WAS PICARD'S DATA CORRECT?
Normally, I would never use a fictitious show, especially Star Trek as the basis for a blog. Unless you are actually doing a blog about science fiction obviously (see "Nerdy and Proud of it"). Fiction is one thing and fact is another, both are separate and should be kept as such.
However, this time I am going to break that rule just this once, because something occurred to me.
One of the things Star Trek is good at doing is predicting our future, which is their past because the Federation of Star Trek wasn't founded until 2161.
For instance, Star Trek mentions many times that WWIII happens. Apparently, somewhere between 2049 and 2053. There is the prediction in "Future's End" that, in 2047 there is an Earthquake in Hermosa Beach, California and the entire coast sinks 200 ft into the sea. This couldn't happen because it's scientifically stupid. Oh and apparently the computer revolution of the 70's/80's shouldn't actually have happened until the 29th century. Hey, I didn't write this stuff okay!
There are plenty of examples I could cite, but we would be here all day. The one I want to talk about is the mention of Ireland in TNG's "The High Ground". First of all, the reason Ireland is mentioned is this episode is centred around the terrorist attacks being waged by a group who want independence from their country (think of the Catalonia and Spain situation, if that helps). The debate was about terrorism and whether it is an effective way of getting what you want.
The example they cite is the reunification of Ireland. It supposedly takes place in 2024. So I started thinking...!
Pretend - and take it as read for a few minutes - that the unification happens. Northern Ireland no longer exists because it has been absorbed back into Ireland. Why would that happen? Well, first we have to look at the terrorism bit. It's unavoidable. In "The High Ground", the character Data says that terrorism was successful in getting them reunited. But as of 2019, Northern Ireland has had twenty years of peace. So does that mean that the Good Friday Agreement never happened and the troubles continued until 2024? Or, coming back to the present, did we get the peace agreement, but sometime after 2019, the Troubles reignited? If so, why?
If this is the case and going on what we already know, was it something to do with Brexit? We all know the Irish backstop and the debate about a border between Northern Ireland and the Republic is the biggest point that is sticking out (only Northern Irish people will get that joke!). So did it turn out that we never got an agreed Brexit deal, got an unwanted hard border, which dishonoured the Good Friday Agreement and therefore set the Troubles off again?
Of course, if we ignore the terrorism side of it for a second...yeah, I know that's a horrible thing to ignore, but go with me a second...unification is entirely possible as the birth rate among republicans or catholics or both outnumbers the protestants and unionists/loyalists or, again, both and reunification ends up being voted for.
It's an interesting scenario to look at. I know it's a whole load of "what ifs", but it is sometimes fun to wonder what may have been. For instance, what if Archduke Franz Ferdinand had never got shot, what if Abraham Lincoln had changed his theatre plans, what if Hitler had not invaded Poland and on a slightly smaller scale, what if my friend Bill had gone onto be an actor rather than being a journalist? That sort of guessing can be very interesting.
So, go ahead. Take an era of history that interests you, pretend the opposite happened and see where it goes, you may be surprised.
As to where Brexit and the island of Ireland go from here...who the hell knows. All I want is for the Good Friday Agreement to be honoured. The Troubles finally ended. I don't want them to return.
If this is the case and going on what we already know, was it something to do with Brexit? We all know the Irish backstop and the debate about a border between Northern Ireland and the Republic is the biggest point that is sticking out (only Northern Irish people will get that joke!). So did it turn out that we never got an agreed Brexit deal, got an unwanted hard border, which dishonoured the Good Friday Agreement and therefore set the Troubles off again?
Of course, if we ignore the terrorism side of it for a second...yeah, I know that's a horrible thing to ignore, but go with me a second...unification is entirely possible as the birth rate among republicans or catholics or both outnumbers the protestants and unionists/loyalists or, again, both and reunification ends up being voted for.
It's an interesting scenario to look at. I know it's a whole load of "what ifs", but it is sometimes fun to wonder what may have been. For instance, what if Archduke Franz Ferdinand had never got shot, what if Abraham Lincoln had changed his theatre plans, what if Hitler had not invaded Poland and on a slightly smaller scale, what if my friend Bill had gone onto be an actor rather than being a journalist? That sort of guessing can be very interesting.
So, go ahead. Take an era of history that interests you, pretend the opposite happened and see where it goes, you may be surprised.
As to where Brexit and the island of Ireland go from here...who the hell knows. All I want is for the Good Friday Agreement to be honoured. The Troubles finally ended. I don't want them to return.
"The future is the past, the past is the future...! It all gives me a headache!" ~ Captain Janeway (Star Trek Voyager: Future's End)
