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Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026

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I don't object to having a sensitive Klingon who just wants to study medicine

This wouldn't be out of place in the earlier Trek canon either: a good chunk of the Worf-centered episodes of TNG and DS9 focus on how to straddle "warrior culture" and "modern neoliberalism" to attempt to satisfy both, not always succeeding. Worf ends up teaching martial arts (Mok'bara) to crewmates, takes up prune juice as "a warrior's drink", and manages to be a questionable father to Alexander.

Honestly, some of the best Trek episodes are reflections on the human conditon like those.

If you think about it for five seconds, of course Klingon society has to have farmers and doctors and construction workers and all the rest of it. Even if it is a warrior-ruler society, they need people who work for them doing non-warrior stuff. Mr. "I'm a lover not a fighter" kid need not be spectacularly different, but the show can't resist piling on the agony to make the point about No, Seriously, We're Talking About Anti-Immigrant Racism In America.

Grew up in a refugee camp (because home planet was destroyed during The Burn), abandoned by both his dads in the polycule (er, what?) and now he just wants to watch birds and become a healer.

Knock yourself out, kid, would be classic Trek attitude here.

I didn't watch the show. What motivates such a character to attend Starfleet Academy of all things?

No freakin' idea. I can't watch this slop for more than seconds at a time, else I'll explode from apoplexy. It really is a teen show for teenagers, because functionally it's Starfleet High. We got yer bullies! We got yer nerds! We got yer Cool Principal! We got yer love triangles, figuring out romance, navigating relationships, and becoming an adult! We got yer Parental Issues by the bucketload in both Mommy and Daddy flavours!

We also have I ate my combadge and sweet Kahless in Sto'Vo'Kor, the only thing that makes sense of this entire morass is that this is not the real, actual, genuine Starfleet Academy for training future Starfleet officers, it's Remedial Education for the crayon-eaters. Hence why Principal Galboss who can't sit properly in a chair, see she's relatable to the kids who also can't sit straight, walk straight, or refrain from eating their combadges.