Patrick Stewart: Politicians should watch Star Trek

Captain-Jean-Luc-Picard

In a recent interview with the Huffington Post to promote his upcoming series “Blunt Talk”, Sir Patrick Stewart was asked to name a part that he’s played that would be a good role model for today’s youth.

While he doesn’t exactly answer the question, he definitely feels that watching a certain sci-fi show he worked on could benefit the leaders of the world:

I wish politicians would spend more time watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, because unlike my predecessor Captain James T. Kirk,  Jean-Luc Picard believed first and foremost in negotiation.  He was a diplomat before he was a warrior.  Talk, talk, talk, and keep on talking.  I think that would be a great message for the world to absorb because people don’t have to die to achieve a satisfactory solution to anything…I believe we reach for the weapons far too quickly.

The entire question and answer is embedded below.

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Yes….he says it simply and with conviction. IF only he was running for

President then perhaps the answers that are so obvious would be explored.

How would talk solve the problems with ISIS? You cannot negotaite with these people because all they want is killing an infidel they can get hold of. It’s too late for talking and that’s exactly what happened in the 24th century as well.

TNG started out as a diplomatic utopia but ended with the greatest war the galaxy has ever seen… Even the NextGen movies ceased all the talking and turned Picard into an action hero… From 1989 to 1992 there was a great era of change and opportunities. But thise window of opportunities has closed a long time ago, around 9/11 I guess.

History will repeat itself and unfortunately, I’m afraid, Star Trek has always predicted the course of events for early/mid-21st century… It’s not a question if that happens but when and how. Be it Russia, ISIS or both…war has already started and diplomts have long been replaced by superheroes and space warriors…

2-There are plenty of episodes where they have to try to negotiate with radicals and terrorists. Sometimes negotiation doesn’t work, and they have to send in security, but not until they have exhausted all diplomatic options.

Yeah, Star Trek the Next Generation. That’s all Patrick is concerned with, people listening to him speak. He’s got a bigger head than Shatner!

Actors.

Who’s idea was it to ‘knight’ him? Who’s idea is it to knight anyone?
Those silly Brits’ and their over pompous behavior. I would think the country should be more concerned of how their leaders have been molesting their young!

Need a link for that?

https://www.facebook.com/60Minutes9/videos/830721563663827

Thought so.

@4 Nice bit of casual bigotry there.

Regarding Ted Heath and Janner, neither has been found guilty yet.

Did I just read a slight by Sir Patrick against, Kirk?!

he didn’t really say to stop using weapons.

he is just saying diplomacy is not used enough. there are situations where diplomacy can be used first (before arms) but some politicians don’t do that.

try diplomacy 1st per situation. PER situation. if diplomacy fails in that situation, then try other ways.

NOT when diplomacy fails in Situation A, let’s just try arms in Situation B.

Another point worth making is that rushing to war Kirk-style wouldn’t work because a more advanced species of aliens would just intervene and put the kibosh on the whole thing.

So, Picard’s more diplomatic approach is even more practical in this regard.

8. Cygnus-X1

When did Kirk ever run to war?

Well said Patrick!

Make it so!

AND, always say something cool before you ‘exit diplomacy’ ;-)

9. TrekMadeMeWonder – August 13, 2015

When did Kirk ever run to war?

Day of the Dove? Errand of Mercy?

#8. Cygnus-X1 – August 13, 2015

But wasn’t there that episode of TNG were Picard Indiana Jonesed the genetic code of the dominant sentients in the Gamma Quadrant to discover that all the warring ones who think themsleves something apart are after all really one with their oponents?

#9. TrekMadeMeWonder – August 13, 2015

“When did Kirk ever run to war?” — TrekMadeMeWonder

In THE ENTERPRISE INCIDENT, Kirk not only play-acted the part of a Captain willing to take actions that would foment war, he ran head on into a “secret” mission that he knew full well was an act of war no matter how he sliced it to give The Federation plausible deniability.

And I never did understand the resolution of that episode, Spock intimated that the Romulan Commander would be returned to her people in a prisoner exchange. What did he and The Federation expect her to tell her people upon that return? That Kirk was indeed a raving lunatic who acted solely on his own just to keep her and Spock’s true love tryst the real military secret?

##9. TrekMadeMeWonder – August 13, 2015

“When did Kirk ever run to war?” — TrekMadeMeWonder

I just recalled too that Spock already confessed his guilt to the Romulan recording device before Kirk beamed him and the Romulan Commander over. So the whole thing seems very messy war-wise. Wouldn’t you agree?

2. smike

I agree with most of your assessment, in TNG all the bad guys (with the exception of the Borg i guess ;) can be reasoned with, they are open to talking and they are susceptible to reason, compromise and logic. Even honor.
But to the real-life ‘bad guys’ today (religious fundamentalists), those things have no meaning whatsoever. There is no negotiating with people like that, it is their way all the way, or nothing.

Having said that I love Patrick Stewart for believing in those values. I grew up watching Star Trek and believing in those values as well.

