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Every dystopia starts off being someone else's utopia. Even the Federation. Just the existence of interplanetary hybrids (Spock being the basic example) combi

Every dystopia starts off being someone else's utopia. Even the Federation. Just the existence of interplanetary hybrids (Spock being the basic example) combined with the repression of genetic engineering indicates the existence of a profession which may not be spoken of to make such things happen. (Yes, The Progenitors, they were fun, and the female Changeling to boot, but you still couldn't get easy cross-breeding) The Federation still keeps a lot on lockdown. They're not handing out Class 5 replicators easily, they still ration holodeck usage, and so on. If anything, the Federation has always looked like a society where people are funneled into various professions based on some kind of convenience. Starfleet looks like a great way to give the ambitious and rambunctious something to do while the rest of Earth pushes softly-glowing widgets around. And then there's Quark's "root beer" analogy ... Count me as someone who fears the utopia.

euroderf 3y ago
> Starfleet looks like a great way to give the ambitious and rambunctious something to do Reminds me of the u/dys/topia depicted in "The 10th Victim" (1965). In a peaceful future, those with bloodlust (or a death wish) can sign up for The Big Hunt. Ten rounds of hunter and hunted. Make it to the tenth and you get a cool million (and hey you're still alive too!). And for gadget freaks there's Ursula Andress's double-barreled bra. And the music, the costumes, the whole production design, it's way way fab. Forerunner to The Running Man (1987), Battle Royale (2000), The Hunger Games (2012), ...
stevenwoo 3y ago
It’s not resolved but Dennis Taylor’s Bobiverse series has a post scarcity faction that wants to enact the prime directive from Star Trek after a few hundred years of space exploration and some not quite Trek like first contact with alien races. The contrast with Star Trek is interesting.

euroderf 3y ago

> Starfleet looks like a great way to give the ambitious and rambunctious something to do Reminds me of the u/dys/topia depicted in "The 10th Victim" (1965). In a peaceful future, those with bloodlust (or a death wish) can sign up for The Big Hunt. Ten rounds of hunter and hunted. Make it to the tenth and you get a cool million (and hey you're still alive too!). And for gadget freaks there's Ursula Andress's double-barreled bra. And the music, the costumes, the whole production design, it's way way fab. Forerunner to The Running Man (1987), Battle Royale (2000), The Hunger Games (2012), ...

stevenwoo 3y ago

It’s not resolved but Dennis Taylor’s Bobiverse series has a post scarcity faction that wants to enact the prime directive from Star Trek after a few hundred years of space exploration and some not quite Trek like first contact with alien races. The contrast with Star Trek is interesting.