{"id":567,"date":"2009-05-07T11:43:03","date_gmt":"2009-05-07T09:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/?p=567"},"modified":"2015-04-27T20:27:51","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T18:27:51","slug":"the-peace-corps-in-outer-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fascinating-america.com\/blog\/the-peace-corps-in-outer-space\/","title":{"rendered":"The Peace Corps in outer space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Going to the movies this weekend will take us back 40 years, and ahead 240 years, in the new, “reimagined” Star Trek<\/i> film<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 1969, poor ratings<\/span> caused the demise<\/span> of the original television series. But the Star Trek<\/i> franchise<\/span> gained so much momentum<\/span> over the years that it’s now unstoppable. Why is it so popular? One word: optimism. Unlike the alien invasion movies of the 1950s or the disaster movies of the 1970s<\/a>, Star Trek<\/i> showed a future of progress, civilization and (mostly) peace.<\/p>\n

Science fiction has always offered a social and political allegory<\/span> to the present; and so it was with Star Trek<\/i>, which ran from 1966 to 1969. In the series, the earth’s nations came together and joined an interplanetary federation<\/span> to promote their common values of peace and prosperity<\/span>. Other galactic superpowers sometimes stood in their way or vied for<\/span> influence on underdeveloped worlds, but the Federation prevailed<\/span> through its example of fairness, justice and humanity.<\/p>\n

In its spirit, Star Trek<\/i> was a product not of the late ’60s, but of the early ’60s. It’s what you would get if John F. Kennedy had lived for another 300 years.<\/p>\n

In 1959, the year before Kennedy was elected president, Alaska (nickname: “the last frontier<\/span>“) and Hawaii became the final states to join the US. The map was colored in<\/span>. America was settled. After four centuries of development, there was no more land to explore and claim for the country. Kennedy mentioned this<\/a> when he accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination in July 1960.<\/p>\n