Star Trek episode "The Mark of Gideon"

"The Mark of Gideon"

Season 3, Episode 16.

Kirk is abducted, sent to what appears to be an empty Enterprise. (Lots of negative talk about "diplomats and bureaucrats" in this episode.)

Altogether, it's an interesting puzzle you have to find the answer to. Kirk has been abducted to infect the Gideon population with diseases in order to fix the overpopulation problem. (Ahh, couldn't they just get some virus samples?)

There's a real contradiction here from the aliens about loving life by not preventing conception yet being able to kill people to fight overpopulation, and it doesn't make any sense. They want to change their life cycle, from long perfection to a shorter duration. This reminds me of that one Next Generation episode with the Bynars where they stole the Enterprise-D without asking because they "may have said 'No.'"

In all honesty, the creators skirted all the real issues that they brought up in this episode. It would make an interesting full-length novel. Couldn't they use the Gideons at colonies throughout the universe? I'm sure some would like to go if the world was that full, literally standing-room only.