ST:C is great, but this episode betrays Gene's legacy and feels out of place.
First, humanity in the 23rd century is supposed to be more evolved than the present day, and that's kind of the point of Star Trek. The federation isn't a foil for modern society, it's an example of what it might someday achieve. Simply transplanting modern issues into that future society feels forced and inauthentic, and whenever Star Trek has flirted with this, it's comes out worse for it. The appropriate foil for modern society, and the one that works and is used all of the time in Star Trek, is found in alien cultures and planets.
The second big fail is the moral lesson itself, because there's an easy answer that is readily ignored: Simply, *the ends don't justify the means*, and it's impossible that Spock wouldn't point this out forthwith. When (at least pre-Kurtzman) Star Trek reverses this dictum it's only thanks to astronomical stakes, and coincides with major self reflection (see: In the Pale Moonlight), as opposed to something petty like a promotion. Gene Roddenberry understood this back in the day, but lately there's an unfortunately illiberal strain of progressive ideology that rejects the notion, as is seen here.
