Well, howdy there, internet people, it's Bell again. So today, we're going to talk about hope, doom,

timelines, and Star Trek. I got a message and it's something maybe we should talk about.

Quote, I don't mean to be a doomer, but given all the horrible things going on in the country and the world, how do you stay hopeful?

I've reached a point where I no longer believe that the nation, let alone the world, will ever get to that Star Trek future.

I'd love to be able to believe, but I don't. How are you able to keep your hopes up,

facing at least four years of this, and a generation at least of trying to fix it?

I think I have an advantage that a lot of people don't have when it comes to Star Trek. See, I didn't watch it growing up.

I just recently started watching them. I still haven't seen all of them. And since I'm sure

somebody will ask, Kira is still my favorite. That Star Trek future is cool. I admit. No hunger. Earth is basically disease-free. No classes. No need for money. It's amazing.

But there's a big thing that I think people who became fans of the show when they were younger don't always see.

According to the Star Trek future, do you know what happens next year in

26? World War III? 37 million gone. The events between today and 2079 are actually pretty

horrible and include cities being wiped out in what they called post-atomic horror.

We don't even get a settlement on Mars until 2103. Yes, I had to look all these years up.

And if you follow the timeline along from there, it still has its ups and downs with devastating

consequences for humanity. I think

there's a greatly under-explored theme in the franchise that says humanity doesn't go anywhere in a

straight line, but that we move forward, sometimes by giant leaves, and then we drag ourselves

back. Then we move forward again.

Think about history. There's ups and downs throughout it. Imagine fighting what you were told

was the war to end all wars, coming home to a relatively happy time, only to see the Great Depression, and then see that

war you fought in become referred to as the First World War.

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