Historical Chinese drama, especially the palace intreague ones. The better ones are high budget productions with the most beautiful aestethics and well thought out stories. Instead of seasons with set episodes they just have shows of 4 to 100 episodes. Due to that each issue can take the time it needs to be told, without the need of season finals and such, making the pacing very natural. The better ones are also not always predictable and keep you hooked. Most western dramas can’t compare, exceptions like Julian Fellowes’ shows asside.
I would suggest watching 延禧攻略/Story of Yanxi Palace (not the spin-off on Netflix!) if you want to give it a try. It’s not too old, has a good story, and is quite fast-paced despite it’s length, making it a great one for starters. It’s also easily available with good subtitles, you can find it on Viki for example.
Capitalism was eliminated on Earth by the New World Economy, which was likely a Dictatorship of the Proletariat as envisioned by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Roddenberry, etc. The Federation appears to be a classless, moneyless post-DotP society that still has one primary state apparatus (the Federation itself) that oversees many smaller state apparatuses (the Federation’s many member-worlds). You’ll notice a contradiction, though: If a state “is a system by which the ruling class maintains and perpetuates its dominance within the social formation… by subjugating the other class(es) within class society” then how can the Federation be a classless society? I propose two solutions:
Star Trek is fiction and fictional worlds are often incomplete and contradictory. Everything I’ve said about the New World Economy, the Federation, etc. should be taken with a grain of quadrotriticale.
No society has established a DotP, and there are certainly no examples of post-DotP societies. Marxism is a scientific and materialist worldview – it has evolved since the 19th century and it will continue to evolve into the 23rd century and beyond.
EDIT: My answer is “Yes, but it’s Advanced Sci-Fi Communism.”
Most sources on Roddenberry’s political beliefs are people who knew him, and they didn’t open up about those beliefs until after his death. Here’s an article that I’ve skimmed:
According to his last wife, Majel Barrett, he identified as a communist. But we know from the many accounts of his unethical business practices that he was also obsessed with making money. He preached peace and love but was infamously difficult to get along with. And he flew the flag for feminism while being a notorious womanizer.
Gene was a delightful man with great creativity and talent, but he was also a deeply flawed man who often failed to practice what he preached.
Seriously. I was like “okay, Brazil is in the right general area, but obviously the wrong shape. Argentina is definitely not there. Chile is along the coast, so I’ll allow it. I honestly couldn’t say what all the northern countries are, and… wait, what the hell is the north connecting to, that looks like the middle east.
Mexico, you say? Pretty sure if Yakko saw this, he wouldn’t start singing about countries. He’d just give the camera a disapproving head shake and say “I give up. You kids are on your own. Public schooling clearly isn’t helping…” and walk off screen.
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