Quote:

Pariah said:

One of the things I disliked about TNG was its constant state of whimsy. The first season had the captain talk down to a whole bunch of races demonstrating how superior they were since they were able to eliminate poverty, the death penalty, world hunger, etc.--But they wouldn't tell anyone how it was achieved!



On-camera: The Prime Directive?

Off-camera: as Pro pointed out, Roddenberry et al. had no clue how to plausibly explain that.

We all wear a green carnation.