Did Star Trek shape the modern world?

This chain of thought was started while flipping channels on the TV when I saw the good old Captain Jean Luc Picard somewhere. I used to watch the original Star Trek, mostly because there was nothing much to watch at that time. I can hardly claim I understood everything at that time, but I was old enough to understand the possibilities of space travel (technology surely has not kept up with fiction!). Later I was introduced to the Star Trek TNG – the Next Generation – and started liking the new Captain, the new Number 1, not to mention the counselor, the tactical officer (before the Klingon took over) and the Doctor! The amount of philosophy fascinated me. The later versions of Star Trek Voyager and Star Trek Enterprise were also fascinating and philosophical. (Do they officially declare you a loser if you start finding philosophy in science fiction?)

A while back, while listening to the Morning Edition on NPR, they played a report on how Star Trek may have helped shape the modern world. The Star Trek started when the cold war was at its height. The Star Trek though propagated a view of a united world exploring limitless opportunities. The crew was all-inclusive with representation from Asia (Mr. Sulu) and the African-American community (The lady always had trouble hearing messages – was it the communication system or her ears? We will never know!). For Americans, who feared nuclear holocaust and cold war, this was a welcome respite. Moreover, while doing this, it sort-of maintained the American supremacy.

So, there you have it! In a fictitious future, the American way had succeeded, the world united and man going where no one had gone before! The commentator went on saying the African-American lady on the ship deck became a representation of American society that was still recovering from the ugly clutches of segregation. And the modern technology designs of many gadgets can find their roots in the Star Trek! Yes, some of the cell phones indeed look like Captain Kirk’s communicator – the ingenious designs of communicators using match boxes though were good fun while playing!

The TNG was a step ahead. The hunger was conquered and machines could make warm milk with a dash of nutmeg to your liking! Not only the Earth, but also the Galaxies and extra-terrestrial intelligent beings were at peace (were we still fighting Klingons then?). There was one episode, where some cryogenically sealed ‘humans’ from 20th century are somehow found by Captain Picard’s crew. After explaining them where they currently were – the investor among them is happy, because by now his shares of GE would have split many times to make him very rich! Captain Picard curtly explains him that there are no GE shares anymore because the man has no longer a need for money!

That is a bold concept! No one knows where we will be in the 2400s or what kind of society will it be. Although, if you watch Star Trek with a different perspective, is it not espousing the military? There is no place for civilian drama in Star Trek. Some sort of a military infrastructure controls everything. Star Trek does not fantasize about any kind of social behavior of the ‘new’ planet earth or other planets harboring intelligent life. And wherever it does, it only shows misery or vagabonds taken to ideologies that won’t work! How will the brave captains otherwise save lesser mortals?

Now, does that sound familiar? How will the brave captains in US save lesser mortals in Iraq? How will the brave captains in US save Venezuela from Chavez? How will the companies producing weapons save India from Pakistan and vice versa? Without a Patriot Act, how will America save itself? Does Star Trek, not very strangely, advocate something like this? A society - of the military, for the military and by the military…. Is Gene Roddenberry’s creation based on Dick Cheney-Donald Rumsfeld style of thinking? Or am I reading too much into this? After all, NPR was talking only of all representative American science fiction that liked peace and technology!