Gene Roddenberry is known for having a very specific view of mankind's future in star trek and being rather controlling and egoistical about protecting that vision. What if during the 1970's he had tried to use the star trek fandom to create a philosophical/political movement to advance these ideas in he current day? Would this have gone anywhere and if not would it have damaged the brand and possibly prevent the movies/TNG from getting made?
WI - Gene Roddenberry turns Star Trek into a Scientology-like philosophical/political movement
- Thread starter Exostrike
- Start date
Star Treks underlying society is basically a post scarcity economy that is only possbile due to the level of technology available in the setting. While its philosophy is otherwise very much inline with ideas of enlightenment and humanist ideals its not realy a society you can realy try to build right now. Because of these humanist principles Star Trek also lacks most any trappings of religion that could be helpfull in building a cult like scientology, with the later series often beeing outright atheistic in outlook.
So overall I think while the series (especially TNG) do present a very utopian future its not realy a good basis to build a movement on.
So overall I think while the series (especially TNG) do present a very utopian future its not realy a good basis to build a movement on.
The basic idea being that any degree of societal discontent can be solved with sufficient material prosperity, including the option for discontented groups to leave and establish new societies more to their liking*, therefore teaming up to develop the technology necessary to create said sufficient material prosperity and new frontier should be a priority for everyone, no matter how much they might hate each other. Especially in a world like our own with currently finite resources, no frontier to serve as a pressure release value for dissidents and MAD deterrence as the only plausible outcome of serious conflict.
Anarcho-FrontierismWhat is Anfront? The simple answer is that it's an unorthodox school of anarchism that inexplicably has four distinct Reddit communities devoted to it in a perfect microcosm of ideological splittism! The long answer is a bit more complicated but is ultimately grounded in the frontier thesis and billed as the natural conclusion of the theory. First proposed in 1893 by Frederick Jackson Turner, the frontier thesis argued that the development of democracy in America was rooted ultimately in the existence of "the frontier" which, Tucker argued, generated liberty by eroding traditional Old World cultural norms and social mores, producing egalitarianism, disdain for high culture and a violent disposition as further byproducts.
-Home, home on Legrange...
Anarcho-Frontierism holds itself strictly to Tucker's thesis, arguing that the closing of the frontier brings with it centralized authority and hated hierarchy. In a world without a frontier where is one to find true freedom? Off-world, of course! Seeing space as an endless final frontier, adherents of Anfront argue for the absolute necessity of human expansion into space, embracing transhumanism to better adapt themselves to the life of the asteroid miner.
In an unintentional way Anfront creates an interesting mirror image with Novuteranism. Both favor transhumanism, though the former focus on adapting to asteroids and desert worlds and the latter is obsessed with living on the equivalent of Hoth. The Novuteran advocacy for a fascist command economy is completely at odds with Anfront's complete disdain for government and mutualist perspective of limited markets. Ironically both groups idealize a frontier, though Anfront's love of Texas and the American West is in marked contrast with Novuteranism's lust for the frozen Canadian tundra. And of course there's the whole race theory thing, which the former lacks but the latter revels in.
The symbol of Anarcho-Frontierism is a black and tan anarchist flag with a crossed rifle, tomahawk and railroad spike in white.
TL;DR: Fallout: New Vegas would be a totally awesome you guys!
As good guys: Think The Moon is a Harsh Mistress- government is pretty lax but everyone pulls their weight in the face of a razor thin margin of survival, with frontier justice disposing of the occasional bad apple and incentivizing the rest to keep to the new norms and mores that have evolved among the moons and asteroids of the System. Markets are small and localized, with an informal system of collective solidarity creating a cushion in the lean times.
As bad guys: Might makes right and what defines frontier justice is up to the ones with the strength to enforce their will on a populace unable to leave. Life in the mines is harsh and short, with your ration of scrip buying less and less at the company store with each standard cycle.
