There are answers to all the issues the World faces today. But you won’t find them in a book. You won’t find them on television. Nor will you ever hear these answers from any of the great religious leaders. Or Politicians of course, but you already knew that. If Politicians could fix anything, you’d think they would have done it by now. The answers to life’s problems are not found in drugs or at the bottom of a bottle, though we’ve looked. The answers to the big issues we face today are to be found in the original TV series of Star Trek.
Come on, come on, let’s work together
Take, for example, the original crew of the Starship Enterprise. Yes there was an American running the show, but it was an American TV series so we’ll let them have that. But after Captain James T Kirk came a whole assorted bunch. Not just Americans.
The Starship Enterprise was steered by Mr Sulu (Japanese) and Mr Chekov, a Russian. Communications were the charge of Uhuru, a young lady of colour with an outfit designed to encourage the interest of a 1960’s male audience. And there was a dour Scotsman kept down in the Engine Room where nobody could see him.
The mix of different cultures about the Starship Enterprise wasn’t even confined to Earthlings. Yes, Mr Spock, we’re talking about you.
There were a few other Americans on board. Most of these guys wore the red shirts and, not even having a character name, you knew these suckers were going to be killed outright within minutes of landing on an alien world. Unlucky, fellas. You should go speak with your Agent about that.
The point is that there was no real agenda on board the Starship Enterprise, other than to boldly go where no man has gone before. There was no party politics. Nobody, as far as we could tell, was getting rich off the back of it. Nobody had an ‘angle’.
ALL nations of the World seemed to be working together. There wasn’t two or more Starships fighting for supremacy, or a war between two factions. There was no rich and poor. Everyone was working together, equally, towards a common purpose. They represented the World. Planet Earth, united by a common purpose.
And that, friends, is the way it should be.
But wait, that’s only part one. Star Trek has yet more to teach us…
The Star Trek mission to ‘strange new worlds’
With alarming regularity – every episode, in fact – the Starship Enterprise would stumble across a wonderful new planet with an Earth-like atmosphere and gravity, where the oddly human-ish Natives (we’re hesitant to call them Aliens since they live on that planet) face some terrible calamity – that Kirk and his crew would comprehensively overcome within thirty minutes, and Kirk can cop off with a comely Space-dwelling female. Nice.
Mind you, some of these Native creatures were scary. Up to a point.
Some were really scary. We’re talking state-of-the-art special effects, gents – imagine the affect this charmer had on kids back then…
Kinda reminds me of my ex-wife. But I digress.
A special, one-off Third Millennium Man Star Trek episode
At the start of any particular episode, the crew aboard the Starship Enterprise would usually receive a video call from – well, let’s call them Mr & Mrs Alien. This call would often be a plea for assistance with some insurmountable obstacle such as a natural disaster.
The following is what you would never hear…