I feel like the Federation has always been kinda iffy though. In any given episode of Trek, whenever an admiral shows up, it’s bad news. Even back in the peak of Trek optimism, Federation officials were trying to deny Data’s personhood and steal his children.
I like to see it as a tempered optimism. In the future of Trek, things will be better. The racism and sexism we have in our culture today won’t be present. There’s hope for a future… but there’s always going to be new problems to struggle towards, be it the recognition of the rights of synthetic life, or the genetically engineered. It’s an understanding that the biggest danger is when we rest on our laurels, content ourselves that we have fixed our social problems, and let our guard down. To quote Picard himself, from back in the day
We think we’ve come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it’s all ancient history. And then, before you can blink an eye, suddenly, it threatens to start all over again … She or someone like her will always be with us, waiting for the right climate in which to flourish – spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mr. Worf. That is the price we have to continually pay.
