DS9 Predicting the future?

[USS Belmont]

Obviously, I am not talking about predicting the 25th century. I am referring to the writers of DS9 predicting events after the 1990’s. Some have said “The Jem’Hadar” predicted 9/11 attacks. Others have mentioned the “Bell Riots” is foretelling current riots in the US. What other instances did DS9 predicted our future? Sorry if this has been discussed before.

 

[Leroy]

How exactly did 'The Jem'Hadar' predict 9/11? Are people referring to the kamikaze run on the Odyssey? A terrorist attack and a battle between several military starships are completely different.

Regarding the Bell riots, the Bell riots were the result of the failure of the sanctuary districts and not exclusively attributed to police brutality.

It seems people are connecting dots that aren't there.

 

[kkt]

The Bell Riots still could happen.

 

[Dukhat]

Some have said “The Jem’Hadar” predicted 9/11 attacks.

I don’t know anyone who ever said that. And anyone who did is off their rocker.

Others have mentioned the “Bell Riots” is foretelling current riots in the US.

Since the riots only started two weeks ago, I have to wonder who these ‘others’ are of which you speak.

The Bell Riots still could happen.

Check back here in four years to see if there are any Sanctuary Districts around.

 

[NCC-73515]

There were plans for something like sanctuary districts when the episode was in production, IIRC.

 

[amp]

The existence of Sanctuary Districts seems like an old idea. In the 70s and 80s people were fleeing cities for the suburbs, real estate values were stagnant or falling, and it was widely believed that cities were dying. The idea that part of a city could be walled off and turned over to the homeless or to criminals was very much in tune with that grim vision.

Escape from New York is another take on the same idea with the island of Manhattan turned into a prison.

 

[Angry Fanboy]

Stop being silly.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

We don't have sanctuary districts but we have immigrant concentration camps.

 

[amp]

Stop being silly.

Was this aimed at me? Because I was being completely serious.

 

[Dukhat]

Was this aimed at me? Because I was being completely serious.

I think it was aimed at the OP.

 

[USS Belmont]

Well, I am not saying it’s an exact predication. Some said “The Jem’Hadar” showed us powerful symbol of prestige and power being knocked down, and the shock and awe that came from it, which was sort of like 9/11. The Bell Riot was showing us a social injustice that ultimately reached a boiling point in a society and resulted in a meaningful change in that society. I think that’s where people see a parallel to the current US situation. I think that’s all the “predicting” we can draw from the writers. It’s all thematic predictions, not facts and circumstances.

 

[Sci]

I don't think the DS9 writers were "predicting the future," but they were smart guys who were clearly in tune with certain political currents that were sublimated during the 1990s and would later come into greater prominence.

 

[Michael]

Some have said

Others have mentioned

Some said

that’s where people see

Who exactly are you referring to? I've never seen this kind of nonsense anywhere before.

 

[somebuddyX]

I'm pretty sure The AV Club and Jammers Reviews commented on the similarities implied in "Homefront/Paradie Lost" and post-9/11 US in regards to civil liberties and terrorist attacks.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Predictive? I don't know. However, there do seem to be several useful similarities.

1. Officials responses are informed by pre-determined images (perhaps prejudices) about who the protesters are and how they behave.
2. Protesters use the internet in order to inform broader public about their plight and their intentions.
3. Authorities seem willing to escalate situation.
4. To some extent, the situation was the result of decades of indifference about the plight of specific groups of people.

 

[Qonundrum]

It's science fiction. It will tropes inspired by take past history and put them in different directions. They're not documentaries or how-to guides like what "Galaxy Quest" was suggesting. "V", at least the original 1983 version and its 1984 sequel, made a very loose parallel about the Nazis - one could look at the story and how it unfolded and go in half a dozen directions with it. The 2009 was as much more contemporary as it was direct. Among other silly differences.

Or the tldr version: "History can repeat itself and if it does only the teams change", or something like that.

 

[Qonundrum]

Who exactly are you referring to? I've never seen this kind of nonsense anywhere before.

Unless that person is wanting the reader to start thinking. Which can be fun for a while but even I must concede one can start believing any old misunderstanding after a while.

There were plans for something like sanctuary districts when the episode was in production, IIRC.

Sounds about right. Like how The Simpsons used Kent Brockman to show how the news was becoming more emotional instead of just facts-based. As a lampoon, nothing more. It's in one of the DVD commentaries, between seasons 3 and 7 if memory serves.

 

[shivkala]

The 7th Rule Podcast had Robert Hewitt Wolfe on recently. He talked about "Past Tense" and how it was originally an idea he had for TNG, where Picard and Geordi get teleported back in time to the Watts Riots. As for "Past Tense" being prophetic, he said "It wasn't supposed to be prophetic, it's just a cautionary tale!" (view the whole bit through the link).

 

[JirinPanthosa]

What DS9 did really well was take the idealism of TNG, and put it in realpolitik situations that actually challenge it, and you have to make moral compromises for the greater good and really fight to defend your way of life, so of course a lot of its territory has parallels with all the terrible events of the last 20 years.

The writers didn't read the future, they read the present. They saw the story we told ourselves about American progress in the full context of the world and all the people, and brought the context into Star Trek, only with the well meaning pampered ignorant in the position of power.