Saw Star Trek the other day and was suitably impressed, perhaps because I'm not a diehard Trekkie who can converse fluently in Klingon. Then again, the ability to speak Klingon is probably the basic qualifying feature of a normal Star Trek fan- to be given the appellation 'diehard Trekkie' one probably has to be able to deliver an informed discourse about the shared anthropological origins of the Romulan and Vulcan races.
But that's beside the point. The point is that it was enjoyable and accessible, a good all-round Sci-Fi movie that, while not epic or Oscar-winning, had a sufficiently balanced blend of action, emotion, melodrama, geek-speak, humour, and quantum physics mindf**k. Not the best of the best, but still time and money well spent.
On the other hand, my ultra-conservative senior, the Venerable Kelvin, preemptorily dismissed anything with the label 'Star Trek' as being a 'liberal douche-bag'.
Now as my political orientation is centrist/moderate, I won't be so quick to blast everything emanating from the Left- after all, these guys gave us some very good things, like the abolition of racism and the introduction of constitutional democracy, and are now trying to conserve the environment. (Though of course they tend to be woolly-headed day-dreamers who wax eternal lyrical about their various blissful social utopias, hypocritically frothing at the mouth about the bloodshed of religious wars while ignoring avowedly atheistic mass-murderers like Pol Pot and Chairmen Mao and Stalin, thinking that all men are good and loving and kind at heart, and hence automatically deserving of goodness and love and kindess, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.)
The point is, however, that I agree with Venerable Kelvin, not that to be a liberal is to be a douche-bag, but that Star Trek is a truly liberal enterprise (pun half-intended, sorry, sorry). I'm not going to praise or condemn liberalism. I'm just saying it comes out very strongly in Star Trek.
But that's blindingly obvious, one might say. Everything about Star Trek screams 'liberal'. The dialogue, the ideology of peaceful exploration, of tolerance of diversity, etc etc.
What is new about my argument is that I am approaching this from a technical perspective, more precisely, that of starship design. The starships of Sci-Fi universes tend to reflect the ideological values on which those universes were premised. The central thesis is that liberal Sci-Fi universes tend to be less realistic when designing ships of war, whilst relatively conservative ones have starships that are more likely to emerge intact from a major battle. And likewise for ships of peaceful civilised exchange- liberal universes have more stylised and aesthetically pleasing ships of peace, while truly conservative universes don't seem to have any ships for peaceful purposes, period. Anyway, because I'm a warship enthusiast (but not a real Conservative), I'll be focussing on warship design here.
Take the design of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), a Constitution-class Heavy Cruiser of the Federation Starfleet. It's mission statement involves first-contact with alien species, and exploratory, diplomatic and scientific undertakings, but also includes military engagement. (Especially if that said first contact with alien species goes horribly wrong.) And in this last, and perhaps most critical, mission role it is woefully misdesigned. A simple look at the starship itself suffices to demonstrate this.
The saucer-shape gives an extremely wide target profile, affording an enemy, say a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, maximum surface area to target with photon torpedoes. Exposed reactor core on the underside of the superstructure, much like an over-pronounced pair of testes just asking to be whacked by the afore-mentioned Klingon torpedoes. And most deplorable of all- the all crucial, all important engines are reduced to a pair of slim and thin nacelles connected to the main ship structure by a pair of slim and thin struts, and both are as woefully exposed to hostile fire as the reactor core. Brilliant.
The sole recompense of such a lunatic warship design is that the saucer hull allows the phaser batteries near-omnidirectional targetting and vast fields of fire, enabling most of the ship's weapons to be brought to bear on a target in almost any direction, or alternatively enabling a widely-dispersed enemy group to be fully engaged with ease. But still.
In stark contrast, here is an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer from the Star Wars universe. Given the Fascist (i.e. inhumane and bloodthirsty) nature of the Galactic Empire, it emerges as obvious that the Empire's ships were designed for conquest and destruction, and little else.
In this depiction, the sheer size of the Star Destroyer belies the inherent nature of the target profile it presents to the enemy- not much at all. Its dagger-like superstructure ensures that the enemy can target only a sleek and narrow wedge, not a full-blown saucer with sausages sticking out all over, like the USS Enterprise. The wedge shape also allows maximum firepower to be brought to bear on frontal engagements, whilst retaining formidable broadside cannonade capabilities as well. Only the rear is unprotected, and that's what the full wing of 72 TIE fighters and the squadrons of assault shuttles carried aboard are for. Its relatively compact design means that the engines and reactors are not overly exposed.
While one might point out that the bridge tower resembles the expose that is the USS Enterprise's engines, it must also be remembered that the bridge sits right in between the two spherical force-field generators, thereby enjoying maximum shield protection while allowing its commanders a clear view of the battle and hence good situational awareness. Fascists are good at war, and the Victory, Imperial, and Executor classes of Star Destroyers are reflections of this.
Finally we come to a Behemoth-class Battlecruiser of the Terran Confederacy in Starcraft.
The main engine drive is safe and secure in the main superstructure, while the auxilliary engines, while more exposed, are still connected to the hull by sturdy linkages, not puny little struts. The hammerhead shape of the forward section allows a wide frontal arc of laser battery fire whilst not over-exposing the ship to enemy fire. The bridge does not portrude awkwardly and is instead nestled on the hull, but then again that's perhaps because shield generators have not been discovered by the Terrans in this universe. The Confederacy is a centrist type of polity, not really interested in total war as the Galactic Empire of Star Wars is, but definitely not a liberal government either- witness its nuclear annihilation of the upstart planet of Korhal. This political standpoint is reflected in the balanced design of its premier capital ship, the Behemoth class.
