This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Elaan of Troyius” See this for a plot summary.
There is one bit of politics, bad ones, when Kirk says that except for Vulcan women, women are all illogical. Not an example of ST’s progressive politics.
I give it one star out of five.
“Whom Gods Destroy” See this for a plot summary.
There is a lot of political aspects to this episode.
The setting is a prison housing the few remaining, un-rehabilitated criminally insane. There’s not much said about what the prison is like, but there is a painless therapy machine that helps with rehabilitation, although in general it apparently makes people docile, and at the end, it seems to also destroy memories, which is very disturbing.
It centers on one prisoner, a former Captain of StarFleet. He had tried to use his ship to destroy a peaceful people’s planet, but his crew mutinied, something I find fairly inspiring. More generally he had become a Federation imperialist and used torture.
I give it two stars out of five.
“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” See this for a plot summary.
This is one of the most political episodes of all ST. There are two main themes, which kind of contradict each other, at least as I see it. The first theme is of a people fighting national oppression, dictatorship, and possibly genocide. The second is of two population groups that hate each other and end up killing everyone on their planet.
Although it isn’t completely clear this is the case, it seems very likely to me that the struggle Lokai was engaged in was for a good cause and probably conducted honorably. There’s talk of slavery of his people, followed by another form of inequality (probably comparable to Jim Crow in the American South). Genocide is mentioned as a goal of his oppressors, many of whom were on the verge of seizing power and creating a dictatorship.
At one point when Lokai is educating some of the Enterprise crew about his plant, he says “you don’t know what it would be like to to be dragged out of your hovel into a war on another planet- a battle that will serve your oppressor and bring death to you and your brothers.” It seems like that line was probably inspired by looking at who was being disproportionately placed in combat units during the Vietnam War (hint- it wasn’t affluent white people). That war was of great benefit to the military-industrial complex, and, if the US had been successful, there probably would have been other benefits for some more elements of the white population.
Regarding his use of violence, Lokai has a couple good lines:
“I led revolutionaries, not criminals- I demand political asylum”
and “why should a slave show mercy to the enslaver.”
Although it’s unclear if he means slave revolts in the past when his people WERE slaves, or if he means killing civilian officials and leaders of the “Jim Crow-”type of oppression they experienced after slavery (which could possibly be questionable (the IRA rarely engaged in such attacks and I'm not sure if they were a good idea)), it’s a good line.
The first of the two lines reminds me of how IRA POWs resisted criminalization.
At one point Bele, the government official hunting Lokai, says that Lokai wants “utopia in a day” in reference to Lokai’s grivences. Lokai says something about how he wasn’t that impatient and suggested that Bele would be happy if it took one hundred thousand years. It kind of reminds me of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” in which he told white Christian clergy members that there was nothing wrong with oppressed people wanting justice to develop rapidly in the very near future.
As I said there are sort of two themes that contradict each other. At least some of the StarFleet crew generally believe that Lokai and Bele are mirror images of hatred, although there are exceptions who are very open to what lokai has to say. But I believe the dominant and accurate theme is the one of national oppression. The hand-full of lines and imagery about the other theme, are, by themselves, good statements about hatred.
Lastly, Kirk once again exaggerates how non-violent StarFleet is.
In general it is a very good episode, and I give it three stars out of five.
“The Mark of Gideon” See this for a plot summary.
There are a couple of political themes that should be mentioned.
The first is this thing that the Federation and StarFleet have about not taking "no" for answer when they try to establish a relationship with alien civilizations. It’s just wrong.
There is also the issue of population growth. I’m not as educated as I could be about the subject and am going to skip it.
I give this episode two stars out of five.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Star Trek: The Original Series Reviews N
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“The Tholian Web” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Plato’s Stepchildren” See this for a plot summary.
As the title sort of implies, a small amount of this episode is definitely philosophical. A the risk of making a fool of myself (I’m not good at philosophy) I’ll make some brief comments about that.
1) It briefly talks about plato and utopia and democracy. Apparently their idea for a perfect democracy is that anyone can do anything, as long as they are smart enough. This kind of reminds me of the idea that America is a “meritocracy,” which is very untrue, although I think I’ll skip the details on that for now.
