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Amaris
Guest
Sex Tour Guide. I figure I would be good at it. "Hey ladies, gentlemen, non-binary beings, floating orbs and auras alike, let me be your guide, to dirty 21st century carnal pleasure."
Poll Would you trade your real life to live in the ST Universe?
- Thread starter AdmiralBruno
- Start date
Cornering the market on smut! I like it. Might make 24th century people more interesting.
A
Amaris
Guest
They're going to need me. They're going to want me. I will make their dreams come true.
I could see this. But the health of a loved one is the only real reason that I would consider going.
Financial reasons? That one's never been nailed down by the franchise. On balance the evidence for me is that there IS in fact money in the federation, but that's neither here nor there. They kill each other for power, greed, hatred throughout the star trek universe, including within the federation.
Supposed? As in have been watching it since TOS was all there was? At NO POINT has there ever been anything in canon to suggest the federation is a utopia, being a fan of the series means actually appreciating it for what it is, not what parts of the fanbase desperately want it to be. It's an idea that's spread without ever being shown or even implied on screen. Star Trek is about social issues, sure, but at no point has it ever claimed to represent a perfect society. That's only ever been fans idealising their own take on the federation, not the actual on screen portrayal. The closest we have is the personal opinion of one particular character. As opposed to thousands of them who disagree.
The federation is every bit as ripe with corruption as modern day societies. To be honest I find it hard to see how you could actually watch the show and see it any other way unless you REALLY wanted to.
In what sense? Where do we actually see that the average 24th century person is any wiser, kinder or more positive in any way than their 21st century counterparts? It gets talked about a lot, again primarily by fans, but also occasionally on screen by characters demonstrating arrogance rather than genuine superiority.
Several characters are in fact seemingly at least partially written to subvert this very idea, Gillian Taylor, Ralph Offenhouse and Lilly Sloane all spring to mind as bursting the smug bubbles of starfleet characters who assume their own superiority based on nothing more than being from the future.
Isn't NOT being prejudiced one of the ideals our heroes are supposed to stand for? You know, when they aren't being racist against Romulans, Ferengi, the Breen, Klingons, Vulcans for looking like Romulans, Vulcans for comedy effect when they don't get the joke, Vulcans for being somehow inferior due to not embracing their human emotions, Vulcans for being green blooded and having pointy ears....
And don't forget Quark, who throws in Sisko's face the fact that the Ferengi have never had interstellar wars or slavery. Which some fans automatically discount, because they don't want the Ferengi to be better than Humans.
After watching and rewatching a lot of the franchise, I have to say, there is something off about how they portray human society in the future.
Some of the ideas of how humans have evolve seem a little over the top, like humans don't get insulted by words, don't fear death at all, men wear skirts on duty, have no needs or wants yet work at actual jobs?
Classical music and plays for entertainment. Tea for drink.
Some of the lauded breakthroughs in diversity seemed artificial, like quota filling certain roles in order to show that the cast is diverse.
It even backtracked on some of the advanced social evolution ideas later on--B'Elanna complained that in her childhood that other kids made fun of her because of her Klingon appearence.
Judging by appearance was supposed to be 'the last of the human prejudices' in the 24th century.
All in all the advantages are great, its just that the society looks a bit boring and odd.
Some of the ideas of how humans have evolve seem a little over the top, like humans don't get insulted by words, don't fear death at all, men wear skirts on duty, have no needs or wants yet work at actual jobs?
Classical music and plays for entertainment. Tea for drink.
Some of the lauded breakthroughs in diversity seemed artificial, like quota filling certain roles in order to show that the cast is diverse.
It even backtracked on some of the advanced social evolution ideas later on--B'Elanna complained that in her childhood that other kids made fun of her because of her Klingon appearence.
Judging by appearance was supposed to be 'the last of the human prejudices' in the 24th century.
All in all the advantages are great, its just that the society looks a bit boring and odd.
If you're expecting an accurate portrayal of enlightened humans, and pointing out x and y and z how they haven't evolved, you might as well be picking apart the warp drive or the "no money" thing. I don't think the writers can be expected to portray this evolution accurately when they had no idea how it would work in reality. To me that doesn't change that the intention of TNG is that there's been a positive change there. I don't think it makes any sense to imagine the TNG crew is rolling from place to place while being around out of touch with reality, with other street-wise federation laughing behind Picard's back. That just isn't what is portrayed in that series... And the view that they're just as bad as modern man, just equipped with better technology, is not what TOS / Abrams trek is portaying either imo.
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The Ferengi are not better than humans. They're alien to humans. They didn't have concentration camps and slavery? That's swell, but they also don't think women should have the privilege to own property or wear clothing. They don't think children should learn how to read and if they die in the streets, they were too stupid to live in the first place. How many people did Cousin Gaila alone help kill? Ferengi have their own Social Darwinist-like business and social views that they no doubt think are natural and right, but they make their own alien sins as we make ours.
