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Musk and Hegseth vow to “make Star Trek real” but miss the show’s lessons (arstechnica.com)

submitted 14 hours ago by Powderhorn@beehaw.org to c/politics@beehaw.org

30 comments fedilink hide all child comments

This is seriously so tone deaf, I don't know where to start. Don't name your initiative after the title of a chilling warning from TNG.

This week, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth touted their desire to “make Star Trek real”—while unconsciously reminding us of what the utopian science fiction franchise is fundamentally about.

Their Tuesday event was the latest in Hegseth’s ongoing “Arsenal of Freedom” tour, which was held at SpaceX headquarters in Starbase, Texas. (Itself a newly created town that takes its name from a term popularized by Star Trek.)

Neither Musk nor Hegseth seemed to recall that the “Arsenal of Freedom” phrase—at least in the context of Star Trek—is also the title of a 1988 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That episode depicts an AI-powered weapons system, and its automated salesman, which destroys an entire civilization and eventually threatens the crew of the USS Enterprise. (Some Trekkies made the connection, however.)

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[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 7 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Look, I want Jeffrey Combs as Secretary of War.

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

And also Secretary of Treasury

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 4 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Why stop there? Jeffrey Combs can be the entire cabinet.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 hours ago

Nah you gotta have one Damar on the cabinet with the rest being Weyouns.