Re: Star Trek and politics, upcoming elections

[VictoriaBB]

Good evening,

I'm a student journalist working on an article about Star Trek fans and their opinions on the upcoming presidential elections.

Specifically, I'm just wondering whether you think Star Trek fans mobilize behind a particular candidate, political party or political ideology.

If so, which candidate, party or ideology and why? Do you think this has something to do with the general themes of Star Trek?

Thanks so much for your help,

Victoria

 

[HRHTheKING]

Nope

I think there is a general balance between Dems and Reps.

At least on the sites I visit.

From my observations I detect no link between political beliefs and Star Trek ideology.

 

[CoveTom]

I think overall, though not in every case, that when Trek conveys a social or political message it conveys a more liberal one. I also think, based on my experiences here at TrekBBS, that you'll find a majority of the posters here tend to lean more on the liberal side of things. Therefore, I would expect that you would find more wide-ranging support on this board for Clinton or Obama, for example, than for McCain.

Having said that, though, I think it's a mistake to assume that Trek fans are monolithic in any respect, and that includes politics. I think it may also be a particular feature of this board, rather than Trekdom in general, that there happens to be a higher percentage of liberal thinking. I think it's perfectly possible for a conservative to enjoy Trek, and I can back that up with the fact that I am extremely conservative politically and yet have loved Trek for over 20 years. I may not always agree with the message of a particular episode or a speech from a particular character, but that does not detract from my enjoyment of the show.

 

[Snaploud]

Sci-Fi fan bases are too complicated to fully define. JMS, for instance, was shocked to learn that George W. Bush was a fan of Babylon 5.

 

[Delta1]

For a purportedly liberal show, Star Trek does a wonderful job of portraying a realist worldview. Heavily-armed naval vessels patrol Federation territory and "explore" unclaimed space, often to gain economic or strategic advantages. Treaties disintegrate like tissue paper in the rain, wars are fought, spies abound.

Sure, there's a Federation, but it's a "homo sapiens only club," full of generally like-minded worlds. There's nothing like the United Nations where enemies send permanent delegations to a continuing organization. The closest we ever got to that was the "Planet of Galactic Peace" in TFF, and that was a joke.