Star Trek is the grand vision of a bright future, a semi-Utopian society that has given up much of what causes strife and discord, but still must guard against flaws. In that way stories about internal conflict and strife are that much more interesting because it represents a base betrayal of everything the society is built upon. Personally, though, I like to remove my imagined characters from that society and try to figure out what situations will force them to abandon their ideals, and then find a way to redeem them in the end.