The Peace Corps in outer space

Going to the movies this weekend will take us back 40 years, and ahead 240 years, in the new, "reimagined" Star Trek film.

In 1969, poor ratings caused the demise of the original television series. But the Star Trek franchise gained so much momentum over the years that it's now unstoppable. Why is it so popular? One word: optimism. Unlike the alien invasion movies of the 1950s or the disaster movies of the 1970s, Star Trek showed a future of progress, civilization and (mostly) peace.

Science fiction has always offered a social and political allegory to the present; and so it was with Star Trek, which ran from 1966 to 1969. In the series, the earth's nations came together and joined an interplanetary federation to promote their common values of peace and prosperity. Other galactic superpowers sometimes stood in their way or vied for influence on underdeveloped worlds, but the Federation prevailed through its example of fairness, justice and humanity.

In its spirit, Star Trek was a product not of the late '60s, but of the early '60s. It's what you would get if John F. Kennedy had lived for another 300 years.

In 1959, the year before Kennedy was elected president, Alaska (nickname: "the last frontier") and Hawaii became the final states to join the U.S. The map was colored in. America was settled. After four centuries of development, there was no more land to explore and claim for the country. Kennedy mentioned this when he accepted the Democratic Party's nomination in July 1960.

"Today some would say ... that all the horizons have been explored, that all the battles have been won, that there is no longer an American frontier. But ... the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won; and we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier — the frontier of the 1960s... Beyond that frontier are the uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. ... I am asking each of you to be pioneers on that New Frontier."

Just after taking office, Kennedy established the Peace Corps, which sends American volunteers — mainly young people — to developing countries for two years. The organization has three goals: 1) helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women; 2) helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served; and 3) helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

I experienced the success of the Peace Corps firsthand when I visited Togo a few years ago as its only tourist. Everyone wanted to know whether I was an American. They loved Americans. This was because the Peace Corps had been there 10 or so years earlier and had dug wells. The clean water led immediately to much better health and a higher standard of living. No amount of Cold War propaganda could have created as much good PR for the United States, or for its values.

In Star Trek, the USS Enterprise travels through "space: the final frontier", to places "where no man has gone before". The gospel of free enterprise is preached by Captain Kirk (Scottish for "church"), Lieutenant Uhura (Swahili for "freedom") and Mr. Spock (who tells friends to "live long and prosper").

Long life? Prosperity? The future has looked a lot worse. Kennedy would be proud.