DS9 Homefront/Paradise Lost - This episode dealt with how a society responds to terrorism. After 9/11, we've seen airport screenings that link well with the blood screenings. We've also seen the initial overreaction and eventual exaustion to that being played out today.
Agreed! I love the line at the end of Paradise Lost by Sisko. "If they want to destroy paradise they will have to do it themselves, we are not going to help them." To me, speaking in a broad scope, we are destroying paradise ourselves today. With heightened security, air travel, public watch systems, economic woes, fuel, housing. IMO only, these things happened in part to how we as a country viewed or were told to view the events of Sept 2001. I know there were other factors also concerning each item brought up, however I do think that 9/11 had a lot to do with it. To me in a sense, the architect of that day probably knew that the events that would happen after the strike would be more detremental than the actual attack itself as far as the country is concerned. This is by no means taking anything away from the victims of that day, my heart goes out to them and their families. But with the way this country thinks, all it took was 1 attack to start the downhill process. I think we could use a little Sisko right now, or we will lose paradise.
I'm glad Im not the only one who noticed that!
I'll repeat what I said on another thread.
To me that episode was the exploration of the classic argument do you take to many steps in the name of security that you destroy what the security is designed to protect.
Fullerton saying "if the dominon saw you here whoring yourselves on Risa" is not a million miles away from the current "don't debate our forign policy or you'll embolden the enemy", in fact I think homefront and paradise lost was an excellent and erree precurser to the current hysteria over terrorism remember what the chengeling said to Sisko "..just four of us..on this entire planet...and look at the havoc we've wrought....we dont' fear you the way you fear us...in the end, it's your fear that will destroy you".
Clearly nobody in their right mind would describe the United States or the European Union, both of which have been victims of major terror attacks since 2001 as "paradise", but there is certanly plenty worth defending, but the point of that episode holds true, a bunch of isolated rag tags can't destroy it...but we can by overreacting to them.
Granted in reality there has been no military coup in the USA or EU but theres plenty of very dangerious steps in the direction of a more athoritarian stance like the patriot act, military commissions act, torture and imprisonment without trial.
They showd in the end they were able to destroy the dominion threat without sacrificing the very things they were fighting to protect, definitly a major lesson to be learned there.
Among other things ST predicted:
-Hyposprays now exist (called powderjects tho)
-Desktop computers
-Voice recognition and fast info retreval via computers
-Stealth Technology
I think Past Tense had an important message too, apart from the frightening fact that something similar to sanctuary districts was considerd in LA and I heard the idea broached even here, it shows that sweeping social deprevation under the rug like we do now with gettoisation and the welfare trap, quick fixes that don't solve the underlying problem, you end up making the situation worse and maybe even resulting in violent revolts.
Thankfully they did get two things majorly wrong though (so far!)
World War III (tho we came dangeriously close in the Cuban Missile Crises and with the Able Archer incident in the 1980s)
Eugenics, I don't know about the US but cloning of humans and genetic engering of humans is banned in the EU