I don’t think TOS Kirk (while in his right head, which takes a bunch of eps out of the running right away) is ever in a rush to war once you get past ARENA and ERRAND OF MERCY, which are quintessential eps by Coon that really define Kirk for me.

The ‘cowboy diplomacy’ line by Jeri Taylor shows she was buying into a cliche rather than showing something bore out by the series she supposedly watched all episodes of after hiring in for TNG.

While ENTERPRISE INCIDENT (wrongly) does not show any conflict Kirk & Spock have over their mission, that’s not to say it isn’t present. Even when I was 10 years old I was kinda ticked off that ‘we were the bad guys’ in this episode (but I hadn’t started reading LeCarre yet.) I haven’t read them, but apparently there are section31 novels suggesting that Kirk was forced to do this by that secret group, which again does not support the idea that he was some gung-ho war guy throughout Trek.

I for one actually think Kirk should have carried more of a grudge with folks like the Kelvans, who actually killed a crewmember before being ‘enlightened’ by him, but that’s a whole separate issue.

13. Disinvited – August 13, 2015

But wasn’t there that episode of TNG were Picard Indiana Jonesed the genetic code of the dominant sentients in the Gamma Quadrant to discover that all the warring ones who think themsleves something apart are after all really one with their oponents?

I don’t remember anything from the Gamma Quadrant ever being in any TNG episode. And your plot description doesn’t sound familiar, either.

Sir Patrick has my vote! Even tho’ I’m not exactly a tremendous fan of TNG, I think that as an actor and person, he’s a great, thoughtful man.

@17.Cygnus-X1,

Disinvited is talking about the the season 6 episode “The Chase”. In that episode the Romulans, the Klingons, the Cardassians & the Federation find out that most of the humanoids life in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants share the same DNA due to a galaxy wide seeding by a very ancient civilization known as The Preservers.

Okay, as it came up, first, there needs to be a reasonable assessment of what ISIS is, and isn’t. Despite what one hears from a certain political party, ISIS isn’t on the verge of rampaging through American cities, so those individuals really need to shut the hell up. That kind of chatter inflames the masses, it’s not hard to find people thumping their chests about heading off to war when it’s someone else’s kids doing the dying.

Diplomacy then kicks in when you go to the nations that have been identified as funding ISIS, and nudge then toward knocking that nonsense off with the leverage of a bit of public shaming of their activities. Then you engage the locals – so far, they don’t really seem to care to much about this insurgency in their own back yard. Once on board, isolate them – no trade, no weapons, strict embargo. As ISIS is largely a creation of a group of locals who have been given the chance to behave badly, like any cancer, if you isolate it and starve it, it dies. Effective, yes, but not nearly as flashy as waves of bombers laying waste to the desert….

And for those who want to argue that ISIS wouldn’t exist had the US not invaded Iraq to begin with – first, that speculation at best, second, assuming that’s true, that where we as a nation negotiate how we, in conjunction with the locals, contain and eliminate the problem. Provide command and control. Enforce embargos. Humanitarian relief. When we win the hearts and minds of the people, these insurgencies go away, and diplomacy can flourish. Again, not as flashy as the Marine Corp storming ashore….but at the end of the day, that should always be the last consideration, and then only after it’s debated in the halls of Congress. It’s become to easy to wage war, and in the dawning era of drone warfare, way to easy for a single person to potentially abuse power. Diplomacy is the better solution, but it requires a breed of leader that is hard to find in general, and among certain political persuasions, is completely nonexistent.

We would do well to exercise some form of the Prime Directive.

Kirk gets a bad rap. In “By Any Other Name,” he and the leader of the Kelvans were engaged in a fistfight, and he was still trying to talk the guy down DURING THE FISTFIGHT. If somebody punches Kirk, he’ll punch back, but he’ll try to negotiate even while punching.

Kirk swayed people by the power of his oratory all the time.

Um what was Star Trek: Insurrection all about.

#17. Cygnus-X1 – August 14, 2015

Meant Alpha. The episode was THE CHASE:

http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Chase_(episode)

TNG has nothing to compare with Kirk’s diplomacy in A Taste of Armageddon.

All of this Kirk vs Picard stuff is a bit amusing having participated in it since 1988.

Ultimately Picard is at the end of his career during his show and Kirk is at the beginning in his. Further Kirk as depicted is more intellectual/philosophical/diplomatic than Picard was implied to be at a similar age.

Regarding the Enterprise Incident people have brought up. That’s a mission. It is no different than Picard invading a Cardassian military base out of uniform in a secret mission. Well other than Kirk’s mission was a bit more successful.

20. Ahmed – August 14, 2015
24. Disinvited – August 14, 2015

Ah, yes—The Chase.

Good episode. DS9 confused the hell out of me when they introduced The Founders looking exactly like The Preservers from The Chase, even the same actress. Seems like a big wasted opportunity there not to connect them somehow. Like have it that The Preservers, thinking that they were going to become extinct, seeded the Alpha and Beta Quadrants with their DNA, but then later found a cure to their existential threat after exploring the Gamma Quadrant, where they remained living. Having conquered certain death, The Preservers became increasingly hubristic over time, eventually arriving at the worldview and galactic disposition that they have when we join them in DS9.

