An episode of Star Trek: The Series that predicts one of the worst social crises to hit the United States in the 90s

In the original series from the 60s, the famous villain of Star TrekKhan, introduced viewers to the “eugenic wars”, which arose in the 90s after human genetic engineering experiments.

Later episodes foretold difficult times to come, with World War III beginning in 2026, followed by an era of “post-nuclear horror”.

These apocalyptic predictions are key to the franchise’s backstorywhich outlines humanity’s difficult path toward the idealistic 23rd and 24th centuries, the main setting for “Star Trek.”

Although the catastrophes they predict may seem exaggerated, they also conceal a message of hope: that serious mistakes made by humanity can lead us to a more equal and peaceful future.

According to the 90s series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (“Star Trek: Space Abyss 9”), one of humanity’s worst mistakes has occurred in 2024.

But, contrary to other predictions of Star TrekThat bug exists and in 2024 it’s still as pressing a problem as the episodes aired.

The problem at hand is homelessness, and humanity’s fault is hiding it, instead of solving it. This issue is addressed in a two-part episode titled “Bhootkaal” that aired in January 1995.

The episode shows the series’ protagonist, Commander Sisko, and several members of his crew accidentally returning to San Francisco in 2024 from their 23rd century spaceship.

As they awaken from a time-travel-induced coma, Cisco and one of his crew, Dr. Bashir, mistakenly identified as homeless by armed police. “There’s a law against sleeping on the street,” he tells bewildered time travelers.

Cisco and Bashir are taken to the walled part of the city, known as Sanctuary District.

We know that this facility is designed to isolate the homeless and unemployed from the rest of society. “In the early 2020s, every major city in America had a place like this,” Cisco explains to Bashir.

Immediately, Cisco, an expert on 21st century history, realizes that the date of his arrival is significant. Remember that Outrage over sanctuary districts reaches boiling point in 2024resulting in “some of the most violent riots in American history.”

Cisco adds that the uprising will “change public opinion about sanctuaries. They will be dismantled and America will finally begin to fix the social problems that have been facing us for hundreds of years.

Idealistic Bashir is shocked after receiving this 21st century history lesson. He admits that he has never studied the era because he finds it “so depressing”. It can serve as a representation of the viewer’s own discomfort with the problem.

This discomfort was the main motivation for the episode’s writers, who believed that In the mid-90s, the US Did not address homelessness issues.

Head screenwriter and executive producer of Deep Space NineIra Steven Behr recalled that a visit he made to Santa Monica, California inspired the episodes. “It was a beautiful day,” Behr said. He noticed that “there were homeless people everywhere” and how tourists “walked past these homeless people as if they were part of the landscape.”

Taking this idea to an extreme, Behr and his co-author Robert Hewitt Wolfe They envisioned a near future in which the homeless could be completely ignored. Thus the idea of ​​sanctuary districts was born.

For Stephen Pimpere, a senior researcher at the Carsey School of Public Administration, the concept reflects the US government’s attitude toward homelessness in the 1990s. “Sanctuary districts are a way to remove the homeless from public view,” he says. BBC Future. “We see in contemporary examples the times in which the episodes were written.”

“For example, in San Francisco, when Art Agnos was mayor, There was a group of homeless people who set up an unauthorized camp in front of the town hall. It was called Camp Agnos. “He deployed the police and cleared it out.”

Pimper also cites Rudy Giuliani’s policies when he was mayor of New York in the 1990s and his strategy to remove the homeless population from public view. He did so, even though a few years earlier President Ronald Reagan had signed the Stuart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, which provided federal funding to homeless programs.

Today, sanctuary districts seem more plausible to some who worked on episodes of the series.. “On the eve of 2024, those sanctuary districts could easily make headlines on tonight’s news,” says Michael Okuda, who served as artistic supervisor on the “Times Past” episodes.

His wife Denise, who also worked in the art department Deep Space Nine, you agree. “We have clearly failed to address the conditions that contribute to homelessness in American cities,” he says. “Homelessness Rises After ‘Time Past’ Aired.”

In 1990, the US Census Bureau estimated that there were 228,621 homeless people nationwide. By 2023, the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that number will rise to about 653,100 people..

But collecting accurate statistics on this problem is notoriously difficult. “The data on this issue is still not good,” explains Pinpare. “They were worse in the 90s. So you have to handle these figures with a grain of salt.”

However, Pimper believes this is largely driven by negative attitudes Policies that only seek to hide the problem rather than address its causes. “You can see it in the rhetoric we hear today,” he says. “We complain about seeing people living on the streets instead of complaining about the problems that make it impossible for them to get shelter.”

This trend is reflected in “past” episodes Star Trek. In addition to the Sanctuary District plot, there is a secondary plot line involving San Francisco High Society.

When the subject of sanctuary districts comes up at an exclusive party, one of the guests reveals that she was unaware of their existence: “I thought they stopped doing it,” she says. “Why would they stop doing that?” Another guest replies. “It’s the only way to get people off the streets.”

vision of Deep Space Nine Sanctuary districts have not become a reality. “We don’t have these walled fortresses where we forcibly imprison homeless people,” Pimpere explains. “But we have all kinds of official camps.”

For example, Las Cruces, in New Mexico, is known as a designated area Campo Esperanza, where homeless people can pitch their tents and have access to running water and electricity. San Diego, California has “safe places to sleep”, official campgrounds opened at the same time the city banned camping in public places.

Pimper argues that these sanctioned camps “are better than nothing for many people, because often nothing is an option.” But even though these policies are more benevolent than sanctuary districts, They are still only temporary solutions.

In “Past Tense” episodes, long-term change only begins when conditions become dire enough to inspire rebellion. The conclusion is grim, but it is one that is consistent with the vision of Star Trek How difficult can the path to a more egalitarian future be?

“Star Trek “He never promised a utopian tomorrow.”, explains Michael Okuda. “In fact, many episodes warn of what can happen if we make bad decisions. however, Star Trek It says that if we are smart, if we work hard and if we are ethical, kind and inclusive, tomorrow can be a better place.”