* Where did you think all those deranged planets of the week came from?
Got a link?
Also, another possibility would be if rather than Roddenberry, Diane Duane, given her jokes in the afterword of one of her star trek novels (I'm trying to remember which one) about becoming a cult leader based off Surakian philosophies after she worldbuilt them. The copyright fight alone would be hilarious.
Gene Roddenberry, Howard Baker
Eugene Wesley Roddenberry was an American screenwriter of science fiction stories, and founder of the Order of the Sons and Daughters of Vulcan. Originally hailing from El Paso, Texas, his family moved to Los Angeles when his father passed the Civil Service exam and was employed as a police officer. During his childhood, Young Gene developed a fascination for science fiction. As an adult, he worked both as a police officer and a pilot for the US Army Air Corps. During this time, he experienced a traumatic flight accident when his plane overshot the runway, resulting in him being the only survivor. While a later inquiry absolved him of responsibility, the accident would have a tremendous impact on the rest of his life.
Following his stint in the service, Roddenberry worked as a free-lance writer for various radio and television shows. Around this time, Roddenberry also became fascinated with the occult and eastern religions. His dabbling in the occult led him to write down his observations and ideas in what would be later published as The Journal. Here, the ideas of what would be later called Vulcanism. He started holding hosting meetings with friends and colleagues concerning his ideas, leading him to found the Order.
Roddenberry claimed that following the plane crash he had been abducted by a race of aliens that referred to themselves as “Vulcans.” The Vulcans resembled humans in almost every way with the exception of pointed eyebrows and ears, much like older depictions of Satan. He learned from their leader “Spock” that the ills of the world – war, hatred, poverty, disease, religious fanaticism – are because humans are plagued by an irrational side to their personality. Humans were more than capable of evolving past this vestigial attitude, but were held back by a race referred to in the Vulcan tongue as “Klingons.” This insidious race was not a corporeal one, but their influence was broad in the world. While all men were under some of their influence in one degree or another, some men were more completely possessed by them, men like Long, Hitler, Mussolini, Bose, and others who sought to keep men in a perpetual state of servitude to fear and emotion. In order to achieve a higher state of evolution such as the Vulcans had achieved, mankind must rid itself of the influence of Klingons through the abolition of irrationality and restraining institutions such as the state, corporations, and organized religion (The reason why Satan was depicted as a Vulcan in order to keep humanity from attaining a similar level of enlightenment). Roddenberry was sent back as a “channel” for the ideas of Vulcan. According to him, the last words he heard from Spock were: “Humanity will one day rise like a Great Bird over the galaxy.”
In its early years, Vulcanism was dismissed as another fringe cult, like many that had developed in Los Angeles at that time. However, by the 1970’s and 80’s, their ranks had grown, even as many had laughed off their beliefs. Around this time, Roddenberry’s rhetoric had increased in intensity and vitriol in his private meetings with followers. He believed that the Klingon’s hold on earth’s leadership was too strong to overthrow by peaceful means. In 1987, one of his followers took matters into her own hands. On October 18, 1987, Hayley Fountain charged at President Baker – purportedly while screaming “Die, you f*&king Klingon!” - while he was visiting the Griffith Observatory and shot him twice before being wrestled to the ground by Secret Service agents. Baker was rushed to the hospital, later dying from internal injuries.
Fountain’s Vulcanian connections sparked what became known as the “Vulcanic Panic,” with many feared the extent to which Vulcanists had permeated the highest levels of society. Roddenberry, aided by friends, managed to flee to Ursalia before then going to Bangkok, Thailand where he evaded attempts at extradition to the United States. He remained in exile for years before he died in 1991 from a heart attack. Some conspiracy theorists posit that he lived much longer, and controlled his network of Vulcanist agents that permeate the United States government. A fringe group of Vulcanists still exist after much of the initial structure fell apart with Roddenberry’s flight, though some contend that the original Order still exists as a clandestine organization.
