Season seven of Star Trek: the Next Generation was largely unsatisfying. By the final season, the crew of the Enterprise-D had turned back the Borg, boxed in the Romulans, arbitrated Klingon succession and delivered the crew of Deep Space Nine to their new home. The storylines had run stale leaving season seven to every crew member encountering inner turmoil related to previously ignored family members and Counselor Troi having a Klingon pivot in her love life.
One particularly taxing episode was a two-parter entitled "Gambit". Captain Picard is believed to be murdered but has surreptitiously signed on with a mercenary vessel on his own undercover operation to identify potentially lethal ancient Vulcan artifacts. Refusing to accept his captain's death, Commander Riker pursues Picard and unintentionally signs on to the mercenary ship as a rogue Starfleet Officer and the adventure continues. Back on the Enterprise, Data fulfills the promise of an android interim captain while Worf chafes under Data's science-first, conflict-last style. In the end, Picard, Riker and the crew triangulate to a location where the mercenary crew combine Vulcan artifacts into a deadly weapon. The crew, knowing each other so well, are able to foil the mercenary plot and everything goes back to normal as all things do in TNG.
Probably the most interest aspect of "Gambit" is the weapon created by combining the Vulcan artifacts. The weapon is telepathic in nature. Its mechanism is to deconstruct humanoid matterrvia the telepathic energy of the victim's aggressive thoughts. If an individual is angry, vengeful and/or aggressive, s/he is deconstructed molecule by molecule. If an individual is peaceful and pacific, the weapon has no effect on them.
Might I offer this weapon as a model for President-Elect Trump's tweets, quotes, allegations and various other forms of bullying and belittling. When Meghan McCain tweets that Meryl Streep's Golden Globe speech exemplifies the reason Trump was elected -- implying that establishment elites talked down to and degraded citizens of lesser agency leaving them with no one to turn but to a nationalist demagogue -- my initial reaction was to stand up and yell "no, those who would stand-up against bullies cannot be silent!" But after the initial lower motor neuron reflex falls away, I am left to ponder McCain's point. Every reaction to Trump increases the divide. Every deriding rebuke of Trump insulates him. In the current composition of our interconnected world, Trump feeds off the controversy and paints every counter-argument as a treasonous manifesto to his new normal.
Those who hold strong to the belief in liberal democracy have had two months to process our shock and acknowledge our naivete. Meryl Streep's speech was articulate, passionate and honest. But its effectiveness, at this time, is only in bolstering the spirit of those who share her world view. I doubt any hearts and minds were won (especially by needlessly dismissing inconsequential cultural touchstones as football and MMA). If the believers in liberal democracy continue to lob curse-laden responses via social media, this is going to be eight years of hell. We can't outrage ourselves to 290 Electoral Votes. The angry thoughts of liberals feed the beast.
To defeat the Trump Movement, I argue that believers in liberal democracy must transform our righteous anger into productive acts. This can be done ins numerous productive and beneficent ways. Volunteer time to lift up the poor. Teach a young person rather than condemn them. Have a conversation with a politically-opposed relative or friend. Use your social media bear witness to the light of charity rather than the vitriol of outrage.
Adjust and counterpunch or react and get taken apart molecule by molecule.
One particularly taxing episode was a two-parter entitled "Gambit". Captain Picard is believed to be murdered but has surreptitiously signed on with a mercenary vessel on his own undercover operation to identify potentially lethal ancient Vulcan artifacts. Refusing to accept his captain's death, Commander Riker pursues Picard and unintentionally signs on to the mercenary ship as a rogue Starfleet Officer and the adventure continues. Back on the Enterprise, Data fulfills the promise of an android interim captain while Worf chafes under Data's science-first, conflict-last style. In the end, Picard, Riker and the crew triangulate to a location where the mercenary crew combine Vulcan artifacts into a deadly weapon. The crew, knowing each other so well, are able to foil the mercenary plot and everything goes back to normal as all things do in TNG.
Probably the most interest aspect of "Gambit" is the weapon created by combining the Vulcan artifacts. The weapon is telepathic in nature. Its mechanism is to deconstruct humanoid matterrvia the telepathic energy of the victim's aggressive thoughts. If an individual is angry, vengeful and/or aggressive, s/he is deconstructed molecule by molecule. If an individual is peaceful and pacific, the weapon has no effect on them.
Might I offer this weapon as a model for President-Elect Trump's tweets, quotes, allegations and various other forms of bullying and belittling. When Meghan McCain tweets that Meryl Streep's Golden Globe speech exemplifies the reason Trump was elected -- implying that establishment elites talked down to and degraded citizens of lesser agency leaving them with no one to turn but to a nationalist demagogue -- my initial reaction was to stand up and yell "no, those who would stand-up against bullies cannot be silent!" But after the initial lower motor neuron reflex falls away, I am left to ponder McCain's point. Every reaction to Trump increases the divide. Every deriding rebuke of Trump insulates him. In the current composition of our interconnected world, Trump feeds off the controversy and paints every counter-argument as a treasonous manifesto to his new normal.
Those who hold strong to the belief in liberal democracy have had two months to process our shock and acknowledge our naivete. Meryl Streep's speech was articulate, passionate and honest. But its effectiveness, at this time, is only in bolstering the spirit of those who share her world view. I doubt any hearts and minds were won (especially by needlessly dismissing inconsequential cultural touchstones as football and MMA). If the believers in liberal democracy continue to lob curse-laden responses via social media, this is going to be eight years of hell. We can't outrage ourselves to 290 Electoral Votes. The angry thoughts of liberals feed the beast.
To defeat the Trump Movement, I argue that believers in liberal democracy must transform our righteous anger into productive acts. This can be done ins numerous productive and beneficent ways. Volunteer time to lift up the poor. Teach a young person rather than condemn them. Have a conversation with a politically-opposed relative or friend. Use your social media bear witness to the light of charity rather than the vitriol of outrage.
Adjust and counterpunch or react and get taken apart molecule by molecule.