Skip to main content

star trek - What happens to humans that choose not to work, or to join Starfleet?


In a question related to the cashless society of Earth. I have been wondering, what happens to people that choose not to work, or to join Starfleet? Are they considered enemies of the state and punished somehow? (The Australian Penal colonies spring to mind.) Do people have to work to "better humanity"? Or would these people be labelled in some form of poverty?



Answer



As somebody pointed out in the other question cashless does not mean that there is no economy, it's just not that important. There are numerous references in all series that imply that there is some sort of credit system, it's just heavily downplayed. Of course that replicating a radish is less expensive that creating a Nebula class starship.


As portrayed, The Federation is a post-scarcity society, i.e. anyone can get the basic (and not so basic) resources for living free of change, as they are cheap and easy to produce (e.g. via replicator). In terms of Maslow's hierarchy of needs the bottom two layers will be automatically fulfilled, and as you can see, they are the only layers that can be accomplished by having money. In such a world much of the strife for bare sustenance will be void, so people will just not care about that, and as a result they will not care about money.


So, the people (Starfleet or not) are left free to pursue their higher-level needs, like love, fame, glory, curiosity... Picard's brother had a vineyard, Sisko's father opened a Creole restaurant with hand-cooked means, and Picard and Sisko, joined Starfleet.


There's also the never-ending list of assorted scientist that visited the Enterprise trying this or that experiment. The series gives the distinct impression that these are important persons, and that they are the celebrities of the day, implying that the societal emphasis in the Federation would be on self-accomplishment and merit, and not so much on raw bank account size.


Also, my guess would be that there is still some sort of societal pressure to conform to the rules, and have a job, and behave responsibly, it's just not the "do or die" situation of today.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...
Post a Comment
Read more

warhammer40k - What evidence supposedly supports Tau as related to the Necrontyr?

I've heard of rumours saying that the Tau from Warhammer 40K are in fact the Necrontyr. Is there anything that supports this statement, in WH40K canon? I just found this, on 1d4 chan 1 : Helping Necrons? Or are they Necrontyr descendants? An often overlooked issue is that Tau have no warp signatures, just like Necrons, hate Warpspawns and Warp in general, just like Necrons, have the exact same skull shape,stature and short lives, and the overwhelming need for Technology and beam weapons, JUST LIKE NECRONS. GW may have planned a race that simply prepares a pacified, multiracial galaxy for Necrons to feast upon, supported by Ethereals that have a C'tan phase blade. Then there is a reference of "dark seed in east" by the Deceiver, so the tricky C'tan might give Tzeentch the finger in the JUST AS PLANNED competition. Or maybe GW just has so little creativity that they simply made a new civ conforming to an Old One's standards without knowing it. Is this the connec...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more