Star Trek Had it Right
Star Trek had it right. They were a bunch of peace loving (except for Worf) scientists roaming the universe in a war ship. They always kept their cool when someone faced them down, but if they needed to Jean Luc had no problem blasting the enemy out of the sky.
I’ve been reading Animal Farm recently, and it has impressed upon me the need to maintain arms and a force capable of using them no matter how peaceful society gets. And today may be the most peaceful time in history, so it’s important to think about these things.
In Animal Farm, a group overthrows the person who controls them, and gives up violence in general. One of their own takes advantage of their weakness and uses force to enslave them again.
This has many parallels in history, and though i’m not worried about this occurring anytime soon in our society, it would be foolish not to remain prepared for one of history’s lessons. Bankers taking advantage of current regulation and poor oversight are one modern example of this. Of course, it would be as foolish to become protectionist, or to overdo it and thereby limit our security and freedom.
People must remain vigilant. Even though we have peace today, and even as we seek ways to increase the peace in the World, we must be prepared to defend ourselves against the jerks who would take advantage of us. Star Trek had it right in this sense. They always tried peace, even with the Romulans, but they never forgot how to use force.