People fail to realize that we’re in the mirror universe and the universe Star Trek exists in is the unattainable utopia.
I mean the Bell Riots happen in 2024 in the Prime Timeline. The 21st century sucks in Star Trek. Eugenics wars, Sanctuary Districts, WWIII, fascist dictatorships using soldiers addicted to drugs…
It’s only after a nuclear holocaust that humanity is reborn into their “hopeful era”. I mean hell, they literally had to retcon the timeline because the 90s weren’t actually as awful as the show claimed and they had to move the Eugenics Wars. The 21st century is dark in the Prime Timeline, and it’s fully believable that it was just as bad as our real 21st century or worse.
So no, as easy as it is to cave to doomerism, I think the message of Star Trek is that this too shall pass. Stuff sucks, no doubt, the world is in a dark place right now, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that way.
I like to rewatch DS9: “Past Tense” sometimes because it really hits home how bad things are, but also gives hope for how maybe there’s a future in which we look back and wonder how things got this bad.
