Shakespeare once wrote that love makes fools of us all. That statement may be true, however, if the Bard had lived in the modern age, who might have written Twitter makes fools of us all. Some people would point to the president’s frequent missives as a case in point. However, perhaps the dumbest tweet of the year may have come from George Takei, best known for playing Lt.
Sulu in the original “Star Trek” and who is now an Internet Social Justice Warrior.
Takei elicits mockery on Twitter
According to Twitchy, Takei’s statement drew quite a bit of ridicule, especially from people who concluded the aging actor had begun to think that “Star Trek” was real life and not an iconic TV show. Some of the tweets noted the episode in which Sulu went insane and ran around the decks of the Enterprise with his shirt off waving around a rapier. Undoubtedly if phasers are outlawed, crazy people will resort to using edged weapons.
Is the future of 'Star Trek’ communist, fascist, or just utopian?
Some of the mocking tweets suggested that the future that “Star Trek” represented was simply awful, a kind of space communism in which everyone had to toil without being paid for their goods and services. Wired once suggested that Trek represented a post-scarcity economy since everyone could get anything they wanted just by programming a replicator. A number of references have been made on the various iterations of Trek to the effect that the Federation operates on a “non-monetary economy.”
In fact, even if everyone has a replicator that can make food, clothing, and any other good, someone had to design, build, and maintain the devices.
Why would they bother if they didn’t get paid through a system that ascribes value to their labor and creativity through money? Indeed, the devices need an appalling amount of energy to operate. Who pays for that and how if there is no money?
Just to confuse things further, private property still exists in the future of Trek. Joseph Sisco has a New Orleans restaurant. Captain Picard’s brother owns a vineyard. How does one measure the value of Sisco’s Cajun cooking or Chateau Picard wine if not through money? Making wine or gumbo for others would be expensive hobbies without getting paid for them. The profit motive still exists and is a beautiful driver for creativity and innovation. If all needs are provided by the replicators, what incentive do people have for self-improvement? The answer is none whatsoever, which makes the future of Trek utopian if nothing else.