Furthermore, whatever the histories of the two species, there's no equating the contemporary Alliance with the Federation. Quark may have needed to give his nephew a reality check (humans are not physically evolved beings from who we are today; they are *socially evolved, and maybe Nog needed to hear that), but they certainly are more socially evolved than the Ferengi. The DS9 writers had a good time sticking it to the overzealous Roddenberry-ites with that speech, but at series' end, they had Grand Nagus Rom passing sweeping reforms through the Alliance.
I thought that Nagus Rom and the reforms were silly, but it shows what they thought, tantrums about the need for conflict aside. I also thought it was terrible what they did with Dukat, taking him from Nazi charmer to demonic acolyte. They didn't like how fans thought he was maybe not a bad guy, so instead of showing why he was, they gave him red eyeballs. Great.
*The humans are not just technologically evolved, but socially, personally. Middle Class Westerners who've never known hunger still join ISIS, not because they're not comfortable enough, but because they lack inner perspective. Technology will not solve all your problems. Ergo neither does latinum.
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How so? We have people in our societies who receive public assistance, they don't work, their needs are provided for, money simply given to them. Where is the creativity, the art, the great novels? Not having to provide for yourself apparently doesn't release "potential."
Why would things be different in the future?
According to Deanna, it was Cochrane and his engine as well as the arrival of aliens. And the aliens themselves didn't make the change, those were made by Humans.
Not "just as bad." but not any better personally as people either. The Humans have the same mind and bodies as we do. They go to work, come home, get tired, drink some wine, talk to each other, play cards, get married, fight with their spouses and make babies. They have warfare to protect their homes and their beliefs.
Then, they go into the holodeck and enjoy killing simulated Mexicans and Germans (Miles and Julian did both).
In the original draft of First Contact apparently it was the development of the replicator post-Cochrane that changed society.
-- Humanity turns the corner. First Contact with an
alien civilization brings the planet together as never
before. Humans and Vulcans working together, beginning
to solve long-standing problems with new technology.
We see an early replicator producing food for the
starving millions. A new World Government is formed.
-- People from planet Earth and people from Vulcan form
an Alliance. They call it the United Federation of
Planets. And they commission a fleet of starships for
protection and exploration. They call it Starfleet.
http://movies.trekcore.com/firstcontact/script.txt
Which doesn't mean anything I guess since it's non-canonical.
I think there is a massive difference between subsistence-level poverty, and having all of your basic needs taken care of. People on public assistance today still have serious problems with housing, health care, education, transportation, etc.
Comparing the two is, frankly, ridiculous.
I'm not sure what your financial situation is, but you just unleashed a fountain of creativity with that hilariously ignorant fantasy about how great life on public assistance is and who is on it (most are in fact working poor), so you might just be the exception.
Art and great novels are generally something that —with rare exception— require a lot of free time and basic financial security to work on full time, which most people working multiple jobs, commuting by bus or train, barely affording healthcare, and trying to raise their kids with some meager public assistance don't have a lot of.
If you want to be angry at anyone for mooching off the American taxpayer, be angry at corporations like Walmart (and many others, but they're by far the biggest offender) who don't even pay their employees a living wage commensurate to their area. It's shameful that someone can be working full time and still have to go on public assistance while Walmart gets to make billions and subsidize their earnings from the American taxpayer.
Point your ire and disgust in the right direction, not at the people who are most in need.
I think the no money thing was botched in a sense, because they never really tried to explain it, or go into details.
So you end up with an awkward looking future economy that looks confusing.
No money, no wants, but people seem to have to work, even breaking the law, or dangerous, tedious jobs.
It's the same with past social topics-- things like same sex relationships (TNG) or past racial histories (Badda Bing DS9) were never really brought up or spoken about.
So even if it was brought up, some fans and viewers had adverse reactions because they weren't used to seeing it.
So it was like 24th century humanity was surrounded by a weird utopian bubble where certain topics were kind of invisible.
So you end up with an awkward looking future economy that looks confusing.
No money, no wants, but people seem to have to work, even breaking the law, or dangerous, tedious jobs.
It's the same with past social topics-- things like same sex relationships (TNG) or past racial histories (Badda Bing DS9) were never really brought up or spoken about.
So even if it was brought up, some fans and viewers had adverse reactions because they weren't used to seeing it.
So it was like 24th century humanity was surrounded by a weird utopian bubble where certain topics were kind of invisible.
Details aren't a Star Trek strong suit. Broad strokes.
That's an awful lot of effort to put in, just to say that Harry Potter are not great Novels, not to mention the false premise that people receiving Public Assistance don't have to provide for themselves because all their needs are provided for
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