May the Federation come...

[Kheren]

This is certainly giving some hope that the utopia of Gene Roddenberry may not be as far fetched or far away as we might think:


http://pulptastic.com/32-amazing-facts- ... nity-come/

[Jeff T]

Interesting collection of data/statistics.

Now if we could just channel these advances toward more Roddenberry-like positive global and local results...

[BLZBUB]

 And it is hard to comprehend that #5 ... food production ... has yet to be applied to the starving hundred's of thousands around the world.

[Kheren]

That's the problem of riches' distribution and sharing ressources; it stems from human greed. It is bound to stay with us until we find some way to provide it cheaply and easily ro everyone... like Star Trek replicator technology coupled with planetary distribution of solar energy.

We,re closer than we think... but we are the ones blocking ourselves. "Apes with the hands of Angels" someone once said of us...

[Evshell]

Well, these are all great advancements, except for #4 - overpopulation, which is more of just kind of a fact as opposed to something that would necessarily lead to the utopian ideal of the Federation. In fact it may end up preventing it, if we can't figure out clean, renewable energy, i.e. dilithium.

The problem with #5 is that, even putting aside the greed, no matter how generous people are currently, there is the issue with logistics in how to get that food to those that are starving.

Despite the fact that the food exists in the United States and other first-world countries, such that we have enough to unfortunately waste, it costs a large sum of additional money to actually transport that food to those that need it. In some cases a military escort may be needed due to unrest or war in the country, and in others, the leaders of a country may not even allow the transportation of the food into their country.

As Kheren said, in the idealized vision of Star Trek, the replicator technology was what provided the ability to easily and cheaply get the food distributed. Another thing is that after the Third World War, the world was torn apart so much that building a world government made sense and did not require the overthrow of any existing sovereign countries to do so. Finally, because of that unity, the United Earth Federation would able to help in distribution of food, peace, and infrastructure to the whole planet without much resistance from any greedy warlords or dictators.