2) This episode also brings up the issue of power and corruption. I believe that to a large degree power can (very often does) result in corruption. But I also think that with government there ar ways to keep that problem at a minimum. Checks and balances, whistle-blower protection, strong unions and more generally a strong civil society, a redistribution of wealth that will mean fewer people with the means to bribe government employees, very serious penalties for government employees accepting bribes etc.
As far as corruption outside government, I’d say some fairly similar things, plus more regulation in some areas (i.e. accounting, equality legislation, etc. (which would also apply to the Government)).
I give it one star out of five.
“Wink of an Eye” See this for a plot summary.
There’s one question that is raised in this episode. Because the Scalosians need to abduct members of other races in order to reproduce, Kirk’s efforts to stop them will result in the death of their race- that is, genocide. I’d say Kirk was right- abducting people like that is horrible, and at some point some races (the human race or alien races) just don’t survive.
On a non-political note, the Voyager episode inspired by this episode, “Blink of an Eye” is one of my very favorite ST episodes, and “Wink of an Eye” is nowhere near as good as the Voyager episode.
I give it one star out of five.
“The Empath” See this for a plot summary.
There’s kind of a political aspect to this, which is the idea that civilization requires compassion for others.
I give it one star out of five.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“The Tholian Web” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Plato’s Stepchildren” See this for a plot summary.
As the title sort of implies, a small amount of this episode is definitely philosophical. A the risk of making a fool of myself (I’m not good at philosophy) I’ll make some brief comments about that.
1) It briefly talks about plato and utopia and democracy. Apparently their idea for a perfect democracy is that anyone can do anything, as long as they are smart enough. This kind of reminds me of the idea that America is a “meritocracy,” which is very untrue, although I think I’ll skip the details on that for now.
2) This episode also brings up the issue of power and corruption. I believe that to a large degree power can (very often does) result in corruption. But I also think that with government there ar ways to keep that problem at a minimum. Checks and balances, whistle-blower protection, strong unions and more generally a strong civil society, a redistribution of wealth that will mean fewer people with the means to bribe government employees, very serious penalties for government employees accepting bribes etc.
As far as corruption outside government, I’d say some fairly similar things, plus more regulation in some areas (i.e. accounting, equality legislation, etc. (which would also apply to the Government)).
I give it one star out of five.
“Wink of an Eye” See this for a plot summary.
There’s one question that is raised in this episode. Because the Scalosians need to abduct members of other races in order to reproduce, Kirk’s efforts to stop them will result in the death of their race- that is, genocide. I’d say Kirk was right- abducting people like that is horrible, and at some point some races (the human race or alien races) just don’t survive.
On a non-political note, the Voyager episode inspired by this episode, “Blink of an Eye” is one of my very favorite ST episodes, and “Wink of an Eye” is nowhere near as good as the Voyager episode.
I give it one star out of five.
“The Empath” See this for a plot summary.
There’s kind of a political aspect to this, which is the idea that civilization requires compassion for others.
I give it one star out of five.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Star Trek: The Original Series Reviews M
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Is There in Truth no Beauty?” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Spectre of the Gun” See this for a plot summary.
There are basically three political aspects to this episode:
1) The Enterprise is ordered to make contact with an alien race “at all costs.” When they encounter some kind of space buoy and are told to turn around and not enter the aliens’ space, Kirk acknowledges the buoys message and explains his mission to the aliens. He then takes a small landing party and transports down to the planet.
It reminds me of the United States forcing Japan to open itself to the US. In general, that sort of thing is wrong.
2) There is some talk about how humanity “overcame” it’s “instinct for violence.”
3) At the end, it turns out it’s another episode where an alien race wants to test the Federation citizens to see if they take life when it’s not totally necessary, and then the aliens move towards friendship with the Federation. Some times Kirk goes a bit far in proclaiming the Federation’s commitment to non-violence, but over all it’s fairly true.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Day of the dove” See this for a plot summary.
There are two minor political points made- 1) there’s an incident of sexual assault (or at least attempted sexual assault), which in the context of ST can be seen as a feminist statement (when Chekhov did that, he was under the influence of an alien); and 2) some incidents of racial hostility, which lead to statements against racism.
