Skip to main content

The fates of corporations in the Star Trek universe


As we learned in the responses to the question


Why do people risk death by joining Starfleet if not for money or preservation of their homes?,


the Federation (and Earth in particular) enjoys a post-scarcity economy. As part of this, humans living inside the borders of the Federation do not earn or use money. Picard makes this quite clear in his speech to Lily in First Contact, for example.


My question is about the fate in the Star Trek universe of human corporations, industrial conglomerates, and other profit-driven enterprises that once existed on Earth.


Is there any evidence that these enterprises still exist in some way, shape, or form in the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th centuries? If not, when and why did they disappear? If they do exist, then do they "employ" individuals on a merit-based platform without paying them (much in the way that Starfleet does with its officers and enlisted personnel)?



One might guess that the Third World War in the 21st Century "reset" the economic playing field of Earth and perhaps put corporations into retirement. In Star Trek (2009), however, we see a pristine Nokia phone / communicator in Jim Kirk's stepfather's car (although one might argue that the device may be from an earlier time but still functions, like the car itself).



Answer



Referring to the original TOS pilot pitch and the TNG Writer's Technical Manual, we can ascertain that Gene Roddenberry was adamant about two things in particular;


1) There ain't no money inside the Federation. None. All attempts to prove otherwise (usually by citing off-hand comments about 'earning your pay' from TOS) are thus doomed to failure. That provides quite a neat answer to your first question about how people are paid. They aren't.


2) Earth is a garden paradise. The vast majority of industry in the 22nd and 23rd century is done off-world and most everything in the 24th Century is done by replicator (obviating the need for heavy machinery and pollution). No-one needs to work if they don't want to, however the vast majority of people choose to work because it provides them with a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Ongoing education is also apparently ubiquitous.


There appears to be full employment and the existence of AI, robotics, transporters and "automated janitorial systems" likely makes menial work unnecessary.




In answer to your specific questions;



  • How does society exchange productivity between its members?



They don't. There's no money. If you want something, you can simply replicate it. If you want something big, you queue up at an industrial replicator. If you want something rare or precious (such as land for a farm) presumably you can apply for it in a lottery or to a commission intended to apportion such things equitably. With off-world colonies siphoning off population, we can assume that those that remain are those that are happy with the present system.



  • Is there any evidence that these enterprises still exist in some way, shape, or form in the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th centuries?


Money


In TNG: The Neutral Zone, we learn the fate of money. It was negated, along with the banks responsible for holding it and tracking its movement.



PICARD: Here's what I propose. You can't stay on the Enterprise, but I have arranged for us to rendezvous with the USS Charleston, bound for Earth. They will deliver you there.


RALPH: Then what will happen to us? There's no trace of my money. My office is gone. What will I do? How will I live?



PICARD: This is the twenty fourth century. Material needs no longer exist.



Brands


At the same time I think we can reasonably assume that for-profit corporations were also abolished although it's likely that some brands do still exist (Nokia, Chateau Picard, etc). Since these brands can't sell products (no money) and since there's nothing to stop me replicating the latest model, my assumption is that these would probably be managed as open-source projects with a controlling board.


Speedo
enter image description here


Chateau Picard
enter image description here


Nokia
enter image description here



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Did the gatekeeper and the keymaster get intimate in Ghostbusters?

According to TVTropes ( usual warning, don't follow the link or you'll waste half your life in a twisty maze of content ): In Ghostbusters, it's strongly implied that Dana Barret, while possessed by Zuul the Gatekeeper, had sex with Louis Tully, who was possessed by Vinz Clortho the Keymaster (key, gate, get it?), in order to free Big Bad Gozer. In fact, a deleted scene from the movie has Venkman explicitly asking Dana if she and Louis "did it". I turned the quote into a spoiler since it contains really poor-taste joke, but the gist of it is that it's implied that as part of freeing Gozer , the two characters possessed by the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper had sex. Is there any canon confirmation or denial of this theory (canon meaning something from creators' interviews, DVD commentary, script, delete scenes etc...)? Answer The Richard Mueller novelisation and both versions of the script strongly suggest that they didn't have sex (or at the very l...

Why didn't The Doctor or Clara recognize Missy right away?

So after it was established that Missy is actually both the Master, and the "woman in the shop" who gave Clara the TARDIS number... ...why didn't The Doctor or Clara recognize her right away? I remember the Tenth Doctor in The Sound of Drums stating that Timelords had a way of recognizing other Timelords no matter if they had regenerated. And Clara should have recognized her as well... I'm hoping for a better explanation than "Moffat screwed up", and that I actually missed something after two watchthroughs of the episode. Answer There seems to be a lot of in-canon uncertainty as to the extent to which Time Lords can recognise one another which far pre-dates Moffat's tenure. From the Time Lords page on Wikipedia : Whether or not Time Lords can recognise each other across regenerations is not made entirely clear: In The War Games, the War Chief recognises the Second Doctor despite his regeneration and it is implied that the Doctor knows him when they fir...

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 ...

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...