Liberalism, the new frontier and the American Dream: political themes in Star Trek

Abstract

As its political discourse gradually broadens and develops, Star Trek evolves into a detailed investigation of the limitations of the liberal-humanist ethos. The stark moralism of the original series, in which the Federation represents an unequivocal force for good, eventually gives way to situations in which the supposed superiority of liberal human values is continually being challenged. Although the new Trek series certainly persist in their espousal of liberal values, these are filtered through a multiculturalist perspective which is represented by the various alien cultures — particularly the Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans, Ferengi, Bajorans and Cardassians. At the same time the encounters with highly developed alien beings such as Q, the wormhole ‘prophets’ and the Caretaker all test the limitations of human concepts. These developments represent a series of attempts by the new Trek writers to resolve the many political contradictions that are built into the original Star Trek scenario, the roots of which can be found in the ideological conflicts within the philosophy of liberalism itself. As Robert Eccleshall argues:

in some respects, modern liberals appear to sit uncomfortably astride the ideological worlds of conservatism and socialism.

[Liberalism’s] aim is to create a nation, not of humble though kindly treated workers dependent upon a small rich class who alone can enjoy the full benefits of a civilised life; and not of proletarians regimented, controlled, and provided with standardised comforts by a group of dictators or bureaucrats acting in the name of the State; but a nation of free, responsible, law-abiding and self-reliant men and women — free from the grinding servitude of poverty and … from the tyranny of circumstance; with healthy bodies and alert and trained minds; enjoying a real equality of opportunity to make the most and best of their powers for their own advantage and that of the community; and to choose the way of life for which they are best fitted; having a real share of responsibility for regulating the management of their common affairs and the conditions of their own life and work; and secure of sufficient leisure to live a full life and to enjoy the delights of Nature, letters and the arts.

(Ramsay Muir, The Liberal Way, 1934, pp. 221–2)