Star Trek & Citizens United

[canuckledragger]

I'm not a huge Star Trek fan.. repetitive plots, techno-babble dues ex machina saves (and the Enterprise is saved by yet ANOTHER particle beam, Scotty engineering trick, Q, etc.) but occasionally while channel surfing I catch part of an episode of one of the many spin-offs & some gold shines through, thanks to some thought provoking ideas & excellent delivery by the actors.

Can't remember the exact name of this ST-TNG episode, but it involves an issue with a federation scientist wanting to dismantle Data (played by Brent Spiner) & study him so he can build more (leading to his possible 'death') & the question comes up 'is Data a sentient being or machine? Does he have the right to choose his destiny?' with Jean-Luc Picard ( played by Patrick Stewart)

I love science fiction stories that take real world issues & try to flesh them out, & get the rest of us thinking.

Although this episode was written years before the Citizens United case, could some of the initial talking points be applied to some of our creations?

Possibly. ignore the sci-fi aspect for a few moments & replace 'android' with 'corporation' for Jean-Luc's initial arguement within the first few minutes of the video.

Could the same criteria be used against a corporation claiming the rights of a person? would the argument hold?

This is why I love science fiction!

http://www.wimp.com/finesttrek/