Survival is Insufficient

the author's barely disguised longing for a kinder world

the author's barely disguised hatred for capitalism

Here's your periodic reminder that the reason Kirk (tos-flavor) got a commendation for his solution to the Kobayashi Maru is because his "cheating" was his answer. Kirk's answer to the question of, "What do you do in a no-win scenario?" is "I break the rules until it isn't a no-win scenario. I don't give up on my crew, and I do whatever I can to save as many lives as possible."

And here's your periodic reminder—or first-time FYI, depending—that according to certain apocrypha, Nog similarly "beat" the Kobayashi Maru by relentlessly demanding to barter with the enemy until the simulation crashed. Like a true Ferengi, his answer to "What would you do in a no-win scenario?" is "Renegotiate the terms of the scenario. Rule of Acquisition #98: Everyone has their price."

Genuinely one of my favorite things about TNG is how often they're just doing art for fun. Riker's been playing trombone since he was a kid and he really enjoys it and also he is Not Good. Dr. Crusher is stalking the halls trying to rope all her friends and acquaintances into joining her community theater productions and musical reviews even if they've never been on stage before. They're constantly going to their crewmates' music recitals and poetry readings, and some of these people are impressively good at what they do but some of them are just getting started or content to stay at beginner level. They're having fun! They don't have to be prodigies in order to be involved with art because engaging with art on whatever level has value of its own! THIS is what I want to see in my post-scarcity socialist space future. Will Riker's bad trombone playing is load-bearing, actually.

It's a DRAWING guys IT'S A DRAWING 🤯

knock knock

who's there

deez

deez are the voyages of the starship enterprise