The political aspect that really deserves some attention comes from Spock: “Those who hate and fight must stop themselves, otherwise it is not stopped.” This presents a problem for me, although I feel comfortable disagreeing with ST on some stuff here and there. But I have gotten the idea that, for example, UN Peacekeepers usually are doing something good that helps with ending conflicts. I also believe in something similar with the non-armed aspects of conflict resolution- for example, I believe that it was a good idea that the International Decommissioning Commission in N. Ireland was led by people from third party countries. In a mid-1990s publication of the Pat Finucane Center in Derry, they called for the police patrolling nationalist areas to be replaced by officers from European Union nations. Partly inspired by those last two items, I wrote up a proposal for resolving the conflict, one that would involve such international elements.
I still believe in such an approach (there’s a possibility that Spock’s theory doesn’t apply to the North, since there is really not much anti-Protetsant bigotry coming from the Catholics) (the Peace-Keepers should come from countries that don't have any selfish interests in the conflict, and civilian 3rd party personel should meet similar criteria). The thing is, when Ireland is close to being united, there will be some degree of loyalist backlash, and I think a UN force dealing with that would be better than either the British Army or the Irish Army would be. That’s because if it were the BA, some soldiers would be sympathetic to the loyalists and hostile to the nationalists, and their presence on the streets might attract attacks by republicans. If it were the Irish Army, that might increase the backlash if they’re suspected of being sympathetic to the nationalists. Third party peace-keepers (who would also have to be conducting raids when necessary) would probably be at least a little better.
I give this episode one star out of five.
“For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Is There in Truth no Beauty?” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Spectre of the Gun” See this for a plot summary.
There are basically three political aspects to this episode:
1) The Enterprise is ordered to make contact with an alien race “at all costs.” When they encounter some kind of space buoy and are told to turn around and not enter the aliens’ space, Kirk acknowledges the buoys message and explains his mission to the aliens. He then takes a small landing party and transports down to the planet.
It reminds me of the United States forcing Japan to open itself to the US. In general, that sort of thing is wrong.
2) There is some talk about how humanity “overcame” it’s “instinct for violence.”
3) At the end, it turns out it’s another episode where an alien race wants to test the Federation citizens to see if they take life when it’s not totally necessary, and then the aliens move towards friendship with the Federation. Some times Kirk goes a bit far in proclaiming the Federation’s commitment to non-violence, but over all it’s fairly true.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Day of the dove” See this for a plot summary.
There are two minor political points made- 1) there’s an incident of sexual assault (or at least attempted sexual assault), which in the context of ST can be seen as a feminist statement (when Chekhov did that, he was under the influence of an alien); and 2) some incidents of racial hostility, which lead to statements against racism.
The political aspect that really deserves some attention comes from Spock: “Those who hate and fight must stop themselves, otherwise it is not stopped.” This presents a problem for me, although I feel comfortable disagreeing with ST on some stuff here and there. But I have gotten the idea that, for example, UN Peacekeepers usually are doing something good that helps with ending conflicts. I also believe in something similar with the non-armed aspects of conflict resolution- for example, I believe that it was a good idea that the International Decommissioning Commission in N. Ireland was led by people from third party countries. In a mid-1990s publication of the Pat Finucane Center in Derry, they called for the police patrolling nationalist areas to be replaced by officers from European Union nations. Partly inspired by those last two items, I wrote up a proposal for resolving the conflict, one that would involve such international elements.
I still believe in such an approach (there’s a possibility that Spock’s theory doesn’t apply to the North, since there is really not much anti-Protetsant bigotry coming from the Catholics) (the Peace-Keepers should come from countries that don't have any selfish interests in the conflict, and civilian 3rd party personel should meet similar criteria). The thing is, when Ireland is close to being united, there will be some degree of loyalist backlash, and I think a UN force dealing with that would be better than either the British Army or the Irish Army would be. That’s because if it were the BA, some soldiers would be sympathetic to the loyalists and hostile to the nationalists, and their presence on the streets might attract attacks by republicans. If it were the Irish Army, that might increase the backlash if they’re suspected of being sympathetic to the nationalists. Third party peace-keepers (who would also have to be conducting raids when necessary) would probably be at least a little better.
I give this episode one star out of five.
“For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The anti-Apartheid Struggle and Republicans
I have mentioned Apartheid S. Africa several times on my blog in some connection to the Republican Movement. I've been aware of four connections between the two groups in recent decades, and a couple more connections between the two have just surfaced, which I’ll get to soon (I'm not sure they are as confirmed as I would like them, but the source for the new info seems like a good source).
