The Star Trek franchise has been clear on its politics since the beginning but the pilot episode of Star Trek: Voyager seemed to have inadvertently fumbled on what it primarily wanted to say. The pilot episode ‘Caretaker’ transported the titular Voyager into another dimension and made the ship collaborate with Maquis species.
However, the storyline of the Caretaker helping hundreds of its citizens by taking care of their needs was seen as a metaphor supporting the Republican politician Newt Gingrich’s controversial Contract with America agenda. Showrunner Jeri Taylor reportedly did not intend for it to do so.
Star Trek: Voyager’s pilot has eerie connections to Newt Gingrich’s Personal Responsibility Act
Star Trek has always been a political show and despite its sci-fi packaging, spoke about many issues plaguing society then. Creator Gene Roddenberry prioritized professional working relationships with minimal interpersonal conflict, which apart from discouraging relationships also erased racial and gender discrimination.
Roddenberry’s progressive and anti-religious view of the future was often termed to be more liberal and left-leaning. Hence, it was shocking to many fans who found similarities to the right-wing legislative agenda Contract with America, drafted by Republican politician Newt Gingrich in Star Trek: Voyager’s pilot episode.
The pilot episode sees Voyager’s Captain Kathryn Janeway be transported along with her ship to a distant galaxy that is outside the purview of the Federation. She encounters an alien called the Caretaker, who as his name suggests, takes care of a species and shelters them. He hopes to find an heir before he dies, which is said to be in a day.
However, to prevent the Caretaker’s powerful machine from falling into the wrong hands, Captain Janeway destroys the satellite, thus preventing the Voyager from contacting the Federation as well. It also promoted concepts of self-reliance, which many have attributed to Newt Gingrich’s Personal Responsibility Act.
Gingrich’s Act (via Heritage Foundation), which is part of the Contract with America legislation policy, reportedly aimed at cutting welfare for mothers under the age of 18 in a move to decrease teenage pregnancy and enrollment in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program. The Act was reportedly encouraging self-reliance and curbing government aid to the people.
Star Trek: Voyager showrunner denies link to the Personal Responsibility Act
Cutting off government aid has been a huge topic of conversation now, ever since President Donald Trump laid off most USAID employees and cut funding for many of the programs (via BBC News). The concept of welfare has long been an issue that Republican and right-wing politicians have stood against.
While Star Trek: Voyager’s ‘Caretaker’ episode seems to have connections to Newt Gingrich’s policy on cutting off welfare, co-showrunner Jeri Taylor reportedly denied such apparent connections, stating that it wasn’t intentional. She said in the book Captains’ Logs Supplemental (via Slash Film),
I think we weren’t talking about anything as drastic and draconian as he seems to be; we were thinking as speaking to our children and saying you must learn to take responsibility for yourselves. If we do too much for you, this does not prepare you to go forth into the world. Now, of course, many people assume that we are part of the New Right, which is anything but the truth.
The episode aired after Gingrich’s proposal, which was never enacted as it was written. However, a version of that act reportedly was enforced by Bill Clinton’s administration.
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