As I've already noted, one of the keen differences between the Federation of Planets and the Terran Empire is in their observations of space exploration. Where the former saw an opportunity to explore and initiate peace among different species, the latter merely deemed space as its own personal hunting ground.

By militarizing space, the Terran Empire made it very clear that space wouldn't be used to create bridges; rather, to prop up walls and destroy anyone who dared say otherwise.

Speaking of propping up walls and militarizing space, once again, the U.S. government finds itself operating within the shadows of the Terran Empire. More recently, both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have been accelerating their efforts to establish a new military branch of the U.S. armed forces called the "Space Force."

And while it's quite unlikely that such a proposal will ever be accepted or taken seriously, the fact that the U.S. government is even attempting to abandon long-established treaties by militarizing space should make any purveyor of peace and rationality worried. Rather than adhering to peaceful diplomacy, the specter of "America first" - which is nothing more than a nefarious guise for xenophobic nationalism and imperialistic war drumming - is transcending Earth's orbit.

It was Mahatma Gandhi who once said, "Be the change that you wish to see in the world." Other than serving as a nice bumper-sticker quote, it's also an important method of observing what kind of future certain people wish to create. To believe that Trump's plans for space won't mirror his own handling of Earth would be to abandon all sense of critical thinking. He is, most certainly, being the "change" that he wishes to see in the world - and in space.

Unfortunately, it's the type of "change" that would've prevented the Vulcans from making first contact with Earth, thereby obliterating any chance of establishing something akin to the Federation of Planets. No, this "change" leads us to something dark and monstrous. And if we do nothing about it - if we choose to not speak up and fight for a better future - the Terran Empire will most assuredly be the end result.

What we do today will ultimately determine which Star Trek future will come to fruition.