First, here are the four connections I’ve been aware of for some number of years
1) A plaque remembering the sacrifice of both anti-Apartheid and Irish Republican Prisoners of war, is on Robben Island, which is kind of a monument to the anti-Apartheid struggle. That info was found here.
UPDATE 1/27/17 If that link is dead for some reason, I did a search of http://www.independent.co.uk using google and found a link to the article. It should show up here and is head-lined "Adams pays tribute to detainees' suffering." One quote from the article is:
The ANC changed its mind after Mr Adams's meeting with Mr Mandela who described Sinn Fein as "an old friend and ally''.
2) In 1981, as IRA (and INLA) prisoners went on hunger-strike, there was talk among ANC Prisoners of War of going on a solidarity hunger-strike. That's taken from an on-line only article in The Nation, by Tom Hayden- it was published some time in 2004, or 2005, or 2006. I can't find it online. When I do I'll update this.
3) In 2005 the Minister of Intelligence for South Africa visited Ireland as a guest of Sinn Fein and compared what he did as a member of the ANC's military wing during the anti-Apartheid struggle with what IRA members did during the Troubles. He spoke at republiccan events and at one point, according to the Irish Times said: "I could never accept that Sinn Féin has debased republicanism. They carried the flag of republicanism in the most difficult of times. ... The Irish struggle is a particularly heroic one." You can read at least a little of an Irish Times article about this here. If all you read there is the brief free paragraph, reading this from a Sinn Fein publication will make it clear what the Minister meant with his comments in that brief intro of the Irish Times article. I now have the text of the article and can email it to you if you want
4) In 1992 Nelson Mandela was on a British political talk-show and said that he supported the IRA. That information is found here (it's towards the bottom, says "mandela. and. ira").
There are some more pieces of information about this relationship. Those are found here, here, and here.
UPDATE 4/25/15 Another one here.
Tom
First, here are the four connections I’ve been aware of for some number of years
1) A plaque remembering the sacrifice of both anti-Apartheid and Irish Republican Prisoners of war, is on Robben Island, which is kind of a monument to the anti-Apartheid struggle. That info was found here.
UPDATE 1/27/17 If that link is dead for some reason, I did a search of http://www.independent.co.uk using google and found a link to the article. It should show up here and is head-lined "Adams pays tribute to detainees' suffering." One quote from the article is:
The ANC changed its mind after Mr Adams's meeting with Mr Mandela who described Sinn Fein as "an old friend and ally''.
2) In 1981, as IRA (and INLA) prisoners went on hunger-strike, there was talk among ANC Prisoners of War of going on a solidarity hunger-strike. That's taken from an on-line only article in The Nation, by Tom Hayden- it was published some time in 2004, or 2005, or 2006. I can't find it online. When I do I'll update this.
3) In 2005 the Minister of Intelligence for South Africa visited Ireland as a guest of Sinn Fein and compared what he did as a member of the ANC's military wing during the anti-Apartheid struggle with what IRA members did during the Troubles. He spoke at republiccan events and at one point, according to the Irish Times said: "I could never accept that Sinn Féin has debased republicanism. They carried the flag of republicanism in the most difficult of times. ... The Irish struggle is a particularly heroic one." You can read at least a little of an Irish Times article about this here. If all you read there is the brief free paragraph, reading this from a Sinn Fein publication will make it clear what the Minister meant with his comments in that brief intro of the Irish Times article. I now have the text of the article and can email it to you if you want
4) In 1992 Nelson Mandela was on a British political talk-show and said that he supported the IRA. That information is found here (it's towards the bottom, says "mandela. and. ira").
There are some more pieces of information about this relationship. Those are found here, here, and here.
UPDATE 4/25/15 Another one here.
Tom
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Taxes, the GOP, Texas, and Capitalism
There's a couple recent opinion columns that should be read by as many people as possible. I figure that most people who would read this have already read those columns, but it can't hurt to do this post if it gets more exposure for the columns.
First is one by Harold Meyerson in the Washington Post. It's about how the GOP will raise your taxes if you're working- or middle-class. It's here.
The second one is by Paul krugman in the NY Times. It's about how Rick Perry's "economic miracle" in Texas is not a good model for the nation or other states, and is created on the backs of working people (i.e. low wages). It's here.
Tom
First is one by Harold Meyerson in the Washington Post. It's about how the GOP will raise your taxes if you're working- or middle-class. It's here.
