It can still be utopian and aspirational without every character being those things. The same way you could have a show where you explore the concept of Justice by having a profoundly unjust main character. Or a show about Sin with a righteous main character. Sometimes you explore a theme by demonstration, sometimes by contrast.
Sure, but Sisko, the Pegasus and section 31 show the corruption of those ideals permeate the entirety of Starfleet and the federation, and it’s not “just a few admirals”
It can still be utopian and aspirational without every character being those things. The same way you could have a show where you explore the concept of Justice by having a profoundly unjust main character. Or a show about Sin with a righteous main character. Sometimes you explore a theme by demonstration, sometimes by contrast.
Sure, but Sisko, the Pegasus and section 31 show the corruption of those ideals permeate the entirety of Starfleet and the federation, and it’s not “just a few admirals”