I never really got the argument against augments (in universe as well as from the writers).
All the humanoids in Star Trek are the result of genetic augmentation anyway.
The whole “eugenic wars” thing always felt like a cop-out because the writers were to afraid to tackle a controversial topic during the actual show and pushed it into the past in a “we already had this discussion” kind of way.
The OG reason for the Eugenics wars was to give an apolitical reason for WW3. USA vs USSR was fully expected to go hot at some point and the idea was that the post-war period would cause a world wide reflection and unification.
First Contact messed with that by having rival groups still fighting a stagnate war at the time of the first warp test. Remove the works of Rick Berman and it becomes apparent Roddenberry wanted a cohesive timeline that culminated with the idea of global peace as a precursor to the Federation.
All that said: augments and eugenics were a really good reason to have a global war between superpowers. Khan Noonien Singh controlled a huge chunk of Earth before escaping into space. He was a stand in for a successful Hitleresque leader who used fascism to create “perfect people” that he could control.
Augments became shorthand in the future for Gestapo.
Again, all of this is without First Contact or DS9 setting the stage for the Bell Riots and the other WW3 that ended in 2053.
I only caught parts of ds9 - so sorry if this is obvious
and the other WW3 that ended
but what? the other ww3?
Not to mention that in the 60s genetic modification was still in its infancy and a good sci-fi boogyman. Remember, Dolly the sheep wasn’t cloned until 1996.
Star Trek wasn’t just a show about social commentary, it was also about nerd stuff: science fiction jargon (technobabble and technical plot devices), world building, gratuitous displays of competent leadership working with competent implementers, having sex with aliens, and playing the trombone!
In other words, Star Trek is allowed to have stuff in its backstory that doesn’t comport with progressive messaging. I see Trek’s Eugenics Wars as a wonderful counterpoint to the Dune universe, which features pervasive eugenics and a dearth of computers. Dune’s anti-AI message may fit the zeitgeist like a glove right now, but that’s more due to luck than anything else. From the perspective of the 1960s, both AI and genetic engineering seemed equally remote (and tantalizingly close).
Eugenics wasn’t invented after genetic engineering. it was literally a thing the Nazis already did long before Trek existed.
AI research began before the 1960s as well. Neither Dune nor Star Trek invented these concepts, they both commented on and critiqued them.
The eugenics wars in Star Trek were about genetically engineered super humans, not about selective breeding eugenics programs. See TOS episode 1x24: Space Seed for details.
I would argue that the bad reputation that eugenics got by being associated with fascism is very detrimental to societal progress.
Before we understood genes and could manipulate them, the “solutions” (e.g. sterilization) to debilitating genetic disorders were very cruel.
But this has changed with the advent of genetic screening and gene therapy.
People are so reluctant to accept the good that these technologies can do that we are dooming future generations to unnecessary suffering.
The first time I heard of diseases like cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and Huntington’s disease I was very curious why they were not being eliminated by genetic screening.
People act like we would immediately create a second class of people like Khan if we allowed more direct intervention but this is simply not true.
There is a world of difference between eliminating horrible diseases and creating super humans.where do you stop? there’s a movement in the deaf community to stop ‘fixing’ hearing loss.
same thing with down syndrome - some people would prefer to not have that child, some see that as cruel as well. it’s a giant ethical conundrum and we’re rapidly nearing the capabilities.
People act like we would immediately create a second class of people like Khan if we allowed more direct intervention but this is simply not true.
Have you been living under a rock? The world is literally being burned up by a handful of people who think they’re more special than everyone else and nobody else deserves to live. Don’t be ridiculous.
Of course the super rich would immediately meddle with their offspring if they could.
But his would not produce any kind of superhuman.
We barely understand how the mind works, attempting to make someone more intelligent with genetic manipulation is like poking a haystack and hoping that a needle finds its way to the top.
Technology that advanced is like 100 years into the future at the earliest.
The best we can do is to change your hair color and the way your sweat smells, that kinda thing.
People are racist even without the help of genetic manipulation so it would change absolutely nothing of consequence.It’s not about whether or not the creation of a superhuman is possible or right. It’s about the fact that humanity cannot, at this time, be trusted to do that in a way that wouldn’t result in conditions worse than Star Trek’s Eugenics Wars.
There is no united humanity and there will never be one.
We are not a hivemind after all.
If you restrict your actions to account for every possible way it could go wrong you end up doing nothing at all.
Some people will end up doing it anyway, with or without permission.
Making it legal at least steers it into a more ethical and productive directionThere is no united humanity and there will never be one.
Wow you just keep coming with these bad takes huh?
Speaking of zeitgeist, there is one thing that confuses me about modern Star Trek.
Kurtzman and co. are obviously not beholden to old canon such that they fear changing too much.
But somehow the technology in the new shows doesn’t seem to advance in a really meaningful way.
There was this whole android uprising in Picard but somehow the status quo didn’t budge? Like huh? Did I miss something?Kurtzman is a hack who constantly writes stories that are not internally consistent and he completely ignores any kind of continuity in movie series. His stuff doesn’t change the setting because he doesn’t understand that it would have that impact. He writes like JJ Abrams directs.
I dunno, I haven’t seen a single episode of any Trek show after Voyager. At some point I should check some out but I haven’t felt motivated to.
With all the edgy things directors want to do these days, making a pre-star trek eugenics wars movie with only small nods to the franchise might be a hit without stomping all over trek as a whole. (Nods like a Montana research facility with a blueprint in the background) All pre-warp.
At the end, have a line that says “Continued in Star Trek: First Contact”
