Dmitry Chernikov looks at the nonsensical economic “system” of the Star Trek universe:
Similarly, we never see Quark, who owns a bar on the space station, get paid for dispensing his drinks; at least, I don’t recall ever seeing that. For a guy obsessed with latinum (now there’s your sound money—latinum-standard; and in another episode we learn that gold is worthless compared to latinum) this is a problem, especially given that the Federation military employees on the station don’t receive any wages. Once again, the necessary obscurity of how Quark’s business worked (because it obviously cannot work) seems rather annoying. So the conundrum remains. And even for the Ferengi, all business and consumer transactions appear to be performed with cash, that is, actual bars of latinum. They apparently have no stock market (the litmus test for whether a society is capitalist or socialist), no electronic asset transfers, no banking system (banks have two distinct roles, often unfortunately confused under the present fiat money regime: they are (1) warehouses storing valuable property, such as gold coins, a function called deposit banking; and (2) intermediaries between lenders and borrowers, called loan banking), no insurance companies, nothing. There are no big corporations, no brand names, no advertising (on the absence of any kind of commercial mass media see below), no private retail outlets, no Internet shopping. There aren’t even latinum coins, for goodness’ sake! And if not the Ferengi, then who else?
Note that the Ferengi are, of course, the classic stereotype of the Jews, as propounded by Nazi and Soviet propaganda: ugly; crass, materialistic, and base; grasping and scheming; and treacherous. But, in the case of Quark, not entirely without redeeming qualities, particularly when he cooperates with the ruling regime on the station. That is, quite despite his perverse nature, there exists within Quark’s ignoble little soul a weak aspiration to be like the far more noble humans. What a grotesque and utterly false parody of a typical businessman (and Jews, to boot) within a system of natural liberty and free enterprise! In the unhampered market economy the “superior men,” the better-off, the elite or the society’s “natural aristocracy,” are drawn into service to the common man. Entrepreneurs become rich because the masses, the “poor,” rush to outbid each other on the products offered to them for sale. If they fail to satisfy the consumers’ wants, they will forfeit their wealth and their vocation as entrepreneurs and be demoted into the rank of laborers. Personal wealth in a free society is thus a consequence of previous success in serving consumers.
[. . .]
Now it is obvious that the variety of goods and services available on DS9 is extremely limited. The personnel seem to be, as one, ascetic workaholics. I’ve never seen any character go shopping. I suppose that these guys are supplied with government-made standard-issue everything. This can’t be a lot of fun, don’t you think? Also, don’t misunderstand me, I love classical music, but is that all that the Federation citizens are allowed to listen to (I am referring to ST: The Next Generation, in particular)? In other words, instead of a highly developed commercial culture expected of a sophisticated multi-planet division of labor, we get almost complete conformity and uniformity. To put it another way, the characters “have no life”; they are totally devoted to the welfare of the “collective,” the collective being, of course, their superior officers. I could never understand why the Federation was so contrasted with the Borg. The Borg are very much like the Federation, only perhaps with slightly less individual freedom. (Maybe the difference is that, unlike the Borg captives, the Federation serfs love the Big Brother.)
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Tom Humes
Comment by Tom Humes — October 19, 2009 @ 07:44
I loved the DS9 episode where they deliberately tweaked the Federation economic system. It was the episode where Jake decides to purchase an old-time Willie Mays baseball card to cheer his father up. The problem: it’s up for auction and Jake, being a Federation citizen, has no money. So he tries to get some from Quark’s nephew, Nog. This was the exact quote:
Cadet Nog: It’s not my fault that your species decided to abandon currency-based economics in favor of some philosophy of self-enhancement.
Jake Sisko: Hey – watch it! There’s nothing wrong with our philosophy. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.
Cadet Nog: What does that mean exactly?
Jake Sisko: It means… it means we don’t need money!
Cadet Nog: Well, then, you certainly don’t need _mine_!
Comment by James Bow — October 20, 2009 @ 15:57
I was never a regular watcher for any of the Star Trek series . . . even ST:TNG was an occasional thing for me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full episode of DS9. You make the beginnings of a case that I missed something watchable. 😉
Comment by Nicholas — October 20, 2009 @ 17:14
DS9 was, by far, the best of the Star Trek series, in my opinion. It was the only one that adopted a bit of a cynical edge to things. It made for more compelling viewing. But they were also willing to have fun and not take the mythos too seriously. And because Paramount’s favourite child at the time was Voyager, which had left for the Delta Quadrant, DS9 was essentially handed the keys to the Federation and able to do things that previously the powers-that-be would have frowned upon, including a two-year-long protracted war between the Federation and the Dominion.
Comment by James Bow — October 20, 2009 @ 20:20
I may get into trouble for this, but I always thought of the Ferengi were based on the Muslim world, at least representative of the richest and most powerful of them, who seem to be allowed to say and do things that the more common people of Islam would never get away with (was it an urban myth that the publishing company that printed the original edition of ‘The Satanic Verses’ was at least partly owned by Muslims?). That and their apparent misogyny, which the Ferengi take an almost opposite tack on, because you never see them (they are not allowed to wear clothes for the most part).
There was an episode in TNG where I believe that some people from the 20th century were rescued but were rather indignant when Capt. Picard informed them that they had no more use for money or material gain. It didn’t look like communism, so don’t knock it until you’ve tried it Nicholas. 😉
Comment by Looney Canuck — October 22, 2009 @ 00:56
Hmm. I see what you mean. Perhaps you’re right. The misogyny aspect, anyway.
I can imagine how I’d feel if I were plucked from today and dumped into a future like TNG. I’d love the technology, but I would be bothered that there’s no actual “economy” to which I could contribute (I prefer to pay my own way).
Comment by Nicholas — October 22, 2009 @ 07:13