The second one is by Paul krugman in the NY Times. It's about how Rick Perry's "economic miracle" in Texas is not a good model for the nation or other states, and is created on the backs of working people (i.e. low wages). It's here.
Tom
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Star Trek: The Original Series Reviews L
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Spock’s Brain” See this for a plot summary.
For some odd reason, I had trouble figuring out an important aspect of this episode. That is, is Kirk being sexist when he talks about the low level of intelligence of the women? At one point it’s suggested that, because of the “Controller” that takes care of the women, their brains have atrophied through lack of use- so it probably isn’t sexist, although it sounds like it here and there.
I give it three stars out of five.
“The Enterprise Incident” See this for a plot summary.
There is one bit of politics. We see, for the first but not last time, that women do okay among Romulans, as the officer in charge of a group of three warships is a woman.
I give it three stars out of five.
“The Paradise Syndrome” See this for a plot summary.
This is another ST episode about American Indians and aliens. I have mixed feelings about such episodes, but don’t remember any info about how American Indians feel about them (I also don’t have any info on how the aliens feel about them : )). This one is based on the idea that aliens took some members of three tribes that were in danger of being wiped out from Earth and settled them on a very Earth-like planet.
I give it two stars out of five.
“And the Children Shall Lead” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it one star out of five.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Spock’s Brain” See this for a plot summary.
For some odd reason, I had trouble figuring out an important aspect of this episode. That is, is Kirk being sexist when he talks about the low level of intelligence of the women? At one point it’s suggested that, because of the “Controller” that takes care of the women, their brains have atrophied through lack of use- so it probably isn’t sexist, although it sounds like it here and there.
I give it three stars out of five.
“The Enterprise Incident” See this for a plot summary.
There is one bit of politics. We see, for the first but not last time, that women do okay among Romulans, as the officer in charge of a group of three warships is a woman.
I give it three stars out of five.
“The Paradise Syndrome” See this for a plot summary.
This is another ST episode about American Indians and aliens. I have mixed feelings about such episodes, but don’t remember any info about how American Indians feel about them (I also don’t have any info on how the aliens feel about them : )). This one is based on the idea that aliens took some members of three tribes that were in danger of being wiped out from Earth and settled them on a very Earth-like planet.
I give it two stars out of five.
“And the Children Shall Lead” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it one star out of five.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Star Trek: The Original Series Reviews K
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“The Ultimate Computer” See this for a plot summary.
This is generally about automation of jobs that humans do. In general I believe that technology CAN be used for good in the workplace. It is probably involved in addressing some safety issues; probably is involved with addressing some environmental concerns. As far as technology that is used by the bosses to replace workers, I have mixed and mostly negative feelings about that. I mean, some of those jobs have been replaced by new jobs maintaining the new technology and such jobs probably pay fairly well (I don’t know about wages on the assembly line building this stuff). But in general, jobs replacing those terminated by technology tend to pay very little. They don’t have to be like that, but I don’t have much to say about why they haven’t been unionized- I’m very unfamiliar with organizing issues and it seems like it’s very difficult to organize unions ANYWHERE in the US today. So, I have mixed feelings about automation in the workplace.
There is another kind of automation that I want to discuss as well. That is in the military (well, the US military and I think a handful of other countries as well). My thoughts on the military in general are mixed, and right now I’m not going to go into a discussion about that, I’m just going to focus on this aspect of the military. I’m thinking of the Predator drones, armed or unarmed, and probably some other machines. If they start replacing aircraft that require a pilot inside the plane, it could make it easier for our government to launch unpopular wars, as the number of US service men and women in danger will go down. That will probably mean that a lot of people who might otherwise oppose the war partly because more and more Americans are dying, won’t oppose it. So, I’m worried about that as well.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Bread and Circuses” See this for a plot summary.
This episode is basically about the Roman Empire and sort of about converts to Christianity. I’m not very familiar with Rome or the early years of Christianity, so I don’t have much to say. This episode is certainly anti-slavery, and anti-totalitarian.
I give it two stars out of five.
“Assignment: Earth” See this for a plot summary.
First there’s some political stuff to at least mention. In general it focuses on the idea that 20th century humankind was not as advanced politically and socially as they were technologically, and how that could lead to disaster- for example a nuclear war that destroys the planet.
I also like the Gary Seven part of this episode. Long before I watched this episode, I read a ST book which focused on him. I might try to find that book.
