It wasn't an escape into a mythical realm of impossibly perfect heroes and implacably evil villains, but into a future of global techno-humanist harmony. It seems ludicrous now, yes, but in that simultaneously chaotic and innocent time it hovered just over the horizon as a distant possibility.
Why the original "Star Trek" still matters
May 13, 2009
http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/btm/feature/2009/05/13/star_trek_original/
A good medium-length article