(I sincerely hope this is the right forum for this. I would be interested to know if there is a better place for my post, on these boards.) Star Trek, whether the original series, or the Next Generation, was clearly innovative, and ground-breaking, addressing issues sometimes, that were never discussed before. And what I have found unique in TOS, or especially TNG, is how morality can sometimes be not so cut and dry. The relativity of morality, in other words. Take the Borg. They were the federation's mortal enemy. But were they really evil? In "the Best of Both Worlds", Picard, as Locutus, said they were only trying to raise quality of life. Or take Q. He was clearly corrupt with power. But was he always evil? And could you say it was really his fault? The Ferengi weren't evil per se. They just had a different system of morals, than ours. They were business-driven, usually. And take the enemies the Klingons and the Romulans. The Klingons were now our friends. And the Romulans had at least some redeeming qualities, sometimes. As I said, TNG was were this motif was thoroughly covered. But even the original series has some reference to it. In "Day of the Dove", Kirk makes a touching sylloquy where he says they may have been wrong all along, about the Klingons. I am a little drawn to this aspect of Star Trek, because I personally believe evil can sometimes be a relative thing. Some people are desperate, and some are just sick. And interestingly some people who were evil once, are evil no more (cf. gays). I think it is interesting they covered this topic so well, in the fictional Star Trek universe. What do the rest of you think? Was this aspect of the franchise deliberate? Or am I just reading too much into it? unk:
You’re right the Ferengi aren’t evil they simply put their faith in the Great Material Continuum, On episode 26th (3rd season of Star Trek Voyager) the Captain & crew temporarily ally themselves with the Borg against Species 8472, and while the Romulan commander Tomalak threatened to destroy the Enterprise in episode 58 (The Defector) The Romulans are our allies during the Dominion War (DSN) against the Founders, and the Jem’ Hadar Hotwater
Morality is a human construct inherently designed to separate us from nature. Most likely the concept was first intended, from a physical sense, as a method of distinction of the soul. If there is a pure morality in the universe we certainly don't know what it's tenets are. Star Trek certainly did a good job of introducing us consciously to subjective morality and it is to be commended for doing so.
I'm a fan of TOS. I've often wondered about the Prime Directive, or Directive Of Non-Interference. A lot of TOS was clearly influenced by the Cold War, and of course the Vietnam war was going on at the time. I won't give a lesson in the '60s, but it's safe to say many people weren't happy with our interference in southeast Asia. Maybe the US could use a similar Prime Directive? Yet even though forbidden from doing so, Kirk routinely violated the Prime Directive when his own sense of morality told him to do so. So what's the right thing to do? I like the idea of the Prime Directive in principle, and wish the USA had some analogue to it, but still I can't help but question it. On the one hand I don't like our military engaged in this "perma-war" like we seem to have right now. I think it does very little, if any, good to meddle in the affairs of war torn countries anyway; we just end up creating new enemies. Yet on the other hand, is it "moral" to stand by and do nothing while innocent people by the thousands lose their lives. So we face the same moral conundrum Kirk faced. At least Captain Kirk knew what he should do.
