Star Trek Commentary about the 21st Century (from the DS9 ep. 3.11 “Past Tense” aired 1995)

Sisko and Bashir in 2024 San Francisco.

In the Star Trek Deep Space 9 episode "Past Tense" (3.11 and 3.12, aired 1995) some of the characters are stranded in 2024 in a state-run overpopulated ghetto for keeping the poor, unemployed and mentally ill "out of sight." In the first part, after minute 22, Sisko and Bashir walk its streets and talk about the 21st as one of the "most depressing" centuries in human history.

Bashir: Look at this man. There's no need for him to live like that. With the right medication he could lead a full and normal life.

Sisko: Maybe in our time...

Bashir: Not just in our time! There are any number of effective treatments for schizophrenia, even in this day and age. They could cure that man now, today... If they gave a damn.

Sisko: It's not that they don't give a damn. They've just given up... The social problems they face seem too enormous to deal…

Bashir: That only makes things worse. Causing people to suffer because you hate them is terrible, but causing people to suffer because you have forgotten how to care... that's really hard to understand.

Sisko: They’ll remember. It’ll take some time and it won’t be easy, but eventually people in this century will remember how to care.

Bashir: Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Are Humans really any different than Cardassians or Romulans. If push comes to shove, if something disastrous happens to the Federation... if we are frightened enough, or desperate enough... How would we react? Do we stay true to our ideals or we just… stay here – right back where we started.

The story of Past Tense (I and II) is by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe.