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

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...

Is there good canon evidence for the "Nightmare Matrix"?

On the Matrix wiki, there's an article about the Nightmare Matrix which says: The Nightmare Matrix was the second prototype Matrix, designed by The Architect after the massive failure of the Paradise Matrix in the hope that human minds would more readily accept an imperfect world with suffering. Unlike the first version, this Matrix instituted a basic cause-and-effect programming and forcibly made those connected to it accept the program. Vamp Prime, a possible remnant of the Nightmare Matrix. It also featured programs that resembled mythical evil creatures in various human mythologies such as vampires, werewolves, zombies, aliens, etc. It also failed, but many of the programs who were designed for it survived deletion in exile. The Merovingian and his wife, Persephone may have had their roots in this version of the Matrix. Upon its failure, the Merovingian started a smuggling ring of programs and information to provide a haven for exiles that would last for 6 cycles in the final ...

story identification - Anime with a boy hiring a creature from a stone, meets a man named Dante and starts a journey to collect crystals

I am from India, this anime or animated series (I can't remember this was made by the Japan or other countries) was aired between 2009 and 2012 probably in Jetix/Disney XD (but I'm not sure). This anime starts with a boy (the main character, I forgot his name) who find a stone (or crystal like thing) in his dad's property, his dad was missing that time. Some day he accidentally hire a creature/monster from that stone. Other day some creature attack him and he was saved by his creature and the story begins. In his journey to solve the mystery he meets a middle aged man 'Dante' (probably that was the name; this is the only character name I can remember). He had also some stone. After that they meet with one girl and a women (one of the girls is same age with the main boy character and probably will become his partner as the story goes on). Another women probably Dante's partner. Four of them started their journey to collect all the stone/crystal. They are collecti...