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I've been thinking about the economics of the Federation, Starfleet, and what bits are tricky to understand.
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Money has a lot of quotes on it.
Simplest explanation for inconsistencies is writers forgot the 'no money' rule or couldn't grok it.
But I was mostly wondering how it could work, not how canon suggests it works.
Like, right now people exchange money for goods and services; prices vary wildly, but broadly speaking they are driven up by scarcity. Limited resources are divided up into bits that are owned by some legal entity and then they get bought and sold.
The Star Trek future posits that replicators and other advanced technologies pretty much take the limits off. There is no scarcity. You can have whatever you want, the replicator just makes it for the asking. So, no money.
But there's areas where that isn't so simples, stuff replicators can't make. The most obvious one being work. ( Read more... )
The results of work, of people rather than replicators working, would also be exchanged in some way. And owned, probably. I mean, if you spent ages making art and some collector dude stole it you'd still think of it as stealing even if you weren't expecting to get money for it. And Jake talked about selling his first book, even though it seems to be projecting late 20th century publishing models and ignoring even the current blog model as a publishing avenue. I mean, if nobody works for money, then it's all much more like fanfic. Fanfic writing works by giving. But art and stories aren't going to leave someone stranded if nobody gives them one.
The big question really is, how much does the Enterprise cost?
Who owns starships, and how can they possibly be exchanged?
I haven't the slightest clue of an answer. I can see how Starfleet works, but Starfleet aren't the only starship owning and operating entities, or the only humans.
And how does one arrange passage on a starship? Or get a colony together for a new world?
( Read more... )
Where the houses go remains scarce. ( Read more... )
I quite like the idea of not trying to accumulate money, but there's a lot of difference in just getting rid of it. How do they swap goods and services? And how long are you likely to be stuck waiting for that house you want?
Plus, access to education, and access to subsequent work. It's all very well showing students competing for admission to Starfleet Academy. Selective schooling, only take the best, since you want them to not blow up the big ships or the neighbours. Seems fair. But what happens for the education of everyone who doesn't get in? Is it like now and some people are stuck getting City College? And what difference does it make to them, if they don't get in the top universities? We know how you get a job in Starfleet. There's very tough competition, and more for every promotion. So is that what people in the future strive for, not the rewards from jobs but the jobs themselves?
... I can't really see people competing for care work. Just, in general. It don't seem likely.
Would the jobs that are harder to get in to still be the higher prestige work? Starfleet is selective so it is seen as of higher value to humanity than an inclusive recruiter?
And I'm not getting into the politics. The who is in charge and how. Even though that tangles with economics very extensively.
So, conclusion: Starfleet economics is difficult to make sense of.
er, surprise?
given that mostly they was stories about stuff blowing up.
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Money has a lot of quotes on it.
Simplest explanation for inconsistencies is writers forgot the 'no money' rule or couldn't grok it.
But I was mostly wondering how it could work, not how canon suggests it works.
Like, right now people exchange money for goods and services; prices vary wildly, but broadly speaking they are driven up by scarcity. Limited resources are divided up into bits that are owned by some legal entity and then they get bought and sold.
The Star Trek future posits that replicators and other advanced technologies pretty much take the limits off. There is no scarcity. You can have whatever you want, the replicator just makes it for the asking. So, no money.
But there's areas where that isn't so simples, stuff replicators can't make. The most obvious one being work. ( Read more... )
The results of work, of people rather than replicators working, would also be exchanged in some way. And owned, probably. I mean, if you spent ages making art and some collector dude stole it you'd still think of it as stealing even if you weren't expecting to get money for it. And Jake talked about selling his first book, even though it seems to be projecting late 20th century publishing models and ignoring even the current blog model as a publishing avenue. I mean, if nobody works for money, then it's all much more like fanfic. Fanfic writing works by giving. But art and stories aren't going to leave someone stranded if nobody gives them one.
The big question really is, how much does the Enterprise cost?
Who owns starships, and how can they possibly be exchanged?
I haven't the slightest clue of an answer. I can see how Starfleet works, but Starfleet aren't the only starship owning and operating entities, or the only humans.
And how does one arrange passage on a starship? Or get a colony together for a new world?
( Read more... )
Where the houses go remains scarce. ( Read more... )
I quite like the idea of not trying to accumulate money, but there's a lot of difference in just getting rid of it. How do they swap goods and services? And how long are you likely to be stuck waiting for that house you want?
Plus, access to education, and access to subsequent work. It's all very well showing students competing for admission to Starfleet Academy. Selective schooling, only take the best, since you want them to not blow up the big ships or the neighbours. Seems fair. But what happens for the education of everyone who doesn't get in? Is it like now and some people are stuck getting City College? And what difference does it make to them, if they don't get in the top universities? We know how you get a job in Starfleet. There's very tough competition, and more for every promotion. So is that what people in the future strive for, not the rewards from jobs but the jobs themselves?
... I can't really see people competing for care work. Just, in general. It don't seem likely.
Would the jobs that are harder to get in to still be the higher prestige work? Starfleet is selective so it is seen as of higher value to humanity than an inclusive recruiter?
And I'm not getting into the politics. The who is in charge and how. Even though that tangles with economics very extensively.
So, conclusion: Starfleet economics is difficult to make sense of.
er, surprise?
given that mostly they was stories about stuff blowing up.