"There's something basically clean and decent and all-American about the respect for human dignity that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry showed." - Alan Keyes Based on that quote would it be fair to say that Star Trek's socialistic overtones were complThat is as much of your question as came through. Formspring appears to have a word limit like twitter. I was not aware of that before. I assume you are acking if the socialiist philosophy of Gene Roddenberry contributed to the respect and dignity of Trek characters Alan Keyes is complimenting. If I am wrong, please clarify, but that is what I am going to run with.
Short answer is no. Star Trek is pure fantasy. The Federation is a socialist utopia solely because Roddenberry said it was. He does not present any sort of socialist road map to get humanity to that point. I am certain Alan Keyes would be the first person to tell you there is not one, either. He knows Trek is escapist fantasy.
Volumes could be written debunking socialism as an economic system, but the bottom line is it ultimately fails because it does not take into account human nature--we are greedy creatures who want stuff. More and more stuff, even after all our needs have been provided.
One of the reasons Deep Space Nine is my favorite Trek is because there is frequent acknowledgement the Federation utopia is an artificial creation because of creature comforts, not because of any charge in people’s hearts and minds in the 24th century. The federation is all high and mighty about self-improvement, equality, and tolerance as long as they are safe and comfy on their home planets and starship luxury cruises. But when the Dominion waged a war that nearly destroyed everything, the Federation abandoned virtually all its ideals in the name of survival.
Forget socialist ideals. When push comes to shove, people revert to their most basic selves.
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