to guess what the planet's going to look like in the future is a lot more difficult than just making a new place up altogether.

Generally I would agree with you, but I think after TNG-DS9-VOY-ENT, we have enough episodes of 'creating new places'. Infact, I think they are running out of gas with those kinds of stories. Why not a series, or miniseries, showing us how Earth came out of the shadows of death and became one of the jewels of the Federation. Right now it's a vague throw away scenes, or lines, saying how we over came bigotry and all the other ills of our time. How about some up front ideas of how to do that.

Rob
Scorpio

 

[alicelouise]

The Earth that is portrayed is a world of political and religious freedom. I know there are militant secularists on this board, but belief in God is not going away. That being said practice will probably be private but free.

The major Earth sects in the STverse probably agree to disagree. Probably the Earth religions find they have more in common than not. If there is a cleric, Rabbi, priest, or nun with admirable qualities ( Pope John Paul, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama) people who don't agree with their doctrines would still admire them on a personal level. In the 16th Century it was unthinkable for a Catholic or Protestant to admire the Pope(if you're Protestant) or Martin Luther(if you're Catholic). As for Muslims and Jews forget about it.

Keep in mind there may be new faiths Earth may adopt. How about followers of the Bajoran Prophets, Surakian Logic of the Vulcans, or the Oralian Way of the Cardassians?

Earth government probably parliamentarian style with an Earth governor. How they get there is difficult to imagine. The 1st attempt is the UN which is not effective(I'm being nice).

 

[Sci]

Earth government probably parliamentarian style with an Earth governor. How they get there is difficult to imagine. The 1st attempt is the UN which is not effective(I'm being nice).

Erm, no. The United Nations is not an attempt at creating a global government or state whatsoever. In fact, it's specifically designed not to be a government. Rather, it is an intergovernmental organization designed to facilitate the peaceful resolution of disputes between states and for the launching of joint ventures amongst states. The UN even describes itself on its official website as being a tool of its member states. So it's completely inaccurate to say that an attempt to create a planetary state is cast in doubt by the United Nations, because the United Nations is not an attempt to create a planetary government. (Besides, you're forgetting the League of Nations.)

For whatever it's worth, the short story "Eleven Hours Out" in Tales of the Dominion War and the Enterprise novel The Good That Men Do by Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels establish that United Earth's head of government is a Prime Minister. The novella S.C.E.: The Future Begins and the novel Starfleet: Year One establish the existence of a President of United Earth. And the novel Articles of the Federation by Keith R.A. DeCandido establishes that United Earth was created in 2130 by the signing of the Traité d'Unification in Paris. And, of course, the Enterprise episodes "Home" and "The Forge" establish the name of Earth's planetary state to be United Earth.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Thanks for the heads up SCI. I have never heard of those books before and will now try to find them. I find any information about how Earth got from here to there (24th century Star trek) quite interesting!

Rob

 

[Sci]

Thanks for the heads up SCI. I have never heard of those books before and will now try to find them. I find any information about how Earth got from here to there (24th century Star trek) quite interesting!

Rob

No problem. If you're interested in Federation politics in general, the following books are also good reads:

* A Time to Kill by David Mack
* A Time to Heal by David Mack
* A Time for War, A Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido

In addition, the upcoming ENT novel Kobayashi Maru looks like it'll deal more with Earth politics in the aftermath of The Good That Men Do -- and the ENT novel Last Full Measure gave us some insights into Earth politics, too.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I will seek those out..I actually like the way MACK writes...I think I read one of his first TREK books way back, and it was funny..he wrote the characters well..

Rob