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Star Trek ’s Prime Directive was inspire by the material - world Vietnam War . It ’s easy to forget thatStar Trekhas always been political . The dealership ’s creator , Gene Roddenberry , envision a future utopian gild - the cosmos that could be created if humans fulfilled their potential and let go of covetousness and bias . The Prime Directive , one of the most important concepts inStar Treklore , was a unmediated criticism of U.S. foreign insurance .
Star Treklaunched in 1966 , at the pinnacle of the Vietnam War . Roddenberry envisioned the Prime Directive as a response to American imperialism , because it was a criticism of even the most well - meaning interventionism . Starfleet captains were strictly forestall with interacting with less highly-developed societies , even if they had the proficient intentions , because such action tended to go wrong . Some installment made the comparing expressed ; in " A Private Little War , " thewar between Starfleet and the Klingonsrippled on to a less developed satellite . The Klingons were excite up a local conflict , and Kirk was invite to respond by build up the other side - even recalling " the twentieth - C brush wars on the Asiatic continent " as he wrestled with the moral quandary .
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Starfleet Captains Were Committed To The Prime Directive In Star Trek
It ’s out of the question to overstate the importance of the Prime Directive toStar Trek . " A spaceship captain ’s most solemn cuss is that he will give his life , even his entire crew , rather than violate the Prime Directive , " Captain Kirk think over . The Prime Directive was more important than even the Federation ’s ego - interest group ; given a pick between infringement of the Prime Directive or certain destruction , a Starfleet sea captain was expected to pick out destruction . Jean - Luc Picard came to the same ending inStar Trek : The Next Generation ; " The Prime Directiveis not just a set of rules , " he observe . " It is a doctrine … and a very correct one . History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes … no matter how well - intentioned that interference may be , the results are always fateful . " The comment on the Vietnam War feel quite explicit .
Star Trek Wasn’t Naive About The Prime Directive
Roddenberry was not naive about the ease with which the Prime Directive could be kept , though . In fact , the Prime Directive only really became so important because there are many episode that wrestle with the question of how it applies in a specific situation - or even if it does so at all . In " A Private Little War , " Kirk conclude that other powers were already interfering in another civilization , and that Starfleet had a province to address the world power asymmetry .
Captains of the Enterprisehave break the Prime Directive on many social occasion , usually with the very best of intentions . But these were always in reaction to specific position , and they were framed as difficult decisions ; the Prime Directive was so crucial that a breach felt painful and uncomfortable . The battle itself was an indication of how commit Starfleet was to its insurance policy of non - preventive , and thus a criticism of the American imperialism realise during the Vietnam War .
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