The Star Trek franchise reflects, conveys, and comments upon the key philosophical tensions of the modern era. This book details the manner in which these tensions and controversies are manifested in Star Trek across its iterations, arguing that Star Trek offers an indispensable contribution to our understanding of politics in the modern era.

Reality is made up of the Absolute and Causality. The absolute (most saliently philosophized about by Georg Hegel) is where normative values inhere. Causality can be described as the measurable effects of the normative values of the absolute and the laws of physics (also ostensibly a product of the absolute). Humans are special insofar as they access the higher aspects of the Absolute - altruism, compassion, love, humor, science, engineering, etc. The Absolute also contains what can be considered the less attractive values or impulses: greed, lust for power, hate, self-centeredness, conceit, etc. Predicating society on what I deem the lower (spirits) aspects of the absolute (most prominently, greed) results in personal, social dysfunction and ultimately the end of civilization. Conversely, a society based on justice is stable and vibrant. Justice is a classless society, free of gender and ethnic biases. My argument is based on popular culture - especially the Star Trek franchise. One implication of my thesis is that capitalist values generate psychological neurosis and societal instability - even catastrophe. Additionally, the political values that dominate the current neoliberalist world system (and especially the American government) are the other, the will to power - resulting in war, and global political instability. Popular culture is germane to philosophy and contemporary politics because television/movie creators frequently try to attract viewers by conveying authentic philosophical and political motifs. Conversely, viewers seek out authentic movies and television shows. This is in contrast to opinion surveys (for instance), as the formation of the data begins with the surveyor seeking to directly solicit an opinion - however impromptu or shallow

The Absolute, philosophized most saliently about by Georg Hegel, encompasses the entirety of reality. The absolute (reality) is composed of five dimensions - height, length, width, time, and justice. The five dimensions operate dialectically, and the normative values of reality inhere within the fifth dimension (justice) - hard, soft, moral, ethical, yellow, etc. ad infinitum. The normative values from the fifth dimension (justice), in combination with the brain, comprise the human mind. With the issues of climate change, world-wide biosphere destruction, nuclear weapons, international trade regimes, humanity has created the phenomenon of global politics - thereby changing the fifth dimension. The argument in this volume is that the broadcast iterations of Star Trek allow us to comprehend significant aspects of justice and the politics of globalism - created through the advent of science, technology, engineering, etc. The creators of Star Trek hold that nationalism is a psychological pathology and internationalism is rationality.

This book examines how the Star Trek franchise does more than reflect and depict the political currents of the times. Gonzalez argues that Star Trek also presents an argument as to what constitutes a just, stable, thriving society. By analyzing Star Trek, this book argues that in order to obtain true democracy and justice the productive forces of society must be geared toward achieving a thriving society, the whole individual, and the environment. This dialectic is consonant with the notions of revolutionary change, progress postulated by Karl Marx and examined within this text. The book concludes that the only way to hope to avoid a planetary cataclysm is through justice—more specifically, communism as a concept of justice.

Environmental policy is broadly viewed as an oasis of democracy, unspoiled by crass capitalism and undominated by corporate interests. This book counters that view. The focus of Corporate Power and the Environment focuses on how U.S. economic elites-corporate decisionmakers and other individuals of substantial wealth-shape the content and implementation of U.S. environmental policy to their economic and political benefit. The author uses the management of the national forests and national parks, as well as wilderness preservation policies and federal clean air policies, as case studies to show corporate power in action in even the 'purest' of policy arenas.

The forward progress of society is not automatic and should not be taken for granted. The assassination President John F. Kennedy in 1963 ended his effort to deploy American prestige, power to forward progressive change worldwide. Today, there are political forces seeking to stop progressive social, political, economic change. Whatever their reasons, such forces are conspiring to impose authoritarianism to suppress the public's desire for just, democratic governance, government. The brutality, violence, viciousness, racism (dystopia) of authoritarianism is becoming more and more the hallmark of world politics. Perhaps the most glaring aspect of this dystopia is the fact that the American state has been almost continuously at war for the past roughly 30 years - including a sinister, dastardly drone assassination program. One means to obscure the ongoing conspiracy to ultimately impose outright dictatorship on the American people and the rest of the world is to smear, malign critics of this conspiracy as guilt of conspiracy theory - advocating, embracing baseless fantasies. Worse yet, proponents of conspiracy theory (by implication) are deemed as psychologically suspect for arguing that political elites are engaged in a process to eliminate all meaningful vestiges of democracy.

This volume explains how Star Trek allows viewers to comprehend significant aspects of Georg Hegel's concept the absolute, the driving force behind history. Gonzalez, with wit and wisdom, explains how Star Trek exhibits central elements of the absolute. He describes how themes and ethos central to the show display the concept beautifully. For instance, the show posits that people must possess the correct attitudes in order to bring about an ideal society: a commitment to social justice; an unyielding commitment to the truth; and a similar commitment to scientific, intellectual discovery. These characteristics serve as perfect embodiments of Hegel's conceptualization, and Gonzalez's analysis is sharp and exacting.

Environmental policy is broadly viewed as an oasis of democracy, unspoiled by crass capitalism and undominated by corporate interests. This book counters that view. The focus of Corporate Power and the Environment focuses on how U.S. economic elites corporate decisionmakers and other individuals of substantial wealth shape the content and implementation of U.S. environmental policy to their economic and political benefit. The author uses the management of the national forests and national parks, as well as wilderness preservation policies and federal clean air policies, as case studies to show corporate power in action in even the "purest" of policy arenas."

Although considerable progress has been made in improving environmental quality in parts of the United States, many localities have yet to meet federal air and water quality standards and many hazardous-waste sites remain to be cleaned up. At the international level, the U.S. and other countries continue to face critical environmental problems. As a contribution to the literature on public policy and to help educate students about natural resource issues, this book identifies the likely "hot spots" of environmental policy and presents alternative and often opposing points of view on the major controversies that are likely to be with us well into the next century. Among the topics covered are comparative risk assessment; market incentives in environmental regulation; environmental justice; public versus private management of public lands; international trade and sustainable development; and the relationship between national security and environmental protection.

"The 'controversies format' makes for interesting reading and a good teaching tool. Sustainability is the current catch word among natural resource managers and environmentalists, yet the meaning of the term is unclear. This book goes a long way toward explaining the debates surrounding sustainability. It is a useful text for upper division environmental policy courses and graduate seminars". -- Helen Ingram, Director, The Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, University of Arizona