STAR TREK WORLD



Yes, I want a Star Trek world. I want a world where people dress simply and hygienically. I want a world where everything looks like a maid has just picked up, dusted and vacuumed. I want a world where race is irrelevant. A world where religion or custom occupy a far second place to world citizenship. Where everyone can understand everyone else when they speak. I want a world where violence is only applied in response to irrational violence. In that world, the clean zap of a laser stuns but does not maim.

 

The Star Trek world is orderly and prosperous for everyone. There is no need for crime because there is no need to steal or to kill. It is a world where everyone is educated and understands basic principles of civility. It is a world where women are equal to men in every way. It is a world where children are born with rights, and their parents are deeply committed to being responsible to them...not the other way around.

 

I know there are those of you who romanticize the dusty chaos of Third World cities. But I also know you are not choosing to live there among the poor and unwashed. I know there are those of you who romanticize arcane religious rituals, but you are horrified by beheadings and other violence directly tied to religious dogma. I know there are those of you who think America is a Star Trek country already, but you do not live in an impoverished neighborhood with a drug gang on the corner.

 

I am beginning to ask myself what I would sacrifice personally to live in a Star Trek world. I am not engaged in criminal behavior, so I have nothing to fear from enlightened law enforcement. I pay my taxes without any loophole escape hatches, so I wouldn't really loose any solvency. I keep up my property inside and out, so I would not fear shaming by the hygiene police. I already spend a fair amount of my time reading and learning, so I would not have to fear being labelled backward or counterproductive.

 

I doubt the human species will ever achieve a Star Trek world. Perhaps robotic human hybrids will. As long as human beings cling to their instinctual fears and impulses over education and mindfulness, this world will remain as it is. And there are those of you who think that is just fine.