So this will be where I periodically rant about things that make no damned sense in the Star Trek universe(s). Hopefully these rants will lead to discussions with others who love Star Trek as well.
I'm writing this rant, by the way, because my former co-writer has died, and no one else I know either locally or on the internet has the knowledge of Star Trek - or the interest - to discuss these things with me in depth. Thus, I end up pouring my frustrations out onto a blank screenpage.
If you respond to me - and I hope someone does - please make it more substantive then a blanket condemnation for being a Star Trek heretic (which I most definitely am) or blanket praise for pointing out the Emperor's Clothes. I need debate and discussion if ever I am going to get the actual story out of my head and onto (hopefully) paper eventually.
So here goes.
The story I want to write is about the creation of a new class of Federation starship in an environment of political and economic opposition. But the first hurdle I must cross, if there's to be a story... is money. Or more specifically, how supposedly money doesn't exist in the Federation.
This, to me, is simply asinine.
Without money, the only peaceful economy you can have is one of barter - which is absurd in an advanced tech society like the Federation, where all the essentials of life are yours simply by right. (I'll get around to that concept as well, in another rant)
How do you manage the distribution of goods, the compensation for services rendered, and reward for work performed, without money? How do you get people to voluntarily take up occupations that are dangerous or otherwise unpleasant?
How do you even establish the value of anything, without money?
And without a system of valuation, how does one own anything? I mean, you can't buy or sell anything, except by barter. I won't even get into issues of crime and mishap, let alone taxation.
I mean, think about this. Here we have a society of umpty-bajillion sentient beings, all peacefully co-existing on or in eleventy-stolve million different habitats... and none of them are getting paid for what they do. They do whatever they do purely for the benefit of the Federation as a whole, since "The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives..." as per Captain Picard.
An example, you ask? In DS9, when Nog suggested that Jake Sisko should bid for a baseball card in an auction, Jake said, "I'm Human, I don't have any money." Nog commented, "It's not my fault that your species decided to abandon currency-based economics in favor of some philosophy of self-enhancement." Jake answered, "Hey, watch it. There's nothing wrong with our philosophy. We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity." Nog then replied, "What does that mean?" Jake responded, "It means... It means we don't need money!"
Eeee-yeah. OOOooog. That sounds like mind control talking right there: Jake literally can't think about what he's saying, and therefore can't explain it. Presumably the term 'humanity' is being used to represent every member race in the Federation. Now, some jobs are cool, and carry a cachet, and that's fine. But most jobs are drudgery of one sort or another - and some are straight up dangerous. Why does anyone do them? Because they have to, in order to give meaning to their lives? Uhm... that's a society of ants, not people. And what if you don't like your job? What if you decide not to work at all? Cue up the re-education centers - every citizen must be productive for the betterment of all...
Now lets look at the opposite extreme. You are the System Administrator for the Fill-In-The-Blank system. Your system has certain natural resources, be it minerals, gases, etc. There are places where the resources you have are desirable - we might call them 'markets' except that implies mercantilism, which needs money to work. Anyway, your goods are desirable, awesome! Uhm... what do you get in return? How do you negotiate a reasonable return of the resources your system needs, Administrator? And what happens when your resources are no longer desirable, or run out? Better yet, what happens when there are competing interests for those resources? See, if you had a monetary system, then all that would be relatively simple... but money doesn't exist in the Federation, so you're stuck with barter!
But - but what about the Federation credit? That sounds like money to me?
Sure does to me too. Go ahead, Google it. I got a headache.
In summation: The closest I can get to the described situation in the Federation is China's Social Credit system. But in order to get your citizens to disregard their own individuality, to think nothing of their personal wellbeing, and instead consider themselves purely as cogs in the greater machine, across species lines, across societal lines... hey, we're back to Borg-level mind control, likely implemented during the basic education process every child recieves. Direct mind imprintment is so useful... and that concept leaves me nauseous.
Replies, please?