Granted, there are no alien surveillance teams that have been found injured during a riot, but I can't help but see the same sort of things happening here, with ignorant conservative jackwads leading the charge towards backwards social policies, hiding under a cultural rock, fearing a loss of influence and using that fear as a tool to convince other ignorant people that it's in their best interests to submit to social barbarism. When Commander Riker attempts to escape the hospital where his injuries were being treated, a mob of Malcorians who had been whipped into a fearful frenzy by rumors that he was an alien stopped him and beat the shit out of him with absolutely no provocation. They'd rather retain their ignorance, confident that they are the only beings in the universe, rather than accept what their senses tell them.
At the end of the episode, the conservative minister is so fearful of change that he tries to martyr himself at the hands of the agent of change (a very injured and barely conscious Cmdr. Riker) by shooting himself with Riker's phaser and making it look as if the "evil alien" killed him. Of course in the episode, Dr. Crusher beams down just in time to save them both and prevent a race riot, and the liberal Chancellor decides that his people aren't ready for first contact after all.
I have to disagree with this decision, absolutely and unequivocally. After seeing the extraordinary lengths that Republicans will go to to hold back progress, equality, tolerance and prosperity in the name of "preserving traditional values", I'm fully convinced that any sufficiently encompassing change, whether it be technology, social policy, or knowledge, will be adamantly opposed by people who espouse this mindset for no other purpose than to maintain the status quo, because if they can't have what they want, no matter how misguided and wrong, then NO ONE gets what THEY might want either.
Sound childish? You'd be correct. Conservatives and religious mindsets are very similar in this line of thought, fighting any kind of change, whether it affects them or not, so they can maintain their power over others, even if it might be beneficial. I know people, some of them family, who absolutely believe in this way of thinking. I had a conversation with one of my former high school acquaintances recently, and it was enlightening and frustrating for me at the same time. None of the confirmed facts and information that I brought to the table had any effect on their entrenched opinion that "Obama is an evil Commie who wants to take all our money and give it to the lazy slackers who can't get a job, and then let us satan-worshiping atheists burn upside-down flags and piss on baby Jesus' face because he's an Israel hating Muslim." I just about died laughing at the bizarre insanity that this person actually believed was God's own truth.
I guess my overall point is this: We're not going to get ANYWHERE by holding onto the past. This is not to say that we should ignore the past, as where we are now has been shaped by where we come from, and to ignore that completely is illogical. At the same time we can't let that hold us back from making grand new strides that could lead to amazing new discoveries and propel us into a bright future. To ignore THAT is to throw away what all those previous generations built on and reached for. Watching this episode again after so long really refreshed that sense of purpose that I felt back in college, and reinforced my sense that what we're doing now as a nation, by speaking out against these conservative officials who are holding us back, is right and the correct course of action.
Making new advances and enacting social equality reforms is the core of the Star Trek universe, and I feel like Gene Roddenberry was a much more insightful person than anyone really ever knew. Sure, these sort of issues have been existent throughout this nation's history, however I don't think previous generations have ever faced such a crucial turning point since the Civil Rights movement in the 50's, and we're STILL dealing with racist white assholes who just can't let THAT one go. A lot of people think of Star Trek as just another scifi show, and to see it as just that is to ignore just how visionary and pertinent it is to not just our technological development, but to our social advancement as well.
Yes, I'm a nerd. I have always been proud of that fact, rather than ashamed of it as our society wants me to be, and that has empowered me in my adult life. I'm not afraid to move forward, even if it means I discover things that make the things I've known my whole life are wrong. I only wish that more people could free their minds from the tyranny of fear and tradition, and join the rest of us in the 21st century. Also, imagine making love to an alien woman with six breasts!
That last comment is Dave Lister approved.
That will be all.
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