Perhaps people confuse Kirk’s powerful personality with his wanting to fight. As others have said, he does not – when he is himself. He will defend himself or his crew, however, with no hesitation. Philosophically, he is a man of peace and carries this through in his Star Fleet functioning.

Well said my fellow countryman.

Just a shame no government seems to pay attention to what you suggest.

Phil, well said sir, and may we elect people (not corporations) who think more like Picard and Kirk at their best.

If a majority of nations isolates the “Islamic State” the IS will lose its power to attract zealots and will eventually lose its hold in the region. Of course like the Hydra, another horrific face will grow up (too many possibilities alas), possibly in another region. But if the nations stay true to the cause of peace and other benificent goals (such as endi g poverty) I believe we can avoid a nuclear winter.

The problem I see is, many of those who would take the US to war (without their children fighting on behalf of the twerps) benefit from their investments in weapoms platforms &c. And far too many Western nations are involved in the arms trade.

Oh Patrick, so full of hot air, just like Picard.

To the person above wondering who would have given him the knighthood well, that would have been his beloved (and these days massively screwed up) Labour party.
A reward for being a loyal little soldier for the party over the years.
Oh they’ll say it was for services to the theatre and British cinema but it will have been because he has been a Labour supporter with a high profile.

Frankly, I’d be happy if a prerequisite to entering the political life would be to beat SimCity 3000!

…yeah, ISIS is just another CIA operation aimed at world war =(

…once the cabal is defeated, the need/desire for war will end.

#money out, BERNIE In! =D

33 Hebert, “Feel the Bern” :-)

@ Marja

Don’t feed the troll. He just claimed U.S. citizens in our government are sponsoring ISIS. Do you really want to be identified with that crap?

@ Marja

Please don’t feel the trooll….in that same post that you are “atta-boying” him on, he accused U.S. citizens working in our government of creating ISIS.

What a shameful and hateful accusation for someone to make.

35ps,
Have you seen a ton of information conclusively DISPROVING that assertion?

Don’t call something shameful and hateful just because you disagree with the assertion. Instead if you have to hate, hate that a group — domestically based or otherwise — has gone that route to incite world affairs.

Of course, the Conservative would never consider putting forward the name of somebody to be considered for knighthood, who had also been a loyal supporter of that party.

It seems that none of what SIR Patrick Stewart may have done for the Arts over time matters a jot, only what his political persuasions may be.

Am I to assume that neither party could possibly consider any genuine contributions a person may have made to society, in various ways, to be grounds to offer such a person’s name for consideration? It would always, and only be about, how bigger a supporter they have been to the respective party.

I get it now…

Something smells bad and for some reason, I do not think it has to with Sir Patrick or either major British political party…:(

@ Kmart

I won’t even dignify that with a response.

@34. Marja,

“33 Hebert, “Feel the Bern” :-)”

No love for The Trump :)

@37. kmart,

Well said.

@ Ahmed

While we have our differences, my respect for you just went down significantly. Go ahead, be a moron and believe that crackpot conspiracy shit…I’m not stopping you.

@41. Prodigal Son,

There are no evidences to prove or disprove this particular theory but you have to be naive or not a reader of history to ignore the involvement of various intelligence agencies in the United States & elsewhere with terrorist organizations in the past.

#41. Prodigal Son – August 16, 2015

As a gauge of your offensibilites, would you say that your respect for Ahmed is less or more than your respect for Apollo 14 astronaut, Edgar Mitchell?:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/science/peace-loving-aliens-tried-save-6235113

…you can see how corrupt and secret our politics are …ruled by money =(

…and you still cry “conspiracy theory!”? WILLFULLY naive and ignorant indeed!

the secret gov’t is run by those with the highest security clearances: the “military industrial complex” i.e. cabal

what do they want? profit, control, fear, ignorance …war is what they want =(

sheepherders like PS don’t want you to look the wolf in the eye…

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity”

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

“There is no eye equal to wisdom, no darkness equal to ignorance, no power equal to the power of the spirit, and no terror equal to the poverty of consciousness.” (TJ 26:27)

http://www.tjresearch.info/contents.htm

Sheesh, you obviously just tried to find a similar quote to mimic mine as a response…that’s just plain lazy…

“It is better to fail at originality than to succeed in imitation.”

– Herman Melville.

@18 Cygnus. TNG The Chase, not in the Gamma Quadrant or Delta whichever was said but the running around for genetic codes which show all species are related is there.

@1 Stewart was born a British citizen, therefore not eligible for US Presidency even if he had later become a US citizen, which I do not believe he has.

45 ps,
Right back at you with the very same words (good quote, btw.)

Though I think you still need the folks with malice aforethought putting stuff in motion, just so the folks can demonstrate their ignorance & stupidity over misreading the events.