A Star Trek Legacy

By M. L. L.

A Star Trek Legacy is a look at the original Star Trek series which aired from 1966 to 1968. During its run of only three seasons, it had a tremendous impact on a generation growing up in fear of war and possible destruction. Star Trek brought a message of hope for the future which influenced the leaders of today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781387708901

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Written by M. L.

Written by M. L.

Copyright © 2022 by M. L. 

Copyright © 2022 by M. L. 

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

First Printing: 2022

ISBN 978-1-387-70890-1

INTRODUCTION

Star trek has been a mainstay of the entertainment industry for 50 years. While the original show only lasted three seasons, the idea of Star Trek has lived on, first with the original cast being featured in a short lived animated series and then several movies. After the success of the movies, the network and Paramount realized what a cultural phenomenon it had become and created a new series titled Star Trek, The Next Generation, along with several movies starring this cast. This was followed by Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. Even today, the film series has been rebooted, with an all new cast, but using the same main characters created by Gene Rodenberry. In order to fully understand why it has become the phenomenon it is, we must look at what the world was like prior to and at the time of the original series and also understand the man behind the vision.

CHANGING TIMES

I know it seems funny to talk about the turn of the Twentieth Century while talking about Star Trek, yet that is where I am going to start. For hundreds of years, the world had been controlled and ruled by an upper or ruling class. England, Spain and France still had Kings and Queens. Russia had a Czar and Germany had a Keiser. The funny thing is, they were all related. All of these Monarchs were cousins, yet they could not get along. Their ideology of expansion and empire building led us directly into WWI. By the end of this conflict there were over 17 million people killed and another 21 million people wounded. This war also brought down the old system, with the governments of Italy, Germany and Russia falling as a direct result of the war and with Spain’s government falling some years later. The problem was at the time; they did nothing to replace the system with something that worked. All they wanted to do was punish those responsible for the death and destruction. This led to another War to end all wars, WWII.

In WWII between 60 and 80 million people died, just because a few evil men wanted to take what was not theirs. One thing that was different after WWII was that the powers that won realized it was just as important to win the peace as it was to win the war. They helped the defeated countries to rebuild and join a community of nations dedicated to the betterment of the people. It was during this war that Gene Roddenberry saw the savagery of man as well as the potential for good.

In 1945, after the end of WWII, most people had hopes and dreams of building a better life for themselves and their families. Television was becoming more popular, with more and more homes being able to afford one. By the end of the 1940’s, the United States economy had fully recovered from the Great Depression and people’s spirits were high. Even the conflict of the Korean War could do little to dampen the American spirit. Most people were back to work and even today, we look back on this time as a period of opportunity in this country. By the end of the decade however, this had begun to change.

The 1960’s started much the way the 50’s had ended and on the outside, everything looked good, however; there was turmoil underneath. Women, seeking to have an identity of their own, were looking to move out of the kitchen and into the work force. They no longer wanted to be defined only as the little woman at home. This was the beginning of the equal rights movement for women.

Along with the women, African Americans were demanding equal rights, demanding an end to the Jim Crowe laws which had suppressed them and segregated them from a prosperous society, especially in the southern part of the United States.

The cold war was going strong, with the Cuban Missile Crisis terrifying most of the population, afraid that the end was going to come in a mushroom cloud. Most of us growing up at that time remember having bomb drills; hiding under our desks at school as a drill, in case a nuclear bomb was dropped.

President Kennedy tried to inspire the youth of the country; most of us can remember his inspirational speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you, instead ask what you can do for your country. Unfortunately, his message was cut short with an assassin’s bullet.

To top it all off, a war weary country was being dragged back into conflict in Vietnam, a war which would help define our country for almost 15 years, with a good percent of the counter culture being based on the defiance of the war. This was demonstrated not only in the protests, but also the popular music of the day. When America was attacked during Pearl Harbor, the men of our country lined up