"The Paradise Syndrome": Imperialist Trek?

[scotpens]

Much has been written about Trek TOS as a projection of American attitudes, ideals and geopolitical interests at the time it was made. I just came across Michelle Erica Green’s August 2006 review of the third-season episode "The Paradise Syndrome" and I’d like to respond, even if it's a bit late.
http://www.trektoday.com/reviews/tos/the_paradise_syndrome.shtml

I assume everyone here is familiar with the plot of the episode. An asteroid is on a collision course with an unexplored planet. Kirk, suffering from amnesia and believed by the American Indian-like inhabitants of this world to be the god Kirok, remembers enough Earth science and technology to help improve the lives of the natives -- in Ms. Green's words, "inventing the lamp they never developed for themselves, teaching them irrigation and WHAT HE CONSIDERS TO BE efficient farming techniques . . . " (Emphasis added.)

Whether one farming technique is more efficient than another isn't a matter of opinion or judgment. The amount of food that a given land area will produce is an objective, measurable fact. Here we have a small, agrarian society that's probably survived at a bare subsistence level for hundreds of years. Along comes an outsider who shows them how to make artificial light so they can extend work and recreation into the evening hours. (It'll probably make them safer from wild animals at night too.) He teaches them how to grow more food, and probably better methods of food storage and preservation as well. That means less starvation and sickness, more food to store during winter so there's less chance of famine, and perhaps even surpluses to trade with neighboring tribes (assuming this one small village isn't the entire population of the planet). That, in turn, means more goods and services for everybody, and a healthier, happier population.

All these improvements are a positive, objective good. Yet, to Ms. Green, everything Kirk does for these people in his amnesiac state "smacks of imperialism." Just what sort of imperialism is she talking about? Is the Federation going to colonize the planet, make subjects of the natives, and exploit the planet for its resources? Are we soon going to see Miramanee's people wearing Levis, lining up for Big Macs and Cokes, and listening to Elvis? If an advanced race of aliens landed on Earth and showed us how to feed the world's hungry, how to produce limitless clean energy, and how to eliminate all forms of cancer and birth defects, would Ms. Green accuse the aliens of "imperialism"?

 

[Timo]

Agreed on the fundamental silliness of Ms. Green's rantings. However, there's a deeper reason to dismiss such ponderings here, too. We have to remember that the circumstances on this planet are highly specific and completely unrelated to the history of the Americas, or of Earth.

On this entire planet, there obviously only exists a single village of primitive hunter-farmers. No mention is made of other communities, and it would make little sense to have any at a greater than walking distance from the all-important deflector-totem. Now, the lifestyle of this single community can be as "western" and exploitative of their surroundings as they or Kirok want; they won't be able to run out of the natural resources of an entire planet even if they do their worst. OTOH, the lifestyle must be geared towards self-survival in the total absence of other communities; the balance of improvements must be sought on this basis.

If Kirok introduces farming techniques that allow for population growth, that's good for them. If he doesn't, or if he introduces techniques that keep the population well fed but stable, that's good for them, too. Clearly, these people are living in relative bliss with what they have, and won't bother anybody even if they seek, or are given, greater bliss.

In the long term, the planet might see population growth and expansion of habitation. There would always need to be a "medicine man" close to the deflector-totem, but that doesn't preclude these non-natives from conquering the planet. Or the planet might see the extinction of this small group of non-natives. Or an outside group might come in and take over the bountiful resources, if they didn't mind the asteroid bombardment. None of this is likely to be affected by Kirok's introduction of oil lamps or CPR - because a much greater effect will come from Kirk's actions with the deflector-totem, and from his report to his superiors. Longterm stability of the single village on that planet beyond the meager three or four centuries they have already experienced would be unlikely in any case.

We also have to figure in the scenario of the return of the folks who transplanted this group. They went to great effort to do this - but they clearly didn't plan for longterm stability, not in an asteroid alley. It seems clear that whatever happens within the local community is peanuts compared with what these Preserver folks decide to do. And they are likely to do something, given the fundamental instability of the current situation.

My favorite theory here has long been that the former Americans were abducted for slave labor in an asteroid mining scheme, but that their abductors fled the authorities or otherwise disappeared, leaving behind only a hastily camouflaged crime scene. Other explanations for the strangely insecure haven of the Americans are possible, too. But the key point here is that the setup is so fundamentally unnatural that it is meaningless to squabble about "prime directive" issues or "cultural contamination" - least of all in the context of Earth history.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Timewalker]

How could Kirk's actions possibly be considered "imperialist"? He had no idea who he was or where he came from! It's not like he introduced capitalism, forpetessake!

 

[TheJosmo]

I suppose Peace Corps are imperialist then?

 

[cwnorma]

There is a conceit among some that anything that doesn't over-sentimentalize, to the point of reverence, indigenous culture is de-facto imperialist.

IMHO annoying but you don't have to look too hard to find examples