I give this episode three stars out of five.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“The Ultimate Computer” See this for a plot summary.
This is generally about automation of jobs that humans do. In general I believe that technology CAN be used for good in the workplace. It is probably involved in addressing some safety issues; probably is involved with addressing some environmental concerns. As far as technology that is used by the bosses to replace workers, I have mixed and mostly negative feelings about that. I mean, some of those jobs have been replaced by new jobs maintaining the new technology and such jobs probably pay fairly well (I don’t know about wages on the assembly line building this stuff). But in general, jobs replacing those terminated by technology tend to pay very little. They don’t have to be like that, but I don’t have much to say about why they haven’t been unionized- I’m very unfamiliar with organizing issues and it seems like it’s very difficult to organize unions ANYWHERE in the US today. So, I have mixed feelings about automation in the workplace.
There is another kind of automation that I want to discuss as well. That is in the military (well, the US military and I think a handful of other countries as well). My thoughts on the military in general are mixed, and right now I’m not going to go into a discussion about that, I’m just going to focus on this aspect of the military. I’m thinking of the Predator drones, armed or unarmed, and probably some other machines. If they start replacing aircraft that require a pilot inside the plane, it could make it easier for our government to launch unpopular wars, as the number of US service men and women in danger will go down. That will probably mean that a lot of people who might otherwise oppose the war partly because more and more Americans are dying, won’t oppose it. So, I’m worried about that as well.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Bread and Circuses” See this for a plot summary.
This episode is basically about the Roman Empire and sort of about converts to Christianity. I’m not very familiar with Rome or the early years of Christianity, so I don’t have much to say. This episode is certainly anti-slavery, and anti-totalitarian.
I give it two stars out of five.
“Assignment: Earth” See this for a plot summary.
First there’s some political stuff to at least mention. In general it focuses on the idea that 20th century humankind was not as advanced politically and socially as they were technologically, and how that could lead to disaster- for example a nuclear war that destroys the planet.
I also like the Gary Seven part of this episode. Long before I watched this episode, I read a ST book which focused on him. I might try to find that book.
I give this episode three stars out of five.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Star Trek: The Original Series Reviews J
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Return to Tomorrow” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Patterns of Force” See this for a plot summary.
I could probably type thousands of words about this, but I’ll keep it pretty brief. There are two major political aspects to this episode.
1. The pacifist response of most of Europe’s Jews living in either camps or more generally Nazi-occupied areas. Obviously this is stating the obvious and is kind of using hind-sight, but pacifism wasn’t a good response to Nazi persecution of the Jews. Also, I believe that that could have been said WITHOUT hindsight, as I explain about 1/4 the way down a post here where I seriously attack the Irish government and the IRA about their separate responses to Nazi Germany. (I have heard that at some point non-Jewish anti-Nazi elements, including those quite prepared to fight, didn’t engage in armed resistance either (because their leadership failed to give them orders), which might have discouraged European Jews from resisting)
2. Kirk at one point says something about how they need to help the Zeons, but also need to help the Ekosians. I’m not sure if he was talking about the lack of freedom that Ekosians had under a dictatorship, or the way that bigotry does a fair amount of damage to the group oppressing another group through hate. I go into more details about that here while discussing the episode “Duet.”
I give it three stars out of five stars.
“By Any Other Name” See this for a plot summary.
At first I thought this was pretty non-political. But there is the issue of outsiders colonizing empty planets in the Federation. It reminds me of the settling of the area now known as the US by Europeans and European-Americans. It’s embarrassing for me to say this, but I’m not sure if the question I’m raising came up at any point in my studies; if it did I have forgotten it (some of my Ethnic Studies knowledge has disappeared).
Let’s say European governments and European people had been very different (you could call it “bizzaro Europe”) and had been interested in peace-full co-existance with the indigenous people of this hemisphere who, DID sort of welcome them. Would that have worked? I’m not sure. How much of what is now America was available for settlement? I’ don’t know. But it’s an interesting question. Of course another more positive scenario would have been no settlement at all. Anyway, it's something that this episode got me thinking about some.
I give it two stars out of five.
“The Omega Glory” See this for a plot summary.
This is a weird episode. Part of it is the idea that in the last years of the 20th Century, Chinese Communists (apparently joined or followed by free-market, democratic Americans) left Earth to colonize some far away planet. Apparently, long before StarFleet came to the planet, there had been a large scale war between the two sides that involved Weapons of Mass Destruction. There’s a few lines or so with good comments about bio-weapons and about democratic rights for everyone. On the other hand there is little said about the negative aspects of American democracy.
