They’re not big fans of ‘infinite diversity in infinite combinations’ either.
I was and continue to be shocked that there are conservative Star Trek fans. I just can’t wrap my head around how they justify it. It’s very clearly painting socialism and left leaning ideas as the universally correct ideals which will lead us to a utopia.
They’re watching it for Crusher/Troi/Seven/Dax/Uhura. The technobabble confuses them and they think any solution they come up with in the show is just a byproduct of the fantasy premise. That or they identify with the Cardassians.
The show is also about a space navy that has near total autonomy on the frontier, securing the interests of the Federation while inducting new worlds into its ranks, with our heroes being the Good Guys who are high ranking officers in the military who give orders and investigate conspiracies and hold life and death in their hands as they fly around their heavily-armed “totally not a warship” exploration vessels.
It’s very Space America, and at times almost libertarian in its politics and non-interference. It’s not even explicitly socialist, all we know is that they don’t use money, except when they do. The writing is sort of fuzzy on the matter, which results (regardless of the intention) in an economy that doesn’t actually seem that different to our modern day in practice. There’s no money, but people still own businesses and talk about buying stuff, which allows for the economic system to fade into a sort of forgettable background space.
Besides, Star Trek isn’t necessarily about a socialist future. It’s about a post-scarcity future. I think that’s a key difference. I’ve spoken to many conservative fans who say that they believe that capitalism is the only way that we can achieve a post-scarcity future, i.e. invent replicators. Because Trek isn’t about a worker’s revolution, it’s about the slow progression of technology, followed by a nuclear war, and then at some point they just sort of got rid of money because it was obsolete. All we even know about it is from one-off lines.
There’s a bunch of info on the economy of the Federation in this article on Ex Astris Scientia.
It makes me think of the Culture series, another sci-fi universe I’m fond of. It’s even more leftist-coded than Star Trek, yet somehow Elon Musk is a fan of it and names his rockets after ships from the books. Apparently Jeff Bezos is a fan too. Ugh. And as a result, a lot of people’s first introductions to the series is through these awful people, since it’s a lot more niche than Trek.
Thought the first rule was “Greed is eternal”?
In a post scarcity society, greed becomes irrelevant.
This man doesn’t have the lobes for business.
If you can’t create artificial demand in a utopian society, what kind of Ferangi are you?
Post-scarcity societies are good for business. Rule of Acquisition #74.
Rule #74 is Knowledge equals profit. Are you reading some pirated copy of the rules?Don’t give Hu-Mons the actual Rules of Acquisition. Rule of Acquisition #23.
I see this is actually the Grand Nagus’ account. I’m sorry Grand Nagus. My apologies.
Oh Grand Nagus you are so smart!
Define “post-scarcity”. You can’t replicate everything (without programmable matter, anyways…), and some raw materials are needed to build the replicators. And latinum is a rare commodity, though I don’t know why it’s so value beyond its scarcity. Greed will always be there as long as some things remain scarce yet required for a functioning society.
Latinum is only valuable outside of the Federation, where societies are not post-scarcity.
Now, before you argue that there are no material conditions demanding scarcity in (some of) them, I’ll add that artificial scarcity is scarcity nonetheless.
In societies outside the Federation, where they don’t have replicators, things have value due to being able to use them for other purposes. Latinum has never been shown to be used for any other purpose except to trade. Its not clear why a useless material is considered valuable, except for the fact that its rare.
Says a huh-man that uses paper to trade…
That paper is at least backed by the GDP of my country.
That reminds me of that joke:
Two economists are walking side-by-side.
One tells the other: I’ll give you $100 if you take a shit on the pavement.
He proceeds to shit on the pavement and grab the $100.
He then tells the other economist: I’ll give you $100 if you eat my shit.
The other does the deed and collects his $100.
After walking a few more blocks, one of them says: both of us left our dignity with that work back there and neither of us are any richer!
To which the other responds: no, but we grew our combined GDP to $200.
And they both walked away happy, patting each other on their backs.
Latinum is valuable because it can’t be replicated.
Yes, but beyond its scarcity, what other purpose does it have? Lots of things are rare and can’t be replicated, but their value comes from the need to use them for some purpose such the ability to build other things that you wouldn’t be able to build otherwise. Latinum has never been shown as anything more than a currency with nothing behind it to give it value.
What value does gold have other than it doesn’t rust and it looks pretty?
It’s the same thing essentially. Latinum looks pretty and can’t be replicated therefore it’s a good currency.
Gold is used in a variety of applications. You’re likely holding a device filled with gold right now. Even before the computer revolution, is was still used in medical applications. There are tons of uses for gold that don’t involve currency.
Yes it does have applications nowadays but when gold was used as a monetary store we didn’t have electronics. Gold was mainly used because it is shiny, easily workable, rare, and never corroded.
The microgram of gold in my phone pales in comparison to the gold used in jewellery or hoarded.
You missed a big advantage of gold: for most of human history, gold was the densest material known to man by a wide margin, making it very easy to verify that a piece of purported gold is real.
Irrelevant, but it still exists.
When everyone has unlimited access to stuff, one person wanting more does not deprive others of anything so it does not matter if it exists.
IE: In a post scarcity society, greed becomes irrelevant.
but it still exists - even in Star Trek
You’re arguing against a straw man. They never said it ceases to exist, only that it’s irrelevant.
Rule of Acquisition #1:
Once you have their money, you never give it back.That’s it back in the wormhole with you
The socialist utopia that is Earth is a dystopic story for them. It’s like one of us reading Brave New World.
Remember: Ferengi exists. In germany many call our libertarian party - FDP - Ferengi Party.
