Stardate 8210.3

The Search for Spock takes place in the Alpha Quadrant on Stardate 8210.3. This tells us exactly nothing we need to know about the setting.

The Alpha Quadrant is an area of space that is one quarter of the entire Milky Way galaxy. Saying the story takes place there is like saying Great Expectations takes place in the Solar System. Your teacher might request you narrow it down a bit.

And by the Star Trek Guide's own admission, Stardates aren't devised by any astronomical formula but are basically the result of a random number generator meant to create a sci-fi sounding date. (Source)

It's just a fancy way to say the year 2285.

So what aspect of The Search for Spock's setting should we consider? Just the two hundred years of future society and culture building between now and then. We might need to break out the DeLorean for this one.

Utopia Lite

When Gene Roddenberry envisioned his future, he devised a governmental organization called the United Federation of Planets. Think of it as an interplanetary United Nations. Its members are various alien races from across the Alpha Quadrant. While they maintain their own sovereignty, they also live under this central governing body to promote peace across the galaxy.

Members of the Federation include Earth and Vulcans. By the time The Search for Spock starts, even the Klingons are thinking that peace idea might not be so bad—as is evident by Kruge's line:

KRUGE: Even as our emissaries negotiate for peace with the Federation, we will act for the preservation of our race.

The Federation's principles are based on "a philosophy of nonviolent, rational humanism and a reappraisal of the basic nature of human essence." (Source)

In other words, human health, happiness and enrichment are the principles that guide this government and laws are made to serve those needs. Grift and profiteering have been eliminated from the political process…and if you're curious how they managed that miracle, you'll be disappointed to learn that the future history books are mum on those in-between years.

But wait, you might say. Isn't Starfleet the military arm of this so-called "nonviolent" government? Yes it is. Exploring the galaxy can be a dangerous gig, and when you come across a highly advanced race that doesn't have your interests at heart, you don't want to be the only pacifist in the galactic schoolyard. That's a surefire way to get a starship-sized wedgie.

But nonviolence through communication and understanding is always the Federation and Starfleet's first response to a threat. You can see Kirk embody this philosophy in several Original Series episodes, such as "Devil in the Dark." He also tries to reason with Kruge several times in this film…but the Klingon commander is less than responsive.

So the future Star Trek, and by relation The Search for Spock, paints isn't a complete utopia. Nothing is perfect. Our technology can help us explore the stars, like the Enterprise, but at the same time it can also cause us great harm, like Genesis. We've made great strides for peace among races very different than our own, like the Vulcans, but we still have a ways to go with others, like the Klingons.

Finally, many human problems like death and sadness and political red tape can never be truly eradicated because, you know, life.

But the future Roddenberry envisioned, while not perfect, is certainly a step in the right direction. So we'll give it the title "soft-utopia." Or maybe utopia lite: all the great flavor of utopia with none of the calories.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

This futuristic background isn't very noticeable in The Search for Spock. Since this film is the sibling of seventy-nine episodes of TV and two movies, it assumes you're up to speed on Trek and doesn't spend much time world-building.

Even so, the Federation's qualities are evident in the characters themselves. As Robin Roberts points out:

Roddenberry's vision of a Federation, postcapitalist and postnationalist, was reflected in the bridge crew, which, though captained by a white man, Kirk, had a half-Vulcan, Mr. Spock, as second-in-command; Uhura, an African-American woman, in charge of communications; an Asian-American helmsman, Sulu; and Russian-descendant Chekov as navigator. The Chief Medical Officer was Leonard McCoy, a white man, as was the Chief Engineer, Montgomery Scott. While the three lead roles and command positions remained white men, Roddenberry's vision remained radical for its time. (Source)

In the Enterprise's crew, we see the various cultures and races of Earth coming together for the united purpose of exploring the universe and bettering humanity. In The Search for Spock, that purpose is narrowed down to rescuing their Vulcan comrade. Despite the danger and the loss of their hard-won careers, every member of the crew joins the humanitarian effort. Everyone comes together to do what's moral and right.

Through Star Trek's setting, we see that the answer to the above question is yes: we really can all learn to get along.

Unless, of course, you count Kruge. But his graduating class voted him Most Likely To Be An Egomaniacal Dictator. Getting along really isn't his thing.