I give it two stars out of five.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Return to Tomorrow” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Patterns of Force” See this for a plot summary.
I could probably type thousands of words about this, but I’ll keep it pretty brief. There are two major political aspects to this episode.
1. The pacifist response of most of Europe’s Jews living in either camps or more generally Nazi-occupied areas. Obviously this is stating the obvious and is kind of using hind-sight, but pacifism wasn’t a good response to Nazi persecution of the Jews. Also, I believe that that could have been said WITHOUT hindsight, as I explain about 1/4 the way down a post here where I seriously attack the Irish government and the IRA about their separate responses to Nazi Germany. (I have heard that at some point non-Jewish anti-Nazi elements, including those quite prepared to fight, didn’t engage in armed resistance either (because their leadership failed to give them orders), which might have discouraged European Jews from resisting)
2. Kirk at one point says something about how they need to help the Zeons, but also need to help the Ekosians. I’m not sure if he was talking about the lack of freedom that Ekosians had under a dictatorship, or the way that bigotry does a fair amount of damage to the group oppressing another group through hate. I go into more details about that here while discussing the episode “Duet.”
I give it three stars out of five stars.
“By Any Other Name” See this for a plot summary.
At first I thought this was pretty non-political. But there is the issue of outsiders colonizing empty planets in the Federation. It reminds me of the settling of the area now known as the US by Europeans and European-Americans. It’s embarrassing for me to say this, but I’m not sure if the question I’m raising came up at any point in my studies; if it did I have forgotten it (some of my Ethnic Studies knowledge has disappeared).
Let’s say European governments and European people had been very different (you could call it “bizzaro Europe”) and had been interested in peace-full co-existance with the indigenous people of this hemisphere who, DID sort of welcome them. Would that have worked? I’m not sure. How much of what is now America was available for settlement? I’ don’t know. But it’s an interesting question. Of course another more positive scenario would have been no settlement at all. Anyway, it's something that this episode got me thinking about some.
I give it two stars out of five.
“The Omega Glory” See this for a plot summary.
This is a weird episode. Part of it is the idea that in the last years of the 20th Century, Chinese Communists (apparently joined or followed by free-market, democratic Americans) left Earth to colonize some far away planet. Apparently, long before StarFleet came to the planet, there had been a large scale war between the two sides that involved Weapons of Mass Destruction. There’s a few lines or so with good comments about bio-weapons and about democratic rights for everyone. On the other hand there is little said about the negative aspects of American democracy.
I give it two stars out of five.
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Orange Order- those sectarian bastards!!
A few months ago I learned some new things about the Orange Order (for some history on the OO, see this). Members have been for some period of time attending funeral masses for Catholic friends (and also OO members who are senior political figures have attended certain funerals such as the recent one for a Catholic police officer killed). A friend of mine said that, in the late 1990s the then leader of the OO, Robert Saulters, came out in support of Catholic parishioners being picketed and harassed by bigots. He (my friend) also said there were still a lot of bigots in the OO.
I don't think I'll be changing anything I've typed on this blog about the OO as there's probably still a majority who are more or less sectarian bigots (there is still a rule forbidding members from attending services at Catholic churches (see this article about how the rule IS in fact being enforced)), but I thought I should say something on this blog to acknowledge an apparent change in a positive direction.
(Another update from the BBC- the two OO members were cleared of breaking the rules by attending the funeral Mass)
Tom
I don't think I'll be changing anything I've typed on this blog about the OO as there's probably still a majority who are more or less sectarian bigots (there is still a rule forbidding members from attending services at Catholic churches (see this article about how the rule IS in fact being enforced)), but I thought I should say something on this blog to acknowledge an apparent change in a positive direction.
(Another update from the BBC- the two OO members were cleared of breaking the rules by attending the funeral Mass)
Tom
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Star Trek: The Original Series Reviews I
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“The Trouble with Tribbles” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode but a good one. Actually my opinion of it is high because of the Deep Space 9 episode which uses footage from this episode and where DS9 characters travel through time and the actors and actresses appear to interact with TOS actors and actresses. That episode’s summary is here.
I give it three stars out of five.
