Trends in pop culture illustrate our country’s changing values– or at least the values of our creatives. (Pop culture’s success or failure shows if the rest of the country agrees.) And for better or worse, pop culture can influence policy decisions.
There is perhaps no better barometer for this than the 50+ year old Star Trek franchise, which once bursted at the space-seams with pro-American ardor, yet now seems resigned to post-American mediocrity.
1960s Star Trek’s “wagon train” to the stars was the ultimate expression of manifest destiny: We had conquered the American frontier and emerged from World War II a super-power. Space was the last place for us to plant our flag: Indeed, our final frontier.
The sky was no longer the limit.
Capt. Kirk was an icon of American bravado, JFK-esque charm, and unrepentant masculinity. He fought alongside Abraham Lincoln and quoted the Preamble to the Constitution. Starships bore unmistakably American names like Lexington, Yorktown, and even (gasp) Columbus.
Star Trek’s imaginary space travel influenced real space travel. William Shatner described Star Trek as “intimately linked with NASA” and took pride that his sacrifices for the show, which cost him his first marriage, helped get us to the moon.
Left-leaning Star Trek fans may love it for its “social commentary,” but they might be surprised to realize just how conservative and pro-American the show really was.
One episode, “A Private Little War,” is an apologist defense of American military intervention in Vietnam. In another, Kirk bluntly tells a group of rebellious space hippies, “Whether you recognize authority or not, I am it on this ship.” In its most celebrated episode, a time-travelling Kirk lets a bleeding-heart 1930s liberal get run over by a car to keep her message of peace from making the US so weak it couldn’t beat the Nazis!
Compare that with the malaise of the modern franchise. In the under-performing 2016 film, 21st Century’s Kirk said: “The farther out we go, the more I find myself wondering what it is we’re trying to accomplish. “
That sentiment is hardly in the same vein as JFK’s “We choose go to the moon not because it is easy but because it is hard.” Perhaps we need the modern version of Kirk to be a bit more like the classic version if America is to maintain its strategic, economic, and scientific leadership in space.
The International Space Station has been a triumph of scientific achievement and cooperation, with America leading an international coalition of scientists to new heights. Yet NASA’s FY 2019 budget proposal included plans to end funding for by 2025. It’s the only orbiting laboratory dedicated to human space exploration, and is now at the peak of its capabilities after years of support from US tax dollars. Pulling out of the space station now would squander the enormous investment we have made in it.
With the retirement of its shuttle fleet, America must continue to participate in the ISS to ensure we don’t fall behind. Recognizing this, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)—chairman of the Senate subcommittee for space—recently held a hearing to keep NASA’s foot in the final frontier.
Cruz wants to make sure the U.S. funds the ISS at least through 2028, while recognizing the end of a commitment of this import should be tied to criteria of exploration milestones, not an arbitrary date.
“Prematurely canceling a program for political reasons costs jobs and wastes billions of dollars,” Cruz said. “We cannot afford to continue to pursue policies that have consequences of creating gaps in capability, that send $3.5 billion in taxpayer money to the Russian government, or that create a leadership vacuum in low-earth orbit that provides a window of opportunity for the Chinese to capitalize on it.”
The Chinese are expected to have a manned space station by 2022. While our non-hostile space race with the Chinese is preferable to the Cold War race with the Soviets, there’s no reason to sacrifice our leadership position to them. While the concern of protecting federal high-tech jobs at home is doubtless on Cruz’s mind—he doesn’t want to have to tell Texas voters (ahem) “Houston, we have a problem”—he’s also the senator who insists that Captain Kirk was a Republican. Let’s hope he wins this battle and can help send into space the Captain Kirk’s of the future, no matter their party.
And if Star Trek creators won’t get on board with this, maybe we can draft openly Republican Tim Allen to make a Galaxy Quest sequel starring Buzz Lightyear.