“The Gamesters of Triskelion” See this for a plot summary.
There’s some political stuff to comment on here:
1) In one scene, it seems like Uhura is getting raped, or at least her attacker is trying to rape her. First, Kirk just keeps asking her if she’s alright. There is nothing said about it afterwards. If it was rape or attempted rape, it’s very disturbing that nothing else was said about it.
2) Kirk’s behavior towards his drill thrall is fairly inappropriate. Between that and the dialogue at the end, this episode is incredibly annoying.
I give it one star out of five.
“A Piece of the Action” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it one star out of five.
“Immunity Syndrome” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“A Private Little War” See this for a plot summary.
Even though it’s a fairly political episode, I’m going to keep this kind of brief.
The first political issue is simply about war. I would say that as far as I can tell it’s horrible, but sometimes it’s necessary and justified and helpful.
The second political issue is the arming of one side in a conflict, and then someone else arms the other side in the same conflict and this escalates in an arms race and fuels war for generations. Whoever starts that would almost definitely be doing something horrible. What is the response to that? Depending on some political aspects (who can be described as oppressed?) and other details, I might reluctantly say that the other side should be given arms- at least as good as what their opponents have.
(I should also say that in a significantly different situation, one comparable to the anti-Apartheid struggle, I would also support arming a group comparable to the ANC's military wing)
In the real world I would also add that there needs to be more work in the direction of a peaceful, just and democratic planet. I generally believe that, as Dr. Martin Luther King said, “peace is not simply the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice.” So, I think pursuing justice should probably be a higher priority than disarmament, but a gradual disarmament is a good (and realistic) idea, especially if efforts are made to keep arms out of the hands of people perpetrating injustice. Also, on the international stage, nations that are gradually disarming and trying to spread peace could form a mutual security coalition and in the event that one is attacked, the total armed forces of the countries would be pooled together and most used for coming to that country’s aid.
I give this episode two stars out of five.
I have been more or less ignoring this- the need for me to become familiar with The Original Series. In general I don’t like much of what I’ve seen. In any case, I am now watching it and will be doing reviews of those episodes. I will be giving pretty low scores, probably no higher than three stars out of five- I just don’t like TOS.
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“The Trouble with Tribbles” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode but a good one. Actually my opinion of it is high because of the Deep Space 9 episode which uses footage from this episode and where DS9 characters travel through time and the actors and actresses appear to interact with TOS actors and actresses. That episode’s summary is here.
I give it three stars out of five.
“The Gamesters of Triskelion” See this for a plot summary.
There’s some political stuff to comment on here:
1) In one scene, it seems like Uhura is getting raped, or at least her attacker is trying to rape her. First, Kirk just keeps asking her if she’s alright. There is nothing said about it afterwards. If it was rape or attempted rape, it’s very disturbing that nothing else was said about it.
2) Kirk’s behavior towards his drill thrall is fairly inappropriate. Between that and the dialogue at the end, this episode is incredibly annoying.
I give it one star out of five.
“A Piece of the Action” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it one star out of five.
“Immunity Syndrome” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“A Private Little War” See this for a plot summary.
Even though it’s a fairly political episode, I’m going to keep this kind of brief.
The first political issue is simply about war. I would say that as far as I can tell it’s horrible, but sometimes it’s necessary and justified and helpful.
The second political issue is the arming of one side in a conflict, and then someone else arms the other side in the same conflict and this escalates in an arms race and fuels war for generations. Whoever starts that would almost definitely be doing something horrible. What is the response to that? Depending on some political aspects (who can be described as oppressed?) and other details, I might reluctantly say that the other side should be given arms- at least as good as what their opponents have.
(I should also say that in a significantly different situation, one comparable to the anti-Apartheid struggle, I would also support arming a group comparable to the ANC's military wing)
In the real world I would also add that there needs to be more work in the direction of a peaceful, just and democratic planet. I generally believe that, as Dr. Martin Luther King said, “peace is not simply the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice.” So, I think pursuing justice should probably be a higher priority than disarmament, but a gradual disarmament is a good (and realistic) idea, especially if efforts are made to keep arms out of the hands of people perpetrating injustice. Also, on the international stage, nations that are gradually disarming and trying to spread peace could form a mutual security coalition and in the event that one is attacked, the total armed forces of the countries would be pooled together and most used for coming to that country’s aid.
I give this episode two stars out of five.
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